Power Outage Tips

How to Respond to an Outage

Check your circuit breakers. If they have tripped, reset them and see if the power comes back on. If resetting the breakers does not return power, call OTEC’s 24-hour outage hotline at 1-866-430-4265. OTEC crews are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. We take your need for electricity seriously.

Attention Life Support Customers

If you or someone in your home uses a life-support machine that relies directly on the power we provide, please contact OTEC’s Member Services at 541-523-3616 and make us aware of your requirements.

Additionally, because an unplanned outage is usually caused by an emergency situation, we urge you to have backup equipment available and to test it regularly. OTEC can make no guarantee as to the minimum length of an outage.

Outage Procedure Checklist

Place these guidelines on your bulletin board or by your telephone.

Call OTEC if you have a power outage. If the phone is busy, please keep trying to call OTEC’S 24-hour hotline at 1-866-430-4264.
In the event of a downed power line, stay away at least 50 feet and keep everyone as far away as you can. DO NOT attempt to move or touch it! Call OTEC or 911 immediately.
DO NOT plug a portable home electric generator into a wall outlet. Our servicemen could be injured OR KILLED by the backfeed of electricity through your home’s electrical system.
If it appears that the outage will be for an extended time, unplug your appliances or turn off the breaker at the circuit panel. Especially important are heat pumps, water heaters, freezers, furnace fans and refrigerators. After power is restored, turn them back on individually and spaced over 15-minute intervals.
If some of your lights appear to be dim when power is restored, please call OTEC at 1-866-430-4264.

Power Outage Supplies Kit

Make sure your home is equipped with a power outage kit. The kit should include the following items:

A flashlight, an oil or battery powered lamp or lantern, and extra batteries.
Candles and matches. Use candles on a flat, stable, non-flammable surface.
A battery powered radio.
Easily accessible emergency phone numbers for your utility, doctor, fire, and police.
A cell phone, or a telephone connected directly to the jack. Cordless phones and phones with answering machines rely on electricity to operate.
A first-aid kit and prescription medications. If the outage is caused by bad weather, realize that road travel may not be possible for several days.
Extra blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothes. If you are without heat, close off one room to live in and wear extra layers of clothes.
Clean drinking water. Have at least one gallon of fresh water available for each person in your home per day.
A manual can opener and non-perishable food. A camp stove and fuel may be handy but be sure to use it outdoors.
A cooler for storing frequently used foods. Food will keep for several hours in a closed, full refrigerator and up to two days in a closed, full freezer.
Firewood, if you have a fireplace or woodstove.
Do not use gas appliances (such as gas-powered generators) for heating indoors if they are not designed to do so – carbon monoxide poisoning can occur when burning gas in enclosed spaces.

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