Power Restorations

Shedding Light on What’s Going on While You’re in the Dark

We know it can be frustrating sitting in the dark wondering what’s going on when the power goes out. With that in mind, here’s how NHEC restores power. As a general rule of thumb, NHEC prioritizes system repairs so that the largest number of members is restored in the shortest amount of time possible. However, we work as quickly as we can to restore power to our entire system.

 

STEP 1: Assessment

Our crews assess the damage as soon as it safe to do so. Depending on the storm and road closures, this could take up to 48 hours to complete. We use this assessment to put out our restoration estimates you can see on a live outage map. This information is updated as information comes in from the field.

 

STEP 2: Substations Review

NHEC’s system includes multiple substations located throughout our service territory. These substations serve thousands of members. So our first course of action is to see if the outage is related to a substation issue that we can correct. If this is an option, we can restore power quickly to a large number of members.

 

STEP 3: Main Line Repairs

Next, we look to repair main distribution lines. These lines carry power from the substations to large numbers of members, such as entire towns. They also serve other critical infrastructure like hospitals.

 

STEP 4: Taps Repairs

After the main lines have been restored, crews begin repairing smaller branches from the main line, often called taps. These tap lines may serve a neighborhood or subdivision, or they may stretch over several miles in more rural areas. These lines are repaired based on getting the largest number of members back on in the shortest amount of time.

 

STEP 5: Individual Service Line Repairs

Sometimes, damage will occur on the service line between your house and the transformer on the nearby pole. This can explain why you have no power when your neighbor does. After major repairs are completed, line workers will spend the remainder of the restoration effort repairing service lines that serve one or two members.