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1. When should I call to report an outage?

When someone calls to ask how long it will take to get power back on, the honest answer may be, "We don't know yet." During severe weather, an increase in phone call volume can divert important resources, so we encourage you to give our crews time to respond to an outage before you report it to our Operations Center at 919-553-1530 because they most likely already know about it. In severe emergencies, the Town of Clayton will open up its Emergency Operations Center at Fire Station 1, where our network of police, fire, utility and streets crews gather information about conditions throughout Town and dispatch crews quickly and efficiently. Our local Clayton Public Power team is always ready and can also call on our network of Public Power cities across North Carolina if we need even more back-up.

Our all-hours number for Town of Clayton Power Emergencies is 919-553-1530. You can talk to a real person about your outage or downed lines.

If you have Duke Energy Progress power, they have an automated call line: 800-419-6356.

2. How does the Town find out about outages?

The Town of Clayton has an automated system that alerts our Electric Department whenever the power goes out. That automatic alert is sent to crews and they begin to respond before most people can even pick up their phone to report the outage. It does take our electric crews time to arrive at the scene, especially if road conditions are bad, but they work quickly to determine the cause and safely begin repair work. That's one of the benefits of being on Clayton Public Power: our crews are local, right here in Clayton, ready and waiting to respond.

3. Why do ice storms cause outages?

Ice and snow storms lead to a build-up of ice on power lines and trees. The weight of that ice can cause limbs or even entire trees to fall onto power lines, causing outages.

If your power goes out temporarily, give it a few minutes to see if it comes back on. If it is a prolonged outage, please report the outage to the Town of Clayton by calling 919-553-1530.

Being prepared and planning ahead are critically important in remaining safe during storms. NC Public Power communities have several tips to help:

How to Prepare

• Stock up on non-perishable food, medicine, baby supplies and pet food.
• Purchase bottled water: 1 gallon of water per person per day.
• Gather emergency supplies, such as flashlights, battery-operated radios, extension cords and emergency generators, and purchase extra batteries.
• Monitor official weather bulletins.
• Keep extra cash on hand.
• If a family member uses life-sustaining medical equipment, develop an emergency plan for generating power or plan to relocate.