Phase 1: Repair High Voltage Transmission Lines
- Transmission towers and lines supply power to thousands of customers. They rarely fall but when they do, they must be repaired first before other parts of the system can operate.
Phase 2: Inspect/Repair Distribution Substations
- Distribution substations receive high voltage power from transmission lines and then disperse that power at a lower voltage to Paris BPU’s main distribution lines. Our 13 distribution substations serve over 21,000 customers across Paris and Henry County.
- When a major power outage occurs, Paris BPU crews inspect the substation to determine if the problem stems from the transmission lines feeding into the substation, the substation itself or if the problem is further down the line.
Phase 3: Check/Repair Main Distribution Lines
- If the problem cannot be isolated at a substation, crews then check our main distribution lines. The distribution lines carry power to large groups of customers across the county.
- Power can often be restored to large groups of customers once damage to distribution lines are repaired.
Phase 4: Examine/Repair Supply Lines
- If local outages still exist, crews next examine and repair supply lines. These lines deliver power to transformers that are either mounted on poles or placed on pads (for underground service) and can be found outside of homes, businesses and schools. Occasionally damage will occur on the service lines between the nearest transformer and your home.
- When the problem is in the supply lines, our crews will restore outages in the order that will restore power to the largest number of customers at a time.
- Service entrances, or the lines that carry power from the meter to the wiring inside your house, may be damaged as well. A licensed electrician will need to make those repairs to safely restore power to your home.
As you can see, restoring power after a major storm is no small task and is much more than just flipping a switch or removing a tree off a damaged line. When we work to restore power, we are often able to have multiple crews working on different parts of our system simultaneously, allowing for faster restoration times.
In the event of an outage please remember that our line crews will work tirelessly to safely restore power to the greatest number of customers in the shortest time possible and will keep working until the lights are back on!