The process of restoring power

Whenever a storm or other incident causes damage to TEC’s electrical distribution system, its primary goal is to get the power back on to everyone in the quickest and safest fashion possible. TEC follows a restoration process that is used by most utilities throughout the industry:

TEC’s first priority is public safety, so crews are sent to remove damaged power lines from the roadways first.

After that, substation power is restored. Sometimes service to hundreds of members can be restored immediately by replacing a fuse on a substation transformer.

Next, the major distribution feeders are repaired. These are the power lines that come out of a substation that have three wires resting on a crossarm.

Tap lines are repaired next. Tap lines carry power to groups of homes from the distribution feeders. You may see your neighbors’ lights come on while yours remain out. This happens when a tap line is repaired, but there is still damage to your individual lines, so your home cannot receive power.

Finally, individual service lines are repaired.