There are times when an individual site will not have power when nearby homes do.
The cause could be an individual site outage caused by:
- Trees
- A blown transformer or fuse
- Electric equipment at the site
Who to Contact for Repairs
Members may be unaware that some of the electric equipment on their home is their responsibility to maintain. When damage occurs to any of that equipment, members should contact a qualified electrician to make the needed repairs.
When the equipment pulls away from the house, it may still be energized.
- Contact South Central Power to de-energize the electric service, so an electrician can make repairs
- Once the electrician completes the work, South Central Power can then reconnect the electricity
- Please note that some communities require an inspection before South Central Power may restore electric service
For all services, the consumer is responsible for all the wiring inside the structure and the breaker/fuse panel, whether inside or outside the structure.
Who Owns What Equipment?
If a storm damages:
- Any equipment owned by the co-op, South Central Power is responsible for repairs
- Any member-owned equipment, the member is responsible for repairs
Members should hire a licensed electrician when making any repairs to member-owned equipment.
View the Who Owns What (PDF) to see who owns what equipment.
Overhead Electric Service
South Central Power is responsible for the:
- Electric meter
- Electric service wires from the pole up to the point where the wires interconnect with the wires at the weatherhead
Consumers must maintain the electric service entrance, which includes the:
- Meter base
- Electric service cable
- Weatherhead
To provide safe clearance, the weatherhead is mounted on the side of the house or attached to a mast a safe distance above the meter base. The weatherhead is connected to the meter base by service entrance cable or cable inside conduit.
Underground Electric Service
South Central Power is responsible for the:
- Meter
- Wire going from the transformer to the meter base
The consumer’s responsibility includes the:
- Meter base
- Wire from the meter base into the house or outside breaker
- Conduit from the meter base to the ground
Meter Poles & Pedestals
Some properties use a meter pedestal to mount the meter base. The consumer is responsible for the entire structure and all equipment on it. South Central Power is responsible only for the meter and the wire from the transformer to the meter base.
If a meter is mounted on a pole, the consumer is responsible for the:
- Weatherhead
- Meter base
- Disconnect panel
- Any wire between the 3
If the pole serves only the consumer’s property, the consumer’s responsibility is:
- The pole
- Any guy wires and anchors
If the electric line into the pole also continues on to serve other properties, South Central Power’s responsibility is:
- The pole
- Any guy wires and anchors
In both cases, South Central Power is responsible for the wire to the pole and the meter.
Tree Trimming
During an outage or a storm event, tree trimming crews:
- Often must first cut through fallen limbs and downed trees that prevent line crews from restoring power
- Working on behalf of South Central Power do not haul away what has been trimmed, nor do they come back later to remove the debris
Clean-up and removal of tree-related debris becomes the property owner’s responsibility.