Power Outage Numbers and Preparation Tips

Power outages are a big concern with this winter storm. At last count, at least 117,000 customers are without power. <br/><br/>PSO is reporting 24,000 customers are without power in McAlester, Checotah,

Friday, January 12th 2007, 2:31 pm

By: News On 6

Power outages are a big concern with this winter storm. At last count, at least 117,000 customers are without power.

PSO is reporting 24,000 customers are without power in McAlester, Checotah, Grove and Broken Arrow. OG&E says it has 18,250 customers without power. Most of those customers are in Muskogee, Porum and Warner.

Several eastern Oklahoma electric cooperatives also are reporting outages. In all, 51,000 customers are without service. Those utilities include NorthEast Oklahoma Electric, Lake Region Electric, East Central Electric and Kiamichi Electric.

With more sleet and freezing rain expected through Sunday, those utilities could see could see additional power problems.

News on 6 anchor Craig Day says so far, we haven't seen widespread utility problems in the Tulsa area. But PSO says it has plenty of employees on standby in case they're needed. They also want customers to be ready just in case.

When the winter weather starts to get bad, PSO employees all look to the sky. Will it be snow? Will it be sleet? Will it be freezing rain?

Freezing rain is the most taxing to power lines, and on a night like this, is the power company's biggest enemy.

"When we see weather coming in, it's pretty much all hands on deck and all employees know they may have a role to play," PSO spokesperson Andrea Chancellor said.

Although, some other parts of Green Country have larger outages, so far, Tulsa is seeing sleet, which isn't as hard on power lines.

Still, Tulsan Jason McBride is stocking up on supplies, in case he loses power.

"We're not taking any chances." McBride said.

PSO says throughout much of the day, at any given time, they've only had about 20 customers without power, some in Bixby, a few in Broken Arrow, a handful in Tulsa. But they say the situation is much worse over in Oklahoma City and in other areas west of Oklahoma.

PSO wants customers to be ready for any outages over the weekend.

"This year, the outages that we've had in the last two storms. The one that came in November and the one that came now, knock on wood, have been fairly on our customers and fairly easy on PSO," Chancellor said.

As for Jason McBride, he doesn't want to take any chances.

"Candles, matches, anything that can give some light, in case power does go out would be very helpful. So I recommend people stock up on those items," said the Tulsa resident.

Most utilities work to restore power on a priority basis with places like hospitals, nursing homes and emergency response agencies first.

AEP-PSO says it's impossible for crews to accurately predict when power will be turned back on to individual homes

There are always questions during a winter storm like this one.
PSO suggests you read and print these recommendations before your power is impacted.

What To Do If The Lights Go Out and What To Do During Major Storms