Do not climb onto or interfere with electrical structures or facilities including transmission towers, poles, substations, and generating stations. These facilities control high-voltage equipment and lines that can cause severe injury or death when touched. For more information on consumer safety tips during emergencies visit the Safety First site on our utility's Web site. When the lights go out, Edison implements a six-step procedure that restores service to the most people as safely and quickly as possible. Because a transmission failure can cause widespread problems, these lines receive attention next.
Substations distribute power to thousands of customers.
If a problem can be corrected at this level, power may be restored relatively quickly. Power restored at this level will affect customers served by their feed line, as long as there is no problem farther down the line. Repairing a tap line, which carries power to utility poles or underground transformers, may restore power to 20 to 300 customers. Therefore, Edison goes through other steps first, often explaining why one neighbor has power, while another on the same block doesn't. Edison's Energy Control personnel use sophisticated computer technology to continuously monitor and control its entire transmission grid to detect and guard against electrical disruptions.