Electricity 101: Restoring power after outages

December 16, 2025 | Wire Staff | electricity 101, power outages, safety, severe weather

OPPD crews work to restore power in the yard of a customer after a major weather-related outage. OPPD works as quickly and safely as possible when restoring power.

Power outages have a variety of causes: severe weather, interference from animals like birds or squirrels, even a car hitting a power pole, for example. And then there are the big storms – ice, snow, wind, tornadoes and more.

Power outages can happen anytime, day or night. That’s one of the reasons OPPD monitors its electric system 24 hours day, every day of the year, from the Energy Control Center.

Whether an outage is small and only lasts an hour or so, or large and lasts for days, OPPD has a diligent approach to restoring power. When a weather event causes a widespread outage, one of the first steps of restoration is restoring power in areas where large groups of customers can be restored most quickly. This is also when OPPD prioritizes necessary services: hospitals, first responders and core infrastructure, for example. This phase typically involves work on distribution lines.

Once large groups and necessary services have been restored, OPPD’s crews move on to smaller areas and other types of infrastructure. This phase of restoration may take longer if the repairs are complex. Also, sometimes restoration can be delayed if equipment that is the homeowner’s responsibility has been damaged and the homeowner might hire a licensed electrician to make repairs.

This graphic illustrates what OPPD is responsible for and what homeowners are responsible for when restoring power.

The next phase of restoration involves more isolated repairs. Restoration in this phase happens more slowly because typically the work restores just a few customers at a time.

These various phases of the restoration process can happen simultaneously across the affected areas.

Regardless of the cause of an outage, OPPD is committed to restoring power as safely and quickly as possible.

Safety reminder

If you come across a downed power line, treat is as if it is energized and do NOT go near it.

Never touch a fallen power line or anything the line is touching.
Ensure that children and pets remain indoors or otherwise safely away from a downed line.
Never drive over a downed power line.
Always call OPPD at 1-800-554-6773 or call 911 immediately to report a fallen power line.

To learn more about outages, how OPPD handles them and what else you need to know, check out the video below.

And come back soon. We’ll end the year with a recap of what we’ve discussed over the course of 2025, and we’ll seek your input on other topics you’d like us to explore. Until then – happy holidays!