Jun 1, 2018 | Safety and Security
Shown above: The Bloomsburg Fair following Hurricane Agnes, June 1972.
Hurricane season starts June 1 and continues into the fall. And while we might think of the warm tropics when we think of hurricanes, experience shows these storms can have a big, destructive impact here in Pennsylvania.
Here are six tips to help you ride out any storm:
1: Prepare an emergency kit. Or, if you made a kit years ago and haven’t checked it since, there’s no better time to update it. Kits should include bottled water; first-aid supplies; non-perishable food, pet supplies, and more. Visit our website for more info.
2: Make medical arrangements. If you rely on powered medical equipment, you should have a battery backup, a generator, or a firm plan of where you’d go for help in case of a sustained power outage.
3: Set your PPL Alerts. In the event of an outage, our alerts will keep you posted on estimated restoration times as they become available. You can get the info by phone, email, text, or any combination. Visit pplelectric.com/alerts to customize your alert preferences.
4. Be aware of the weather. Regularly check weather information so you’re aware of what’s in the forecast.
5. Have flashlights ready. Candles aren’t a great choice during outages because they create a fire risk. We recommend having a few flashlights on hand – and some spare batteries for them.
6. Do it now. This might be the most important tip of all. Take steps to prepare now, while the weather is clear. When a big storm is moving in, you’ll be thankful you did.
Dec 2, 2017 | Safety and Security
Thinking about promoting your yard sale, band concert, or campaign for township supervisor by posting signs on utility poles?
Please don’t.
Posting signs or posters on utility poles is unsafe and, in many cases, illegal. Our line workers can be injured if their
climbing hooks strike a nail, tack or staple that has been hammered into a pole. The fasteners also could tear the rubber equipment our workers wear to protect against electrical shock.
Section 6905 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code makes it a summary offense to drive a nail or tack into a utility pole. (Don’t believe us? You can read it here.)
Even if the posters are affixed with tape or string, they can still cause problems. The signs can hide identifying markers on poles, slowing our efforts to locate the source of trouble in the event of a power outage.
In addition, many communities have laws prohibiting the posting of signs or posters on poles by any means. (Some communities are cracking down on these postings, as seen in this WBRE/WYOU news story from November 2017.)
We know our poles appear to be a high-visibility place to post messages. But when you do that, you’re putting our workers at risk, and most likely breaking the law. So, again, please don’t.
Our line workers thank you.
Oct 26, 2017 | Safety and Security
At Halloween, we love to see princesses, vampires and superheroes ring the bell. But if fake utility workers come to your house, we want you to shut the door.
Utility impostors are an evergreen-type scam that shows up now and again. Here’s how it works:
- Someone will come to the door claiming to represent PPL or a PPL contractor. (They may also pose as a utility worker from the cable, water, or phone company.)
- They’ll ask the customer to come outside to look at work that needs to be done.
- Another scammer will enter the house and take money or valuables while the customer is outside and distracted in conversation.
It’s fairly rare that we will ask customers to come look at work that needs to be done. And the employees and contractors who might do this – such as meter technicians – often work alone, not in pairs. But it’s possible that a legitimate PPL representative might invite a customer outside to look at work or equipment.
How can you slam the door on scammers? Here are a few suggestions.
- If you choose to come outside with any person – PPL or otherwise – it’s a good idea to close and lock all doors so no one can enter your home while you’re out. A legitimate PPL employee or contractor will wait while you do this. (Don’t forget to bring a key with you, of course.)
- Any PPL employee or contractor will provide ID on request.
- You can also call us at 1-800-DIAL-PPL (342-5775) to confirm that we have employees or contractors working in your area. (Have the person at your door tell you what company they represent and give you a clear description of the work they are there to do. This will help us verify.)
- If you contact PPL, and you are still not completely sure of the identity of the people at your door, dial 911 to have law enforcement respond for assistance.
This scam sometimes targets elderly customers or those who live alone. If you have a friend or family member who fits that description, please share this information with them.
Together, we’ll make “utility impostor” a costume that doesn’t pay off.
Jun 12, 2017 | Safety and Security
As morning TV watchers might have noticed, we hosted — and hoisted — a special visitor at our Lancaster Service Center early in the morning of Monday, June 12.
Drew Anderson, weatherman at WMPT Fox 43 in York, met with Regional Operations Director Dana Ferber for a series of live shots during the station’s morning program — including one from a bucket truck. We were pleased to have the chance to talk with Drew about safety, reliability and other topics.
For those who couldn’t tune in on the day, here are a few snapshots:
Drew (who wears a hard hat well) used cups of coffee and cold water for a demonstration of infrared cameras. We use infrared cameras for line and equipment inspections — “hot spots” may be a sign of problems that we can fix before they turn into outages.
We use drones for some line inspections as well, as Drew and Dana discussed here.
More from the hot-vs.-cold infrared demonstration.
On one of the hottest mornings of the year so far, Drew put on some of the safety gear worn by our line workers for a taste of what it’s like to work in the field.
Dana explains the importance of safety in all we do.
Getting a firsthand look of the line worker’s life, Drew, Dana and a cameraman go up in bucket trucks for a live broadcast.
More from the live broadcast — going on the air, from up in the air.
Apr 18, 2017 | Safety and Security
Our good friends at Pennsylvania 811 do a great contest every year that benefits fire companies while promoting public safety.
And it’s pretty simple.
Fire companies are asked to post an 811 message on the marquee outside their fire hall, take a photograph of it and send it to contact@pa1call.org.
Pennsylvania 811 will promote all of the entries on its Facebook page and on Twitter.
And those fire companies that send along photographs are entered in four different drawings for a $500 prize. Those drawings take place on July 1, Aug. 1, Sept. 2 and Nov. 23. So each fire company has four chances to win $500, while displaying a very important message.
Click here for details. If you’re a firefighter, or you know one, please share the information. You may be a winner!
April is a perfect month to get that message out for everyone to see, since it is National Safe Digging Month.
PPL Electric Utilities is proud to be among the utilities that sponsor the contest because we know calling 811 can save lives. Pennsylvania 811, the state’s 811 call center, says that underground utility lines are damaged every six minutes because someone digs without first dialing 811.
State law requires that an 811 call be made before digging with power equipment. When dialing 811, callers are connected to Pennsylvania 811, which notifies the appropriate utilities of an impending dig. Professional locators are then sent out to mark the site to show the location of underground utilities such as power lines.
