As we enter September, a month dedicated to preparedness, it’s a good time to review how we can best protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community from unexpected emergencies. National Preparedness Month is a reminder that disasters can strike at any time, and being prepared can make all the difference.
While we do many things throughout the year to remain prepared for storms and emergencies, we encourage you to do the same. Here’s how you can get ready, stay connected, and stay safe—before, during, and after a storm:
Get prepared:
- Create an emergency plan and discuss what your family would do in different scenarios, such as a power outage, sever weather or other disasters. Identify a meeting place, ensure everyone knows how to contact each other, and practice your plan regularly.
- Prepare an emergency kit with food, water, medication, flashlights and pet supplies.
- Charge your phones and devices.
- Make alternate plans if you have a medical condition which requires electricity.
- Purchase power strips with lightning arresters or surge protectors for your appliances and electronics.
- Consider installing lightning rods on your property.
Stay connected:
- Sign up for local emergency alerts and stay tuned to the weather forecast.
- Report power outages online at pplelectric.com or text “Outage” to TXTPPL (898775).
- Sign up for alerts to stay connected and receive outage updates at pplelectric.com/alerts.
- Check the status of an outage and estimated restoration times online at pplelectric.com/outage.
- Follow us on social media, where we will post the latest storm and restoration updates.
Stay safe during and after storms:
- Stay away from utility poles and metal conductors.
- If you encounter a downed wire at any time, assume it’s energized and stay away. If you see one, report it immediately to PPL Electric.
- Electric and plumbing equipment may carry lightning current. Avoid using any appliances or electronics plugged into an electrical outlet.
- If using a portable generator during a power outage, never operate the generator in an enclosed area, like a garage, where deadly carbon monoxide fumes could accumulate.
- Remember that candles can start fires. Always use flashlights instead.
- If you lose power, turn off any appliances that were on when the power went off.
- For your safety and ours, please keep a safe distance from our crews.
How we prepare
At PPL Electric Utilities, we do many things throughout the year to remain prepared for storms and emergencies. That includes the work we do to strengthen and modernize our energy grid to prevent power outages from happening when outage-causing storms strike.
We also monitor the health of the electric system through helicopter and drone inspections, and we use sensors and infrared technology to make upgrades and repairs.
And we’ve developed industry-leading smart grid technology that reduces the number of customers affected by outages and automatically reroutes power around trouble spots. Since 2015, approximately 2 million outages have been avoided due to smart grid technology. And since trees are the leading cause of outages during storms, trees and vegetation are trimmed along thousands of miles of power lines each year.
Other reliability improvements include:
- Upgrading power lines and poles with stronger, more storm-resistant materials across our distribution and transmission systems.
- Adding more automated sensors for improved fault isolation and restoration.
- Deploying predictive sensors to identify issues before outages occur.
- Installing avian guards and lightning protection along transmission lines.
Storm preparation and response
We also monitor weather forecasts daily and look days ahead to begin preparing and mobilizing resources when severe weather is expected. As storms approach, we activate our storm teams with additional personnel in the field, and at control centers and on our customer service staff across the 29-county service territory. We may implement 16-hour shifts for around-the-clock coverage. And we dispatch crews and resources to respond as safely and quickly as possible to any outages that may occur.
When storms cause outages, an established restoration process is followed to get all customers back in service as safely and quickly as possible. While every customer is a priority, critical systems like hospitals come first. After the most critical systems are restored, workers move on to repairing lines that will bring back electricity for the largest number of customers and then smaller neighborhoods, individual homes and businesses.
Helping me to turn on my electric
Wifty
I said I was going to pay my bills in full on the 26 of August, but something happened to the buyer of my house and had to reschedule for Saturday the 7th and I will pay them in full on Monday the 10th.
I’m sorry about the mix-up and I’ve been a customer with you for 40+ years,so if you have any questions please let me know. Thank you
Good Afternoon Scott, We would like to review & document your account. Please send us a PM or DM at http://www.pplelectric.com with your account address, phone number & payment plan so we can prevent any interruption of service. If you prefer, you can also call to speak to a Representative at 1-800-342-5775 weekdays 8am-5pm. Thanks!
I would like to get a payment arrangement please I live of SSI. By my self …
Good Afternoon Alex, please set up a payment agreement and apply for bill assistance for your account under http://www.pplelectric.com/billhelp. You can also call us to set up an agreement for you at 1-800-342-5775 (say payment agreement.) Thank you!
Why are my monthly bills so high each just for only a Room apartment and the monthly bill are so high why?
Good afternoon Ishaya, We understand your concerns and recommend speaking to a Representative from our Energy Education team weekdays 8am -5pm to review the increased usage on your account at 1-800-342-5775. Also, check out our no-cost Virtual Home Energy Assessment. Your free virtual assessment includes a phone consultation with a trained Energy Advisor, energy efficiency recommendations, and a free personalized energy savings kit. For more information and to set up an appointment, visit http://www.pplelectric.com/virtualassessment. In addition, if you have an existing web profile for your account, please review your daily & hourly usage under https://www.pplelectric.com/analyze. You will be able to view the time of day your usage is highest contributing to an increase in usage and make lifestyle adjustments. To find energy saving tips and more ways to save in your home, please visit SaveWithPPL.com. Thank you for reaching out to us!
Why did clean energy change me over to them?.
I don’t wish to switch to them.
Good afternoon Joseph, Please know you will need to contact Clean Energy with your question. Generation Suppliers reach out to customers to offer savings or encourage enrollment with their company with better rates. If you are not with a supplier, your account defaults to PPL Electric. Please read more about your choice to shop safely for suppliers under https://www.pplelectric.com/shopsmart. Thanks for reaching out to us!
Do you have any complimentary programs that could make my home function more efficiently, perhaps with a home visit assessment !
Good afternoon Jean, We offer a Virtual Home Energy Assessment with a trained Energy Advisor from PPL which is a great way to find savings suited to your home. It could mean an easy solution to an energy challenge you’ve been dealing with for some time. After the assessment, you’ll also receive a free energy savings kit that ships straight to your door. Schedule your free assessment under http://www.pplelectric.com/virtualassessment or call 1-877-486-9204 weekdays 8am-6pm. Thank you for reaching out to us!
Thank you for taking the time to provide helpful tips to get prepared and stay safe for emergencies. It’s so easy to neglect this matter—but a reminder is a good way to prod us to take action!! Thank you so much.
I’ve been a customer for a very long time. My Ontract ran out and I received a letter stating they were going to prorated my bill/payments until i reapply . Well my payments went form 35 to 237 and my account days I have 11 months remaining. How is this possible when your ppl self login cite doesn’t allow you to do anything with Appling for help or even email customer service for help? I can’t reapply for my one-act when it’s now saying in already involved? How does my payments go from 35 to 227? I would love to get some help and answers.
Good afternoon Elizabeth, We would like to provide some answers & assistance. Please call us weekdays 8am-5pm at 1-800-342-5775 (say OnTrack) during the prompts. Thanks!
Ok
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Do you have a PPL app
Good Morning Gerald, We do not have an IOS/Android app currently. However, our website is designed to adapt to whichever browser or operating system you’re using. You can also save our website to your home screen as a shortcut so it’s easy to access. Thanks for your question.