Power Failure

Hundreds, sometimes thousands of folks lose power every day in our area. Specifically, we're speaking in regards to CenterPoint Energy’s service region here in the greater Houston-metro area.

You may find yourself in a panic and ask yourself "What do I do now?"

When this happens, here are a few things to help you get your power back ON as quickly as possible.

First Actions

1. Check the CenterPoint Energy Outage Tracker. 
2. If you don’t see a reported outage in your area already being tracked by CenterPoint, you’ll need to do the following:
   • Check with neighbors and see if their power is also out.  If so, more than likely it is a CenterPoint related issue, and simply needs reporting to them along with the patience to await power restoration.
   • If your business or home is the only one without power, you need an electrician.

When You're the Only One Without Power

Typically, if you’re the only business or residence without power, the electrician will need to make some determinations with some quick, simple troubleshooting.  Below are some common causes of power outages that are your responsibility to maintain and repair:

Burnt Connections or Wiring at the Electrical Service

Let’s face it, sometimes things get “hot” in Texas and connections simply work loose and “burn.”  Several different things can cause even the tightest connections to loosen, such as:

• Fluctuations in temperature, which causes metals to expand and contract and wiggle out of their homes. This can be due to varying weather patterns, ambient heat from equipment or machinery being emitted and then turned off, or from the use of the actual wiring itself, which heats up as electricity runs through it.
• Vibrations from equipment, nearby vehicles, railroad tracks, or essentially anything.  If it makes a sound, it vibrates the air around it.

When electrical connections come loose, they can "arc out," causing high electrical currents to travel through the air and produce high-temperature plasma.  This can burn your connections and create resistance, preventing more electricity from going where it's actually needed.

Failed Metering Equipment

Although a power company’s meter is supplied by them, the housing for the meter is maintained by you as the owner.  If their meter fails, it's on them.  If the equipment that the meter is touching fails, it is the owner's responsibility.

Blown Fuses

Sometimes fuses blow during weather related “power surges” or a variety of other reasons, such as:

• Too much power being consumed on your premises, exceeding your equipment's ratings
• Wiring that has shorted or faulted and needs repair or replacement.
• Fuses are old, outdated, and unreliable.

Breakers Tripped

Sometimes your breakers trip and need to be reset.  Ultimately, the cause of the breaker trip could be the same cause that make fuses blow as described above. However, a tripped breaker shouldn't  just be reset and ignored.  Unless the cause is immediately apparent, a tripped breaker should always be investigated to prevent future nuisance tripping or bigger problems down the road with a piece of failing equipment that could become a safety hazard, if it isn't already.

Once Your Power is Restored

When you get power back on, there’s some things you’ll want to be mindful of.

You’ll want to start up and test all machinery, equipment, or HVAC systems to make sure they’re running properly.  Often times, when power fails, equipment will go into a “safe-mode” which is meant to protect itself from improper voltages, high currents, etc.

Make sure your equipment is brought back online properly and checked out before assuming all is well. Document any damaged equipment, machinery, computers, or HVAC systems.  CenterPoint Energy has a claims process that can help get those items replaced when the local power grid fails and it falls on them for the responsibility.  Here’s a link to their claims policy.

This article has been shared by Direct Service, Construction and Design to specifically accommodate our intended clientele.  The intent of sharing this information is to better inform the public of these general topics, expand knowledge and safety for all and provide crucial information in regard to their MEP and building systems and/or assets. It is NOT our recommendation that any article recommendations or how-to scenarios be attempted by anyone other than a qualified or competent person.