Stay safe
Monsoons can create dangerous situations for our customers, such as downed utility poles and/or power lines.
“When we respond to an outage, we always prioritize safety,” said Scott Kahrs, an APS troubleman/lineman. “If there’s a safety threat, such as a utility pole on the ground, public safety is going to be our No. 1 priority.”
So, what should you do if a monsoon storm brings down a pole or a line in your neighborhood?
First, it’s critical for customers to stay clear of downed lines until the scene has been secured.
“We recommend people stay at least 100 feet away if they see power lines down in the road or on the ground,” Kahrs said. “There’s really no way for anybody to tell if a downed line is energized or not. As a lineman and a troubleshooter, I’ve seen energized wires lay on the ground and not move or make any noise. And you’d think an energized line would hit the ground and be popping and blowing up. It does that most of the time, but depending on the conditions, it can lay on the ground and not alert you that it’s energized. So, no matter what, we tell customers to always treat a downed line as energized and to always keep their distance from it.”
Second, you should call 911 and then call APS at (602) 258-5483.
“We work with first responders on how to best secure the area and how to keep people away so the fire departments and police departments will be able to get out there quickly and secure the scene for us to make the repair,” Kahrs said.
Keep informed
If storm activity causes an outage, you can report it online at aps.com or call 855-OUTAGES. Have your APS account number handy, if you can, before you call as doing so enables customers to report an outage through an automated phone system.
Because all outages are unique and fluid based on weather conditions, accessibility to damaged areas and other variables, every power restoration time can be different.
For information about a specific outage, we encourage customers to subscribe to outage alerts to receive text/email updates or visit our Outage Map should they lose power during a storm.
