Sep 7, 2023 | Safety and Security
September is National Preparedness Month, and amid an active storm season, we encourage you to plan ahead so you’re ready if an emergency strikes.
“This year, we have already experienced 36 storms across the regions we serve,” said Sal Salet, vice president of Distribution Operations. “While we continually maintain and upgrade our grid to better withstand more severe storms, we recommend all of our customers plan ahead to be ready for any emergency.”
Here are a few steps to get you started:
- Make a plan: Develop an emergency plan including everyone in your household so you’ll know how and where to meet, how you’ll contact each other and what to do in different situations.
- Be prepared: Prepare an emergency kit, including non-perishable food, water, medication, first aid supplies and any pet supplies you may need. Also include batteries and battery-operated flashlights. Store your emergency kit in one location that’s easy for everyone to find and preferably in an air-tight container.
- Stay Informed: We use several ways to communicate before storms and during emergencies. One way to stay informed is through alerts. Sign into your online account and adjust your alert preferences at pplelectric.com/alerts. You can choose to receive a phone call, email, or text message for status updates about an outage. For more tips on reporting outages and staying safe during a storm, visit pplelectric.com/outage.
We also take storm-prep very seriously and constantly prepare for emergencies. Here are a few things we do to prevent outages:
- Ongoing investments: Throughout the year, we make key investments to strengthen our electric system to be more resilient against severe weather. This work includes investments in grid automation, comprehensive line clearing and enhancements to power lines, poles, and other equipment. Since 2015, our smart grid technology alone has avoided more than 1.7 million outages.
- Training and safety measures: Our teams are constantly training on storm-response techniques and practicing how we respond and dispatch crews. Leading up to severe weather, our team monitors the weather and its impact across surrounding regions so we already have crews ready to respond when the storm hits.
- Mutual response: We maintain mutual assistance relationships that provide access to critical resources and hundreds of crews in 29 states and four provinces in Canada when mobilizing for potential large-scale restoration efforts.
“Our customers are always top priority,” said Salet. “That remains true whether we are restoring power after a storm or planning investments to our grid.”
Don’t wait for a storm to hit. Use National Preparedness Month as a reminder to make a plan, create a kit and be prepared for any type of emergency. Stay safe!
Jul 6, 2023 | Energy Efficiency
Did you complete a home improvement project this summer? You can bundle our standard rebates and bonus rebates with tax credits to maximize your savings. Pairing tax credits with our rebates is a great way to save extra on energy upgrades that improve the comfort, health and energy efficiency of your home.
Learn how you can bundle rebates, bonus rebates, and tax credits.
Projects that may qualify for a federal tax credit and a rebate from our rebate program include:
- Air-Source Heat Pumps
- Central Air Conditioning
- Heat Pump Water Heaters
- Insulation and Air Sealing
These projects are all part of the ENERGY STAR® Home Upgrade, which includes the highest-impact, most energy-efficient improvements you can make in your home.
Whether you’ve already completed energy-saving upgrades in the past year or you’re planning ahead, remember to take advantage of federal tax credits. You may qualify for up to $3,200 in federal tax credits this year. Visit pplelectric.com/bundled to learn more.
Dec 22, 2022 | Storms and Outages
Power outage? Text “outage” to “TXTPPL” or report it here.
Update: 12.24.22, 6 p.m.
- Winter Storm Elliott, which began Thursday afternoon, has caused power outages across our territory.
- As of approximately 6 p.m., less than 2,000 of our 1.4 million customers were without power.
- Since the beginning of the storm, our crews have restored power for nearly 102,000 customers.
- Our crews continue to work to restore each and every customer as safely and quickly as possible. The best way to stay up to date on your specific outage is through PPL Alerts here. You can also check the status of an outage here.
- We’re expecting very cold temperatures throughout the weekend. Please read the extreme cold safety tips below. Stay safe and be well.
Update: 12.24.22, 12 p.m.
- Winter Storm Elliott, which began Thursday afternoon, has caused power outages across our territory. If additional outages occur today, we’re prepared to respond.
- As of approximately noon, about 5,000 of our 1.4 million customers were without power.
- Since the beginning of the storm, our crews have restored power for nearly 100,000 customers.
- Our crews — as well as crews from peer utilities — continue to work to restore each and every customer as safely and quickly as possible. The best way to stay up to date on your specific outage is through PPL Alerts at pplelectric.com/alerts. You can also check the status of an outage online at pplelectric.com/outage
Update: 12.23.22, 4 p.m.
- Winter Storm Elliott, which began Thursday afternoon, has caused power outages, and we’re expecting more outages as the storm evolves.
- As of approximately 4 p.m., about 32,000 of our 1.4 million customers were without power.
- Since the beginning of the storm, our crews have restored power for more than 53,000 customers.
- Our crews — as well as crews from peer utilities — continue to work to restore each and every customer as safely and quickly as possible. The best way to stay up to date on your specific outage is through PPL Alerts at pplelectric.com/alerts. You can also check the status of an outage online at pplelectric.com/outage
- The temperature is falling and we’re expecting very cold temperatures throughout the weekend. We encourage our customers to stay safe during this time.
Update: 12.23.22, 10:30 a.m.
The forecast is calling for plummeting temperatures as an artic front moves through the area. Please stay safe and be prepared with these tips:
- Prepare and maintain an emergency kit with food, water, medication and any pet supplies you may need.
- Open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home and close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.
- Heat loss is even greater during periods of extreme cold. Cover drafty windows. Roll up a towel or blanket for the bottom of drafty exterior doors. (When possible, add caulk or weather stripping to seal air leaks around leaky doors and windows.)
- When you are home and awake, set your thermostat as low as is comfortable. (If you raise the thermostat, your home will use more energy.)
- Before going to sleep or if you’re out of the house, turn your thermostat back 10° to 15° for eight hours and save around 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills.
- Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning. Keeping the damper open is like keeping a window wide open during the winter; it allows warm air to go right up the chimney.
- Check the seal on the fireplace flue damper and make it as snug as possible.
- If you have a power outage, avoid using candles for lighting because they can start fires. Use flashlights instead.
- If you use a portable generator, never operate it in your home, garage or any enclosed area where deadly carbon monoxide fumes can accumulate.
- If you rely on medical equipment or have special personal needs, plan what you would do in the event of an extended power outage at your home.
Update: 12.23.22, 9 a.m.
- Winter Storm Elliott, which began Thursday afternoon, has caused power outages. We’re expecting more outages throughout the day as winds ramp up and temperatures plummet. Our crews — as well as crews from peer utilities — continue to work to restore each and every customer as safely and quickly as possible.
- As of approximately 9 a.m., about 2,600 of our 1.4 million customers were without power.
- Since the beginning of the storm, our crews have restored power for more than 20,000 customers.
Update: 12.22.22, 1 p.m.
Winter Storm Elliott has entered our area and is expected to bring rain, wintry precipitation, heavy winds, and plummeting temperatures through Saturday. With a storm of this magnitude, we are expecting power outages. We want you to know that we’re ready to respond.
We have more than 2,000 employees from our own team and peer utilities prepared to support our restoration efforts. We’ll work as safely and quickly as possible to assess damage and restore power to all customers who are impacted.
We’ll be posting updates on this page throughout the storm. If you need to report an outage, check estimated restoration times, or adjust your alert preferences, click here.
While we’ve prepared for possible outages, we want you to be prepared too:
- Charge your cell phones, portable chargers, and other electronic devices so they’re ready to use in case of an emergency.
- Prepare or update your emergency kit with food, water, medication, and pet supplies.
- Double check your flashlights for batteries.
- If you have a portable generator, test it to make sure it’s working, but don’t operate in an enclosed area, like a garage, where carbon monoxide fumes could accumulate.
- Assume any downed power line is energized. Stay clear by at least 100 feet and keep kids and pets away. If you see a downed power line, report it immediately by calling 1-800-342-5775.
Jul 14, 2022 | Customer Service
Sharing your personal information anywhere can be a risk. But we have a simple and safe solution. Sign up for paperless billing and access your account on our secure website. We can guarantee your billing and payment info, as well as your energy use, will be protected.
Go paperless for these great benefits and more:
- Safeguard your personal info and prevent identity theft with an online profile at pplelectric.com
- Set up bill due reminder alerts at pplelectric.com/alerts, so you never miss a payment
- Pay your bill within a few clicks on our secure website
- View, download, and print one year of bills anytime
- Avoid paperwork, envelopes, checks, and stamps
Make the switch to paperless billing today.
Jul 11, 2022 | Community Involvement
Firefighters face many dangers – not the least of which are electrical hazards – while battling fires and working to keep others safe.
So when the Scranton Fire Department had the chance to learn from PPL Electric Utilities how to keep themselves and others safer around power lines and other electrical components, its members jumped at the opportunity.
Dan Hallowich, deputy chief of Scranton’s Bureau of Fire, said the lessons we provided with our Live Line Electrical Safety Exhibit were “second to none.”
“More often than not, we have to rely on theoretical discussions and case study review to learn about electrical hazards,” Hallowich said. “This presentation was able to put theory into action for us. We were able to see, hear, and in some cases smell, the outcome of these hazards allowing the development of key sensory memories – which is key for split second decision making.”
“Without a doubt, the PPL Electric Live Line Safety Presentation has improved our knowledge and understanding of electrical hazards throughout the community resulting in a safer environment for our members.”
Our 7,200-volt exhibit features live electrical wires, utility poles and transformers. Using ladders, gloves, shovels and other tools in a controlled environment, trained PPL Electric staff wearing protective equipment recreate sparks, flames, smoke and crackling that occurs when those items, as well as tree branches and mylar balloons, contact live electrical lines. We also discuss the importance of calling 811 before digging.
To date, we’ve reached more than 55,000 people with nearly 600 demonstrations since 2016. And more than 50 electrical safety demonstrations have been scheduled for fire departments, municipalities, safety events and fairs across our 29-county service territory during 2022. We’ll once again be doing daily demonstrations at the Bloomsburg Fair, which takes place from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1.
If your organization is interested in a demonstration, please contact Doug Haupt at dlhaupt@pplweb.com or 610-297-2461. Available dates for 2022 are limited, but 2023 bookings have begun. There are several requirements for the demonstrations: an audience of at least 50 people is required; we need an area suitable to accommodate the exhibit; and the host organization is asked to invite nearby first responder organizations.
For more information about how we keep our communities safe, visit pplelectric.com/safety.
