Every year at this time people in south Louisiana brace themselves for another potentially destructive hurricane season. Hurricane season begins on June 1 and continues through November 30. Joseph H. “Jodie” Cotten, manager of Pointe Coupee Electric Membership Corporation, said, “Since we cannot stop hurricanes the only thing we can do is work on being better prepared and know what to do in case one hits.”

When severe weather causes power outages, employees of PCEMC begin working immediately to restore service as quickly as possible. Primarily lines serving hundreds of customers are repaired first, and then the secondary lines serving just a few customers are worked. Medical facilities and individuals on life-support systems are given top priority.

When lights go out, look outside and see if your neighbors are also in the dark. If they are not, check your fuse box or circuit breaker to see if you can locate the problem. If the outage affected your neighbors, call Pointe Coupee Electric at (225) 638-3751. However, once you have reported an outage there is no need to continue to call the co-op. Instead, stay tune to your local radio station for updates on our progress.

Outages that occur in severe weather or that last for an extended period of time, can place a heavy burden on the system at the moment power is restored. To prevent an overload on the system and possibly another outage, take these steps:

1. Turn off every inside light except one.
2. Turn down your thermostat.
3. When it is hot outside, open your doors and windows to circulate the air inside.
4. If the outage last over 60 minutes, turn off electric water heater.
5. Make sure your kitchen range is off, both the surface and the oven.
6. Turn off all unnecessary appliances.
7. Avoid opening the freezer door. A full, freestanding freezer will keep food at freezing temperatures about 2 days; a half full freezer about 1 day. For more information about food safety during and after a power outage, call the parish 4-H office or the USDA Food Safety Hotline at 1-888-674-6854.
8. If you see a downed power line, STAY AWAY!! Call PCEMC at once!
9. Leave your porch light on so PCEMC workers will know when your power has been restored.

When power comes back on, slowly switch your appliances and lights back on and gradually return your thermostat to its normal setting.

Pointe Coupee Electric Membership Corporation is an electric cooperative serving areas of Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge and Iberville parishes. PCEMC currently has storm preparedness brochures, hurricane tracking charts and how to operate a portable generator guidelines available at their office at 2506 False River Drive in New Roads. Please stop by Monday-Friday between 8:00 a.m and 4:30 p.m. to pick up these helpful brochures.

Pointe Coupee Electric is more than just an electric utility company. We are Connecting People…Impacting Lives!