Restoring power after a storm is not a simple process. According to Memphis, Light, Gas, and Water, or MLGW, it could take some time.
According to the website, MLGW serves 429,000 customers with 4,379 miles of overhead wire and an additional 450 miles of transmission lines.
As soon as it’s safe, crews will go out and survey the area.
"We will first send out our troubleshooters,” said Gale Jones-Carson with MLGW. “Our troubleshooters will assess our damage, then a determination will be made on which crews need to go out to begin the restoration process."
First, the company needs electricity from the Tennessee Valley Authority. Crews will repair any damage to its transmission lines and towers.
Next, crews work to restore power to its substations. That includes hospitals, police stations, water pumping stations, and other priorities critical to public health and safety.
"Our employees will be working 16-hour shifts,” said Jones-Carson. “They will be working 24/7 to make sure our services are restored quickly and safely."
MLGW has more than 60 substations, with lines above and underground.
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“It takes us a little bit longer for power restoration for underground," said Jones- Carson. "Because you have to go underground, find the outage, and repair it. We do have about 40% of our customers with underground lines."
In step #3, crews finally move into the neighborhood restoring power to areas with the most outages first. In this step, crews repair primary and secondary distribution lines. That will fix some of the outages in your neighborhood, but not all of them.
If your neighbor has power but you don't, your home probably uses an individual service line. That's the final fix in the restoration process.