Think safety first during winter storms

PPL Electric Utilities reminds residents about staying clear of downed lines, other hazards
 
Winter’s ice and snow can bring on a mixed bag of potential power hazards, and PPL Electric Utilities wants residents in its 29-county service territory in eastern and central Pennsylvania to remember some important safety rules.

“While our year-round maintenance and reliability efforts are aimed at reducing the number and duration of outages, they can and do occur in severe weather,” said PPL Electric Utilities’ Gregory N. Dudkin, senior vice president of operations. “Following basic safety rules and being prepared for power outages are measures we encourage all customers to take.”

Customers can find outage safety information online at www.pplelectric.com by clicking on the outage center link.

If you encounter a downed line, remember the following:

    * Stay clear. Assume the power line is “live.”
    * Keep people and pets away from the area around the downed power line or any equipment in contact with a  wire. Tree limbs, objects, the ground and even people can carry an electric current that can cause serious or fatal injuries.
    * Don’t try to move or touch an injured person on or near a downed wire.
    * Call us immediately at 1-800-342-5775. When prompted, press 1 for “electrical emergency.”
    * Stay in your vehicle if it comes into contact with power lines and wait for emergency crews to arrive.

When power outages occur, PPL Electric Utilities works around the clock to repair damage until all customers are back in service. Follow these steps during an outage to stay safe until power is restored.

    * Stay clear of electrical equipment where there is standing water, such as a flooded basement.
    * Do not use gas ovens or ranges to heat your home.
    * Turn off electric ovens, ranges or space heaters that may have been in use when the outage occurred.
    * Unplug sensitive home electronics that can suffer damage when power is restored.
    * Avoid candles and use flashlights instead. Candles can cause a fire
    * Never run a generator in your home, basement or other indoor
space where exhaust fumes may accumulate.

If you have a generator,
follow the instructions for setting it up, being careful not to feed
electricity back through PPL Electric Utilities’ power lines, which
creates a hazard for our workers.

“At PPL Electric Utilities, safety is a top priority, both for our employees and customers,” Dudkin said. “We don’t want people taking matters into their own hands and getting hurt, or worse, in the process.”