Is the power interruption in your home only or is the entire neighbourhood affected? If it appears the entire area is experiencing an outage, call Elexicon Energy to report it.

If your neighbours still have electricity, the issue may be in your home. Inspect your circuit breaker panel or fuse box. To reset a tripped breaker, turn it back to the “on” position. Replace any blown fuses – be sure to keep extra fuses on hand.

Another common cause of a power outage is damage to your home’s service wires. If this is the case, treat wires as if they were live and stay 10 metres away. Notify Elexicon of the issue.

When the power goes out, immediately turn off and unplug appliances, tools, and electronic equipment. This is especially important for computers and monitors as lightning strikes can cause power surges that can burn out your computer and wipe everything on it. Using a surge protector on the power bars for televisions and computers can help to avoid damage.

Turn down your thermostat to prevent damage from a power surge when electricity is restored.

Leave one light on in your home and outside to let you and the utilities teams know when the power is back on.

Refrigerators are insulated and can remain cool if you keep the doors closed. This will reduce the amount of spoilage if there is an extended power outage. In fact, most food will remain frozen for up to 36 hours if it has been in a closed freezer.

If a power outage occurs in the evening or at night, you may want to use candles to light your home. Just be sure to keep them out of the reach of children and pets, and never leave a lit candle unattended.

Pay attention to local media for updates on the situation. Elexicon’s website is also a reliable source for information, updates, and advice from authorities.

You may also want to read “What to do BEFORE a power outage” and “What to do AFTER a power outage”.