Restoration Process

Restoring Power: What Comes First

During a thunderstorm, ice storm, snowstorm or tornado, there's a chance that Duke Energy's electric system could be damaged, causing a power outage to your home. When a storm knocks out electric power, Duke Energy crews typically work to restore service using a method that will return power to as many people as quickly, as safely, and as efficiently as possible.

If power is out in our transmission lines - the major lines carrying power between cities and towns - we are sometimes able to reroute power. If we cannot reroute power, repair of our major transmission lines becomes a priority. When power goes out in our distribution lines - the ones that carry electricity into your neighborhood - crews must be dispatched to the site of the problem. For safety reasons, repair crews will try to locate downed power lines, fallen trees, etc., and make an assessment of the damage. If you are aware of a downed power line, please stay away from the line and call us. Main line feeds to electrical customers such as hospitals, law enforcement agencies, public utilities and communication centers are also a top priority.

 restoring power diagram

The diagram above is a simplified look at how your power is restored:
  1. Duke Energy crews will begin repairs at the main line from the substation. This will usually restore power to a large number of customers. Because this line feeds others, it's necessary to start repairs here before other problem areas can be fixed.
  2. Once the main line is fixed, the crew moves to the next troubled area where the most customers are without power. At this stage, repairs are made to secondary lines known as "taps." While a crew may pass other trouble spots on the way, repairing the service that feeds an entire subdivision will get a larger number of customers on more quickly.
  3. Crews will next make repairs to smaller tap lines. Making repairs to this tap line will restore power to these four homes.
  4. After tap lines are repaired, the crew will focus its attention on making repairs to individual service lines that run from a pole to a customer's meter. Individual repairs affecting a single customer usually come after other problems are addressed because utilities typically tackle the problems affecting the largest number of customers first. It has probably been frustrating for this customer to see his neighbors' power restored while a utility crew passes by his house, but often a repair that restores power to a single customer can take as long as one that brings power back to an entire street or subdivision, which is why problems are often addressed in terms of number of customers affected.