Check your breakers when your power is out before calling PEC
If your power goes out, you may be able to get the lights back on yourself. Before reporting an outage to PEC, check your main breakers. What does that really mean?
Circuit breakers are designed to protect your home from power surges and electrical shorts. They trip open if there’s a problem, causing you to lose power to part or all of your home. It’s important to know most homes have two breakers; one outside, usually next to your meter or HVAC unit, and the main fuse box, which is usually inside. You can quickly and easily check these breakers to determine if you have an open breaker or a true power outage. We’ll show you how.
- Start with your fuse box. Hold your hand near the box to check if there is heat coming off the panel. If there is, step back and call an electrician. If the panel feels normal, check the switches for any that are turned toward the “off” position — these are your tripped breakers.
- Flip any tripped breakers all the way to the “off” position, and then back to “on.” If the power is back on, make sure to close the breaker box properly.
- If the power is still off, head outside to the other breaker box, usually next to your electric meter or HVAC unit. Follow the same steps as above. Do not touch outside breakers if it is raining or wet!
- If the power is still off, report the outage to PEC on SmartHub, or by calling the outage line at 888-883-3379. Once you report it, our crews will work hard to get your power back on as quickly as possible.
