Nothing is more critical than knowing how to prepare for a storm and, if you lose power, ensuring that your family and loved ones are safe. But even after the storm passes and Oncor finishes many of its repairs, your work might just be starting, especially if you own a home or business.

Repairs to Customer Electric Equipment

Severe weather can damage your home or business’s electrical equipment, just as it impacts Oncor’s poles and wires. Falling limbs and trees or wind and debris can break equipment that you as the homeowner are responsible for maintaining, like the meter base or the weatherhead. If this equipment is damaged, you will need to contact a licensed electrician to make the necessary repairs.

Oncor will not be able to safely reconnect or restore power until these repairs are completed and is unable to repair electric equipment it does not own.

If you are without power after a storm, begin by safely assessing the equipment that falls under the responsibility of the home or business owner. This includes:

• Weatherhead. This is usually a hood-shaped cap on a metal pipe that connects your home to the electric service lines.
  
  
• Electrical wiring in and around your home. This includes wires that connect the weatherhead to the electric meter and any wires leading from the electric meter.
  
  
• Meter base. This is the enclosure that houses the Oncor electric meter and it’s usually on the side of your house. If a meter base is damaged, most city electric codes require a building code inspection before electric service can be restored. That means your licensed electrician must install a new meter base and contact the city for an inspection before Oncor can install a new meter or reconnect electric service.

If this equipment has been damaged or pulled off, call Oncor at 888.313.6862 to initiate a temporary hazardous disconnect. You will then need to contact a licensed electrician to repair or replace the broken equipment.

Some areas require a city inspection once the work is completed before service can be restored, so be sure to check with your local authorities. Upon completion, the city will send Oncor confirmation that the work passed inspection. You should then call 888.313.6862 to request a reconnect after the temporary hazardous disconnect.

Oncor Equipment & Storm Debris

A storm can often cause tress to fall on or around your property. If damaged trees hit or threaten to hit our equipment, Oncor employees or contractors will clear those limbs and trees. We will also haul away the leftover brush once our work is complete. This removal may take several days or weeks, because our priority following a major outage event is to reconnect power to all customers and then focus on the clean-up.

Oncor will not cut or remove trees that have fallen on your property that don’t impact our equipment. We also will not remove brush left behind by pruning that is performed by the city or communications companies.

Oncor owns, maintains and will repair the following electric equipment:

• Wooden utility poles  
• Overhead and underground power lines
• Electric service lines that run between utility poles and to your home
• Transformers
• Electric meters

Storm Impacts to Your Power Bill

After a storm, you might have questions about your bill and wonder if you were charged for days that your home had no power. Oncor may estimate usage based on historical data if we can’t communicate with your meter during an outage.

Once power is restored, Oncor can pull the actual usage information from the meter. We will make that information available to your retail electric provider (REP). It is up to your REP to rebill you if they find it is needed, given the new readings.

Customers can report outages and receive updates by downloading the MyOncor App and following Oncor on Facebook and Twitter, or by calling 888.313.4747. If you see a downed power line, stay away, keep people away and call 911 immediately.