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How NLR Electric Restores Power

How NLR Electric Restores Power

When an outage occurs, our top priority is to restore our customers’ power quickly and as safely as possible. NLRED will first mobilize all our available crews and equipment, and will then ask for assistance from other municipal utilities or hire outside contractors if necessary. 

During the restoration of electrical equipment due to damage, NLRED works to restore power to equipment that feeds the largest number of our customers first and will continue until all customers have power.  This could include high-voltage lines (1) and structures, substations (2) or switch station equipment.  After this damage is repaired, we work to restore the greatest number of customers by repairing main feeders/circuits in communities (3), neighborhood lateral lines (4), and then work to restore individual customer’s transformers and service lines (5).

1.    High voltage transmission lines - These lines deliver power from the power plants to the substations. 
2.    NLRED Substation/Switch equipment - Transforms voltage so it can be routed to the main distribution lines/circuits.
3.    Main feeder lines/circuits - Delivers power to large subdivisions and large businesses.
4.    Lateral lines - Most neighborhoods and streets are served with lateral power lines feeding off the main circuit which are protected with a fuse.  These lateral power lines are usually located in the rear easements of the subdivisions.  If there is a fault on your lateral, it will blow the fuse causing an outage to your home but protecting the electric lines of the neighbors across and/or down the street. 
5.    Transformers/service lines - Delivers power to individual customer locations either overhead or underground.  All customers are served by transformers that are also protected by a fuse link.  If your transformer fuse detects a fault and blows, it only affects your home and possibly four or five of your neighbors. 


How to report an outage:
Your power outage report is important to us. While we do have equipment installed that indicates general areas that are without power, we rely on customer outage reports to help pinpoint specific areas without power. Your report helps us determine the full extent of an outage so we can more efficiently restore power. 1-888-728-4004 or online at www.nlrelectric.com

When you report an outage online or by phone, your report is fed into our automated outage reporting system. We use the data from this system to help prioritize your outage report. Your report is then routed to our dispatch center, where it is assigned to a crew for repair.  There is no need to report your outage multiple times.

Why are my neighbor’s lights on and mine are not?
Many times a neighbor will have power restored while others in the same block are still without.  This happens when separate circuits or lateral lines are used for areas within the same neighborhood. Depending on the extent of damage to your circuit or lateral line, the power may be on immediately or take longer to restore. 

What is NLRED doing to speed up outage response?

When you call or report an outage online, NLRED can use your telephone number or account number to access your address information and automatically generate a ticket. If your telephone number has changed since you first established an account, or if you are uncertain what number is associated with your account, please call 975-8888 to update your account information. 

Posted on 09/02/2015