When BWL lines are down

The BWL's first priority is the safety of its employees and the public. In addition to responding to customer outage calls following a storm, BWL spotter crews patrol the service area to report on the extent of damages and dangerous conditions. The BWL's first efforts will be to clear and make safe all downed electrical wires.

Service restorations are performed in the following order of priority.

• Hospitals, Urgent Care Facilities
• Water Pumping Facilities
• Police and Fire Departments
• Waste Water Treatment Plants and Pumping Stations
• All restoration prioritizing not involving public safety will be scheduled to restore service to the largest number of customers within the shortest amount of time

The BWL has an automated call system called PowerLine. This call system is aimed at improving response to customer service outage calls. PowerLine handles up to 40,000 calls an hour and records outage information quickly and conveniently. The system automatically pulls service information from the customer data base, such as service ID, service address, cross streets and telephone number, even before it reaches the dispatch center.

Now by calling 877-BWL-5001, the PowerLine number you can also get outage updates. The system is now equipped to provide area specific outage information. The BWL service area has been divided by zip codes. Within an hour or so of an extended outage, recorded information will be available about the zip codes affected and the reason for the outage. Some time later after the extent of damage has been evaluated, the BWL will also post estimated restoration times on the PowerLine number.