Power Outage
In the Event of a Power Outage
- Check your fuses or breaker panel. First, check your indoor breaker panel to see if it has tripped or blown a fuse. If this appears to be the problem, you will need to reset your breaker or replace the fuse. You should note that a blown fuse or tripped breaker is a warning that you may have a defective appliance or you have overloaded the electrical circuit. For repair, you will need to contact a licensed electrician.
- Check the main breaker outside. If you are completely out of power, and the problem is not your electrical panel or fuse box, please check the main breaker to see if it has tripped or blown a fuse. The main breaker is located outdoors below or beside your electric meter. If this appears to be the problem, you will need to reset your breaker.
- Check your neighborhood. If power is not restored by resetting your breaker, please check surrounding homes and/or businesses. Are they out of power, too? This information helps the Cooperative determine the scale of the outage.
- Check MEC’s online Outage Map. Members can see real-time severity and status of outages on MEC’s online Outage Map. If your outage is not visible on the map, please report the outage.
- Report the outage. If you’ve tried all four steps above, please call our office at 406.541.4433 to report the outage.
Reporting an Outage
During a power outage, we ask that members call our office at 406.541.4433. Please be prepared with the primary service address, phone number, meter number or account number for the residence or business experiencing the outage. If you get a busy signal, please be patient and leave a voicemail, as our Member Service Representatives are most likely answering a surge of outage-related calls.
If an outage occurs after-hours, on a weekend or during a holiday, the Co-op’s answering service will dispatch our on-call crew to assess the situation and restore power.
If you are aware of the cause of the outage, please provide this information to our team (e.g. – a tree has fallen on the line, a car hit the power pole, etc.). This can save us a great deal of time when attempting to restore power. Please know that our team will work as safely and quickly as possible to restore power.
During an Outage
Keep refrigerators and freezers closed when possible, as food can keep for up to 24-hours in consistent temperatures. If an outage should last longer than that, please make arrangements to store your food elsewhere.
Preparation is Key
Make a plan and be prepared for the unexpected by reviewing these simple power outage tips, courtesy of Ready.Gov.
Planned or Emergency Outages
During routine maintenance or in emergency situations, power may be disconnected for the safety of our personnel, members or community. We will make every effort to notify you in advance of these outages, which is why it is important to keep account information current (e.g. phone number, email, mailing address, etc.). You may also sign up for outage notifications in your online member account.
Life Support Equipment
If you or someone in your home is on life support or oxygen, please don’t wait for an outage to notify us. Complete the form below, providing all relevant medical documentation, so we can flag this on your/their account. These accounts will take priority when service is being restored. We encourage those requiring life support equipment to consider a backup generator as a precautionary measure.
