Power Outages

Another factor that is considered when choosing an outage time is the amount of daylight available. While the summer is suitable to some early morning outages, as the days grow shorter some of the work must wait until later in the morning when there is adequate light.

The time of year is also considered. During irrigation, Dawson PPD’s electrical system is running at full capacity so we try to avoid scheduling large-scale outages. We also try to avoid the coldest times of the winter. With that said, there are times when repairs are necessary and delaying them may cause bigger problems. Each situation is considered carefully before the decision is made.

If you receive an automated phone call, there may be a one to two second delay before the message starts to play. Please do not hang up the phone! Our messages start by identifying Dawson Public Power District as the caller. The automatic message system is designed to work with most voice mail and answering machine systems.

Another concern is making sure Dawson PPD has up to date contact information for our customers. If you have changed your phone number, please let us know. You can do this by using the “contact” button on our web menu bar or by calling 308-324-2386 at any time.

Keep food safety in mind. Keep the doors of refrigerators and freezers closed. Stock your pantry with shelf stable foods that do not require refrigeration. For more information about food safety, visit a reputable website such as the Red Cross.

You may not have water. If you have a domestic well for your rural home, it is likely that you will not have access to water during an outage. Because of this, some rural residents will fill containers of water for drinking and hand washing during the outage. It may be helpful to have bottled drinking water available.

• • If your community well does not have a generator for emergency power, you may have a limited supply of water.
  • Sanitation. If you have no power to your rural, domestic well, the water in your toilet’s tank will be limited. You can refill it by taking the tank lid off and pouring stored fresh water into it.
  • Flood water. Sump pumps cannot run without power. However, some are made with a backup battery. Also remember safety if you have flood water in your home – if outlets are under water, do not enter!

If you plan to use a generator, it is best to have a transfer switch for safe installation and use. This protects the customer and our linemen, who are working on the lines. See our policy for details. Rebates are available for new transfer switch installations.

Your cell phone has a limited battery supply – make sure it is charged if outages could occur. Depending on the severity of the outage, you may not have an opportunity to charge it by plugging it in at home. If you use your vehicle to charge your phone, make sure the vehicle is parked outside so the exhaust fumes do not come into your home.

• Sometimes during a storm, cell phone usage is high which can cause problems with connecting and dropping calls.

If you have a landline, understand that cordless phones usually won’t work. A phone with a cord may work, depending on model and service provider.