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Winter can bring beautiful days for taking brisk walks, admiring the fresh snowfall, or creating snow angels. Winter’s fury can also produce icy roads, sub-zero wind chills, and power outages.

Unfortunately, heavy snow and accumulating ice can easily bring tree limbs down on power lines, cutting off power to homes and businesses. Frost and extreme cold temperatures can also result in underground faults, which take considerable time to repair during challenging winter conditions. And don’t forget about car accidents – vehicles, UTVs or snowmobiles have hit and damaged pedestals, power poles, transformers and other equipment, causing a power outage.

How long it takes for your power to be restored depends on several factors: the extent of a storm’s destruction, the number of outages, weather conditions, underground versus overhead power lines, time to replace damaged equipment, and the safety of our lineworkers. Underground faults require a call to Gopher State One – to ensure that all other utilities have their service lines located within the utility corridor before we can even start to dig. Sometimes, the locators come from as far as two hours away, so that time adds to the restoration time.

Planning for future outages brought on by severe winter conditions can make riding out a prolonged power outage safer and a little more comfortable.

Take steps to help keep your family safe and comfortable during a winter storm long before one is forecast. A good way to start is to put an emergency kit together. 

Here are some items to start with:Preparedness kit items

  • Water: Stock up on bottled water for consumption. FEMA recommends storing at least one gallon per person, per day.
  • Food: Have at least enough food, including non-perishable packaged or canned foods, juices, special foods for infants or the elderly, and snack foods, for three to seven days.
  • Utensils: Without electricity, be sure you have a manual can opener, paper plates, and plastic utensils.
  • Layers and added warmth: Gather blankets, pillows, and warm clothing items.
  • Coolers or ice to keep food cool if needed. If outdoor temps are freezing, placing a cooler with frozen food items outside will work to keep them cool. In the summer, blocks of ice for freezers can be used to keep items cool.
  • Medicine and other items: Locate a first aid kit, medicine, prescription drugs, and any essential medical equipment.
  • A charged cell phone: Most people are used to having their phones with them, but also have a portable, fully-charged power pack on hand.

Other items to have on hand:

  • Toiletries, hygiene items, and moist towelettes.
  • Flashlight and extra batteries.
  • Battery-operated radio or a NOAA weather radio.
  • List of emergency telephone numbers, including your local utilities.
  • Toys, books, and games.
  • Pet food and other pet-care items.
  • Supplies for alternate heating methods, such as a fireplace or wood-burning stove.

We work throughout the year to maintain the rights of way to keep trees and limbs away from power lines, so they don’t fall on the power lines if they become covered in ice or snow. If you spot hazard trees, please give our office a call to report them.

Insulate your home by installing storm windows or plastic covering on windows and caulk any cracks in your home. Finally, make sure the heating system is in proper working order.

Close window blinds at night to keep heat it. If the sun is shining, opening blinds or shades during the day will allow the sun to provide additional warmth.

Other safety tips include:Image of a generator on a concrete floor

  • Use caution when using a portable generator.
  • Never use a portable generator indoors, in a garage, or near windows or doors because they omit deadly carbon monoxide.
  • Never plug a portable generator into a wall outlet. Doing so can create deadly backfeed, which occurs when electricity travels from the generator back through the power lines.
  • Monitor the temperature in your home. Infants and elderly people are more susceptible to the cold.
  • Avoid going outside. Downed power lines could be submerged in snow and ice, making them difficult to identify. Consider all downed and hanging lines energized and deadly.

Along with causing outages, wintery conditions can create hiccups in power delivery that include blinking lights or ebbs and flows in the amount of power that comes into your home. Although blinking lights can be a symptom of other problems such as loose wiring connections or overloaded circuits, they can also be caused by extreme weather conditions. When this happens, protect your circuits and appliances by switching off lights and unplugging devices.