The following column was submitted by State Representative Dorothy Pelanda.
This past weekend gave us a small reminder of the big storm that passed through central Ohio a year ago, crippling Union and Marion counties for days as residents were left without electricity.
In an effort to help my constituents prepare for future outages, I contacted the utility companies that service my district to obtain tips on how to report an outage, and how to follow restoration progress.
You might want to clip out this article and tape it to your refrigerator for reference.
DP&L CUSTOMERS:
Use your cell phone or non cordless receiver to call or text 877-468-8243 to report your outage.
Customers can obtain additional information on their website at www.dpandl.com
After DP&L has restored service to your area, they will attempt to confirm that your power has been restored if you reported the outage. To ensure that you receive this call, make sure that customer service (800-433-8500) has the best number to reach you.
Ready.gov has resources to help you prepare, plan, and stay informed. Check out this website to prepare a storm kit.
URE CUSTOMERS:
Outages can be reported using your cell phone at 800-642-1826.
Members can sign up for “outage texting” by calling the above number or online at www.ure.com.
This website also provides members with emergency information regarding food safety, steps to restore power, and generator safety.
FIRST ENERGY / OHIO EDISON CUSTOMERS:
Outages can be reported at 888-544-4877. The interactive voice system can handle thousands of callers simultaneously to capture their reports of power outages.
Callers are given the option to have First Energy call them for a wake-up call, as well as a call regarding power restoration.
At www.firstenergycorp.com customers can see where outages are occurring by address, zip code or zooming in on the map. Customers can also report outages from the map and find estimated restoration data.
Here are some additional tips during a power outage:
- purchase a battery-operated or wind-up radio, and a battery-operated or wind-up clock.
- purchase flashlights and batteries for every family member.
- keep a prepaid phone card for use during an emergency if you do not have a cell phone.
- solar chargers can be plugged into your car dashboard or outlet to recharge a cell phone.
- power inverters use your car battery to charge cell phones, tablets, laptops, and PC’s.
- a hand-cranked radio with a USB port can also recharge a cell phone.
- conserve your cell phone battery by reducing brightness, putting the phone in airplane mode (so it isn’t searching for networks), and closing apps that you don’t need.
- keep your refrigerator closed. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.
- a full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours(24 hours if it is half full and the door remains closed).
Please be safe during this storm season, and, as always, I welcome hearing from you.
State Representative Dorothy Pelanda represents the 83rd House District in the Ohio House of Representatives, which includes Union and Logan counties, as well as most of Marion County. You can find more information about and contact Pelanda by clicking here.
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