When the power goes out, we all want to know the same thing – what caused the outage and how long until the power is going to come back on? While Conway Corporation outages are often relatively short and weather related like the one last night, rest assured that regardless the reason, our crews are working around the clock to ensure your power is restored as quickly as possible while you wait.
Last year, Conway Corporation was recognized with the Reliable Public Power Provider designation from the American Public Power Association for consistently providing the highest degree of reliable and safe electric service. We were recognized largely in part because frequency and duration of power outages in the service area is exceptionally low. In fact, we keep the lights on 99.99 percent of the time.
But when your power does goes out, restoring it safely and quickly is our number one priority. When a power outage occurs, Conway Corporation first ensures public safety. Then we work our way down the line making repairs prioritizing the jobs at each step that help the most people.
When our crews are notified of an outage, they immediately assess the situation and follow specific steps to restore power as quickly and safely as possible:
Protect Public Safety Safety always comes first when dealing with electricity. Our top priority is to clear downed power lines that pose a public safety hazard, and crews give immediate attention to dangerous situations such as power lines on roadways or streets. Sometimes, tree branches or limbs must be cleared from the area before repairs can be made. In addition, Conway Corporation also prioritizes public health and safety facilities such as hospitals or police and fire stations ensuring they have power first.
Repair Distribution Substations Substations are the next critical link in the chain, and these repairs are the next highest priority. Substations receive power from transmission lines and act as a distribution and switching system for residential and business consumption in the city. Each substation serves thousands and must be repaired before they can supply power down the line to individual residences.
Repair Main Lines Main lines carry power from substations to neighborhoods or large areas, and are the primary power lines leaving the substation. These are typically the lines affected when you are having a power outage at your home.
Repair Tap Lines Tap lines are smaller lines that branch off from the main lines to deliver power to smaller groups down individual streets. They connect to transformers mounted on poles or are placed on pads underground.
Repair Individual Connections Once repairs to the larger system are complete, crews can begin working on damage to an individual service connection. These are the lines running directly to a home from a transformer. This is the most difficult and time-consuming step because crews must visit individual homes and properties in order repair lines, poles and equipment to a single dwelling. This is why it’s also important to report your outage to Conway Corporation, because crews may not be aware of damage on your individual connection or that your home is still without power once power is restored across the city.
The best way for customers to report an electric outage is to notify us via telephone at 501-450-6000. If phone lines are busy due to high call volume, you can also click here and use the online outage reporting form. When a major outage occurs, visit the website for updates or follow us on Facebook or Twitter for updates.
Our men and women work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide reliable services to the residents of Conway, and we’re proud of the work they do each and every day. We’re proud to be recognized as one of the best public power providers in the nation, and we appreciate the opportunity to serve you.
