DALLAS (February 4, 2023) – 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.

Severe weather can damage your home’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. If this equipment is damaged, like the meter base or the weatherhead, there are steps that you need to take to ensure repairs can be made safely.

Your first step is to call Oncor at 888.313.6862. We will initiate a temporary hazardous disconnect. You will then need to contact an electrician to repair or replace the broken equipment. Some areas require a city inspection once the work is completed before service can be restored. Upon completion, the city will send Oncor confirmation that the inspection has passed. You should then call 888.313.6862 to request a reconnect after a storm hazardous disconnect.

Next, a storm can often cause tress to fall on or around your property. You should remember that if trees hit or threaten to hit our equipment, Oncor 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.

But remember, 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.

Lastly, 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 attempt to 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.

For information on the what equipment Oncor maintains and what equipment you as a homeowner must maintain, click here. Our agents can walk you through what is required for temporary hazardous disconnect. More information can also be found here.

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.