Report an Outage

If the power goes off in your house, check if a fuse has been blown or a breaker has been tripped. You may need to only replace the blown fuse or reset the breaker. However, you should note that a blown fuse or tripped breaker is a warning that you may have something wrong. Perhaps you have a defective appliance or have overloaded the circuit. If repairs are necessary you should call an electrician. If all looks fine in the house, check to see if there is a main breaker located just below the meter. If this main breaker is tripped, you can reset it. Please note, this may also be an indication that something is wrong on your side of the meter. If resetting the main breaker does not restore your lights, check with you neighbors to see if  they have power. Finally, please give us a call. The more information you are able to provide for our crews, the more quickly they will be able to restore power to you.

(406) 446-2310 or 1-800-472-9821

Tips

When You Report an Outage

When you make the call, give us your name, location (physical address), and phone number. If you know what may have caused the outage, please provide this information as well. If you get a busy signal, please keep trying. The phones will be answered as quickly as possible. During widespread outages there may be a delay in answering  your calls. Please be patient and stay on the line until  your call is answered. Rest assured that we will work around the clock, if necessary, to restore your service as quickly as possible.

While The Electricity Is Off

Keep the refrigerator and freezer closed. Food can keep for at least 24 hours. If an outage should ever last longer than that, make arrangements to store your food at another location.

Life Support Equipment

If someone in your home is dependent on life-support equipment, don't wait until an outage to notify us. Call us immediately. We will give these residences priority when services are reconnected. Consider making a stand-by generator available as a precautionary measure.

Scheduled Outages

Occasionally the Cooperative will need to schedule a planned outage in order to do maintenance or repair work on the power lines. We will make every effort to notify you either by mail or phone, as time allows. We will broadcast notices on the local radio station and our website FM 99, The Mountain, for extensive planned outages.

Short Outages/Blinks

Very short outages called "blinks" are more common due to the capability of today's protective devices. For example, if a branch falls onto a power line, the power to this line is automatically interrupted until, hopefully, the branch falls clear of the line. If the branch falls clear, power will automatically be restored. These occurrences are considered temporary or transient faults.