Winter Storm Preparations
At Fayette Electric Cooperative, one of our goals is to serve our members while also providing a safe workplace as we manage our day-to-day operations. However, like many others in our area, we are taking steps to prepare for the winter weather and we are also encouraging everyone around us to be prepared.
Forecasters are predicting continued rounds of precipitation across Texas through Thursday.
Significant freezing rain is expected across North, Central and West Texas through early Thursday morning. Major travel disruptions and some power outages and tree damage due to ice are expected.
Periods of isolated moderate to heavy rainfall through Thursday across East/Southeast Texas, resulting in the potential for street flooding in urban and low-lying areas as well as minor river flooding. No hazardous weather is anticipated Friday into the upcoming weekend.
In advance of the storm we will be making preparations, including stocking up on food and supplies, reviewing our safety procedures for employees, and reviewing our contingency plans.
At this time contractors have moved into position to respond quickly.
Residents are warned that the weight of ice could cause power lines to fall and could cause trees to fall.
The weather conditions may result in damage to our electrical system, numerous road closures, and hazardous conditions for our crews.
Residents and businesses in our service area could see sporadic outages depending on the ice in your area. Not all of our service area may experience ice.
As always, our crews are on standby in the event of any power outages.
When an outage occurs, power is first restored to substations and major lines, as well as to critical infrastructure in our area, such as hospitals, police departments, and other emergency responders.
Please be aware that sometimes during complicated repairs, you may have your lights come back on, only to have them go off again because we discover another problem that must be fixed.
We understand that it is very frustrating when a neighbor has lights and you don't, or that people across the street have lights and you don't. Often this may be because your home is on another circuit, or perhaps that your meter is damaged in a way that your neighbor's meter is not damaged.
For your safety, please stay away from any downed power lines.
If you are using a whole-home generator, it must have a transfer switch, installed by a licensed electrician, to prevent the generator from back feeding into our electrical system.
For the safety of everyone, if you are using a portable electrical generator, do not tie it into your circuit panel. An improperly wired generator can send power into downed lines causing serious injury or death to you, a family member, a neighbor, or one of our repair crews. A generator can only be tied into a circuit panel if a licensed electrician has installed a transfer switch.
Please store your fuel in a safe place away from the generator or any heat source so there is not an accidental fire.
If you run extension cords from your generator to your appliances, make sure your extension cords meet code.
Do not attempt to run too many appliances off of one generator because this could cause an overload and fire.
At this time our office is open.
Although we post service updates to social media, we do not monitor social media for reports of outages. All outages must be reported by phone.
To report an outage or a downed power line, you can call 979-968-3181 or 866-968-3181.
We will post any updates to our website at www.fayette.coop.