How is electric service restored after a major wind or ice storm causes damage to the lines? No, it is not who you know that counts. It is the circumstances surrounding your particular outage that matter. Restoring electrical power is a very logical process, and the accompanying chart shows a simplified version of how cooperative linemen go about restoring service to each home. The first location cooperative personnel check, when an outage occurs is the source of power, the substation. Then, just like spokes on a wheel, the linemen work their way out on the main distribution line, repairing and restoring service to the main feeder lines. It would be useless to repair a small wire attached to a house if the main line was dead. No electricity would flow into the house, and other people would be without power for a longer period of time as a result. In the accompanying diagram, efforts would first be made to restore the main distribution lines. Since there is no damage to the lines leading to House 2 and House 3, repairing the main line would automatically bring them on. Next, any problems with the tap lines leading off the main line would be cleared up. Repairing the tap line would restore service to House 4 in the diagram. It is only after all of the high voltage lines were repaired that problems at individual homes would be corrected. In this example, problems with the lines running to House 1 and 5 would be the last to be repaired and then power would be fully restored. Your electric cooperative works year-round to provide you with the most dependable electric service possible. This predetermined plan for restoring electric service in the case of an outage helps your REC service its members in the most efficient manner possible. \ TIP RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE PO Box 534 Brooklyn, IA 52211 Phone 641-522-9223 Fax 641-522-9271 EMAIL US   Web Services by ICE Technologies Pella, Iowa 641-628-8724 Copyright ©2002 TIP Rural Electric Cooperative