Puget Sound Energy crews focus first on restoring power to high-voltage transmission lines that provide power to substations serving large numbers of customers in a broad geographic area.
Priority for power restoration also goes to essential services such as hospitals, water/waste water systems, energy and transportation.
Once the high-voltage transmission system and substations are back online, PSE crews focus on repairing damage to distribution and service lines – the lines that directly serve homes and businesses. During an outage, one part of a neighborhood may have its lights on while another remains without power. Because our electric system works in sections or circuits, PSE crews re-route power around the damaged areas, thereby isolating the section that requires repairs.
Depending upon the severity of a power outage, it may take PSE crews many hours to provide accurate power-restoration estimates. PSE's first priority in restoring power is safety to the public and employees. Crews make certain that downed power lines do not create a safety hazard. Once the damage is assessed, PSE crews restore power as quickly as possible. Following restoration, crews will schedule any follow-up repairs needed to permanently repair the damaged electric system.
This video explains how we go about restoring power outages.