How Walton EMC Prepares for an Outage

Our time-tested storm plan allows us to restore power to the most people at one time.
Most outages occur when trees fall on power lines due to high winds or frozen precipitation accumulating on the branches. By having right-of-way contractors keep trees and other growth trimmed away from power lines, Walton EMC workers gain easier access to problem areas.
A computerized outage reporting system can handle thousands of phone calls an hour.
All substations and their outgoing circuits are remotely monitored by computer. The system automatically alerts us to problems or failures anywhere on the system.
Walton EMC employees from other departments are cross-trained to help with outages.
We have agreements in place for mutual aid in times of crisis and contact other EMCs and contractors to secure help before the damage.
Our dispatchers constantly keep an eye on weather radar and current forecasts in order to have crews standing by for fast response.
We keep an extra stock of commonly-used materials and have vendor arrangements to get additional materials in short order.