Outage Information

How to Respond to Power Outages

What happened? When the power supply is interrupted to your home, it can be startling. Knowing what to do during an outage will help you get life back on track. Vital Power recommends:

• Turning off appliances during an extended outage and, when power is restored, turning them back on one at a time. Several large appliances can overload your home’s circuits if the all start up at once.
• Staying patient during an outage. Power may be restored to your neighborhood in stages.

Staying Safe

Your safety is our greatest concern. Talk with your family about the dangers that may be present during electrical outages. To avoid injury and life-threatening conditions:

• Stay away from all downed utility lines. Assume that any line on the ground is energized.
• Don’t remove debris within 10 feet of a power line. A downed wire might be hidden underneath the debris.
• Keep children and pets inside after a storm. Downed power lines are deadly.
• Avoid standing water near wires and appliances.
• Do not run generators in wet conditions.
• Electric garage doors won’t open without power. If you leave your home, take a door key with you for your return. To open your garage door, pull on the emergency release cord and use the lift handle to raise the door.

Who to Call During an Outage

Report outages to your local Transmission and Distribution Utility (TDU). Vital Power is your electricity retailer and is not associated with transmission or restoring power.

We recommend keeping the phone number for your TDU on your cell phone, so that you are prepared for an electrical outage. If your computer does not have a battery backup, it may prove helpful to print emergency contact information.

The following companies supply electricity in Texas:

• AEP Texas Central: (866) 223-8508
• AEP Texas North: (866) 223-8508
• Centerpoint Energy: (800) 332-7143
• Sharyland Utilities: (956) 668-9551
• TNMP: (888) 866-7456
• Oncor: (888) 313-4747

Not sure which company serves your area? The USAGE section on your bill includes a graph of service areas.