During an emergency power outage, follow these tips to keep you and your family safe:

Stay away from downed power lines and report them immediately to Tacoma Power at (253) 502-8602.

Observe the extent of the outage

• If your neighborhood is also without power, call Tacoma Power at (253)502-8602 to report the outage.
• If your house is the only home without power, the problem may be internal. Observe your electric service panel and check breakers or fuses before calling Tacoma Power. 
• If your electric panel appears to be OK, the problem may be your external power service drop. Contact Tacoma Power at (253) 502-8602 to report a problem. You may need an electrician as well.

Report outage by calling (253) 502-8602, after you've confirmed that it's more than just your own home.

Unplug electrical appliances during power outages to prevent damage to equipment when power is restored. Turn off stove burners. Leave one or two lights on so you know when service is restored.

Vent fueled space heaters (e.g. kerosene and propane) to avoid potentially fatal carbon monoxide build-up. Never use propane or gasoline lanterns and gas or charcoal grills indoors. Learn more about carbon monoxide poisoning.

Operate generators outside, away from open doors to your home. Never plug your generator into your home’s outlet. Know which appliances or equipment can safely be plugged into your generator. Learn more about generator safety.

Keep refrigerators and freezers closed to retain cold temperatures. Food in a full freezer can stay frozen up to two days.

Close curtains and blinds and consider covering your windows with blankets to keep heat in.

During a power outage, Tacoma Power is working hard to restore power to it's customers. Our damage assessors and work coordinators will review the utility’s system and determine staffing assignments to get your power back on as soon as possible.

We generally restore power in this order:

1. Transmission or substation lines – potential to restore power to thousands.
2. Primary lines – potential to restore power to hundreds.
3. Secondary lines – potential to restore power to dozens.
4. Power service drops – individual homes.

Within those efforts, Tacoma Power’s main concern is primary lines with:

1. Life/safety facilities such as hospitals, jails and water or sewer processes.
2. Critical processes, such as city halls/emergency operations centers. 
3. Large population facilities, such as schools.