When the Power is Out

What To Do When The Power Goes Out

  • Check to see if other houses in your neighborhood are dark
    • If you are the only house without power, check your service panel or breaker box for tripped breakers or blown fuses
  • If power is out to your area, use your landline phone (if possible) and call the Grays Harbor PUD Outage Reporting Hotline at (360) 537-3721 or (888) 542-5923
    • Follow the instructions provided on the automated system.
  • Leave an outdoor light switched on as well as a light inside your home, so both you and our crews will know when your electricity has been restored

Safety Tips

  • Don’t burn charcoal briquettes indoors – not even in your fireplace
  • Don’t operate a generator indoors
  • To ensure your safety, avoid areas where PUD crews are working

Turn Off Appliances

Turn down your thermostat and turn off your water heater circuit breaker

  • This will help reduce demand for electricity when power is restored
  • If the demand is too great, the system will overload and cause the power to go off again

Turn off and unplug all sensitive electrical equipment such as computers, television sets, stereos, and microwave ovens:

  • This will protect your equipment in case there is a change in voltage as the power comes back on
  • Use a surge suppressor to protect your electronic equipment
  • Major appliances that are too large for a surge suppressor (microwaves, refrigerators, washing machines, ranges, and dryers) should be unplugged or powered off at the breaker panel

Once Power is Restored

Once your power has been restored, wait 20 minutes before turning equipment on

  • Sometimes there’s a fluctuation in voltage when electricity is restored

Keep freezer and refrigerator doors closed as much as possible so the cold air stays inside until the power comes back on:

  • Food will stay frozen in a full freezer for about 2 days and for about one day if the freezer is half full
  • The thawing rate depends on what kind of food is in the freezer (meat will stay frozen longer than baked goods)
  • You can use dry ice to keep food frozen for a longer period of time

Water Pumps

If your water pump is powered by electricity, an outage could restrict your water use:

  • Conserve water and store as much as possible in closed or covered containers, somewhere where it won’t freeze