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Be Safe

O&R urges its customers to stay clear of downed electric wires. Don’t go near any downed wire. Assume it is energized and dangerous. Call O&R immediately toll-free at 1-877-434-4100. If the situation requires urgent action, call your local police at 911 to divert traffic until an O&R crew arrives. 

How to report an outage

If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that O&R automatically knows about it. You can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on through: 

• At www.oru.com/ReportOutage from any computer or web-based mobile device.
• O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device — download via Apple Store or Google Play.
• Text messaging by texting “OUT” to 69678 (myORU) or
• Call 1-877-434-4100.

Important Safety Tips

• Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity and keep pets on a leash or otherwise secure.

• If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car and make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.

• Pole-top transformers – those small grey-colored metal drums attached to the wires at the tops of most utility poles – also should be avoided when they have been knocked to the ground.

• Portable generators pose a serious hazard if used improperly. They should be used and installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A wrong connection could feed electricity back through the lines and endanger our repair crews. Never plug a generator into a wall unit, use it indoors or set it up outdoors near open home windows or air-handling vents.

• Have emergency equipment within reach — portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications.
• Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.