Hurricanes and ice storms, tornados and blizzards. Electric cooperative members have seen them all. And with such severe weather comes power outages. Restoring power after a major outage is a big job that involves much more than simply throwing a switch or removing a tree from a line.

The main goal is to restore power safely to the greatest number of members in the shortest time possible.

The major cause of outages is damage caused by fallen trees. That's why electric cooperatives have ongoing right-of-way maintenance programs.

Steps to Restoring Power Illustration

To learn more about how power is restored after a major disaster, download our illustration in one of the following formats:

• Steps to Restoring Power (low-res PDF, 316 K)
• Steps to Restoring Power (high-res PDF, 1.6 MB)
• Steps to Restoring Power (high-res TIFF, zipped, 17.9 MB)

We also offer an enlarged portion of the illustration which explains who has responsibility for repairing electric equipment (such as the meter box attached to your house).

• Who Repairs This? (low-res PDF, 148 K)
• Who Repairs This? (high-res PDF, 628 K)
• Who Repairs This? (high-res TIFF, zipped, 3.2 MB file)

When using any of these files, please credit North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives.