What should you do when the power goes out?
1. Determine if the outage is widespread or isolated just to your location. Check with neighbors to see if they still have power. Make sure the circuit breakers in your service panels are on and not tripped.
2. Look at your electric meter outside and see if it has power. If you see a digital display on the face of the meter, you should have power feeding your main breaker. If there is no display, call and report an outage.
3. If the meter has power and your meter is on a pole or pedestal, check the main breaker beneath the meter socket. If the breaker is in the “OFF” position, check all of your wiring from the meter pole to your various buildings before resetting the breaker to the “ON” position.
4. If you still do not have power in the house, you may have a problem inside the meter socket or in the lines feeding into the house. Call RECC to report a problem. A cooperative employee may return the call and walk you through the troubleshooting process to help determine whether the problem should be handled by RECC or by your electrician.
5. If the outage you are reporting is widespread, you may hear a busy signal or be answered by an automatic system that asks for your account information, but you should still give us your information so that we can be sure your outage is not caused by a different problem other than the large outage.
6. Once your outage has been reported, it will be dispatched to repair personnel who will restore your outage as soon as possible. Calling back repeatedly will not shorten the length of the outage, but may hinder the efforts of other members who are trying to report outages.
Report an Outage
Call RECC at (217) 438-6197 and give them the name of the account or account number, service address, and phone number.
Outage Communication
RECC uses text messaging and automated telephone calls to inform members about outages and other information that may affect their service. Stay informed by signing up for member notifications and make sure your phone numbers are up-to-date. Members can also follow us on Facebook to see posts on our outage restoration efforts. Facebook page.
Life-Support Equipment
If you depend on medical equipment for life-support, we recommend that you purchase a back-up power supply or arrange to stay with family or friends. In a major outage, we are unable to give you priority in restoring your electric service. We would, though, like to know if you have life-support equipment at your service location. Please let us know by sending us an email or calling our office during business hours.
Backup Generation
If you use a generator during an outage, please make sure it is done safely. All generators are required to have an automatic or manual transfer switch if they are connected to the home’s electrical system. Portable generators should always be operated outdoors with properly sized extension cords.
Restoring Power
How do we decide how to restore power? Hazardous conditions, such as downed power lines and blocked roads are our first priority, but our goal is to restore service to the greatest number of members in the shortest amount of time. We must start our work at the power source and work out toward the individual services along the system. These are the service restoration priorities:
- Transmission lines: High voltage lines that move bulk electricity from a generating plant to our substations.
- Substations: Electrical facilities that contain equipment to transform transmission voltage down to a voltage that can be transmitted through RECC distribution lines.
- Main distribution lines: The 7,200-volt lines that you see along roadways.
- Tap lines: Shorter lines of distribution that serve small numbers of consumers.
- Individual service: This is the line that runs from the pole transformer to your electric meter.
