Power Outage and Emergency Safety

Take precautions to ensure safety during a power outage or electrical emergency

Assemble a preparedness kit to help in the event of any kind of emergency, including items such as a flashlight, non-perishable foods, manual can opener, bottled water, blankets, battery-operated radio and clock and extra batteries.

If someone in your home is on life support, be sure to have a back-up system and a plan of action for an outage or emergency.

During a power outage

First check fuses and circuit breakers. If the power failure is not caused inside the home or business, customers should report the outage to their electric service provider. Rocky Mountain Power customers should report an outage by calling toll free at 1-877-LITES OUT (1-877-548-3768).

As much as possible, do not open refrigerators and freezers. Food and perishables inside will stay cold for a longer period of time if not opened. Your full freezer should keep food frozen and safe for about two days when kept closed.

Preserve body heat by wearing multiple layers of clothing. Add a hat and blanket to stay warm. Blankets and towels around windows and doors help keep the heat in.

Never use kerosene or propane heaters inside without proper ventilation. They create dangerous fumes. Also, don’t ever use charcoal in your house or garage.

Protect your pipes during freezing weather by wrapping them with insulation. Also, leave faucets dripping so water won’t freeze and crack the pipes.

Turn on your porch light when power is back in service. After crews complete repairs, they patrol the area of the power failure to see if lights are on.

For more information, including the safe use of generators, go to:

 beready.utah.gov/family/power.html