Fall and winter is the time of year when we need to make sure we are prepared for the power outages. We encourage you to take a few moments and review the information below.

• Purchase needed items for your home, office, and car: flashlights, batteries, AM/FM battery powered radio, food.
• Keep cash and change on hand; in power failures ATMs may not work.
• Phones that are cordless and phones with answering machines are power dependent. Have one that does not require power to operate in case you need to call 9-1-1. Keep your cell phone charged.
• Keep your car fuel tank at least half full because gas stations rely on electricity to power their pumps.
• If you have an electric garage door opener, find out where the manual release lever is located and learn how to operate it.
• Check your smoke detectors to make sure the batteries are operating. Have a fire extinguisher and know how to operate it. Have a fire evacuation plan and practice fire drills.
• If your smoke detectors are wired directly into the electrical system they will not operate during a power failure. Consider purchasing a smoke detector with batteries as a backup. Special smoke detectors are available for the hearing impaired.
• During the power outage unplug all small appliances to a avoid power surge. Leave one light on so you know when the power comes back on.
• Monitor the Puget Sound Energy Power Outage Map