How do I report a power outage?
Report it — even if you assume they already know
Utilities' outage-management systems triangulate from customer reports: each report helps the system pin which transformer, tap line, or circuit is actually out. A block where three households report beats a block where everyone assumed someone else did — and if the utility believes your area is already restored (it happens after big repairs — see how restoration works), your report is what re-opens the job.
Thirty seconds before you report: is it just you?
Check the main breaker and any tripped GFCI outlets, and glance at the neighbors. If the block has power and you don't, say exactly that when you report — a service-line problem is a different crew and a different fix than an area outage. The full checklist, including partial-power warning signs worth mentioning, is in why is my power out.
A downed line is a 911 call first
If a line is down, sparking, or tangled in a tree — or you smell burning near electrical equipment — call 911 before anything else, keep everyone at least 35 feet away, and treat every line as live, per Red Cross guidance. Then tell the utility too: hazard reports route ahead of ordinary outage tickets.
The fastest ways to report
Most utilities take reports through an app or website outage form, an automated outage phone line, and often text-to-report — the number is printed on your bill, and the official links live on your utility's site. Save your utility's reporting route in your phone now (our area pages link each tracked utility's official map and reporting site, so your address's page is a quick way to find yours). During a big storm the phone line queues; the app and text routes usually don't.
What details actually help
Your service address or account number gets the report onto the right transformer. Beyond that, say what you observed: whole home or partial power, whether neighbors are out, anything you saw or heard (a bang, a flash, a tree limb on the line), and any hazard. "Partial power" and "line down" change how the ticket routes — vague reports still help; specific ones help faster.
What happens after you report
Your report joins the outage-management system's map; crews are dispatched in the restoration priority order — hazards and transmission first, then the repairs that restore the most customers, then individual services. The posted restoration time may move, especially early: initial estimates are made before damage assessment finishes. Our reliability research measures exactly how often posted times slip, so plan with a margin.
Ignore the payment calls
Outage moments attract impostor "utility" calls demanding immediate payment — sometimes threatening disconnection — to "restore" power. Crews don't work that way, and utilities don't take gift cards. Hang up and use the number on your bill if anything about a call feels off; report the scam to your utility so they can warn others.
Reporting for someone else
You can usually report an outage at someone else's address — an elderly parent, a relative you check on — through the utility's outage line or form using their address. If that household depends on powered medical equipment, reporting early matters more, and it's worth setting up the utility's medical registry ahead of time; our medical-device guide covers that and the backup planning that goes with it.
Then let the updates come to you
After reporting, you don't have to redial the outage line for news. Your address's page shows the live outage count around you, the utility's posted restoration time as it changes, and our independent estimate with a public accuracy record — plus a free browser alert for the moment your power's back.