MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — With the threat of strong winds on Friday and frigid temps this weekend, utility companies are preparing for power outages.
Middle Tennessee Electric is watching everything unfold in real-time, so they can respond quickly to those outages.
MTE relies on their system control room for any weather event. If any one of their customers loses power it will be seen inside that room.
"A control center like this is not necessarily typical. We think in order to serve our members to the best of our ability and meet expectations, it’s important," MTE president and CEO Chris Jones said.
Jones said it’s all about preparing ahead of time, so with the threat of high winds trees are always a major concern.
"When trees get into the lines or tree is heavy enough to where it disrupts the line and breaks a pole, our crew members have to go on sight and take care of the situation. It could be clearing the vegetation or resetting a pole," Jones said.
This large system allows operators to see where the issue at at, so they can get a crew there as soon as possible to fix it. Operators coordinate with field crews to give customers a time frame on when their power will be restored.
"When they tell us how long it will be until they get it restored, we are going to put it into the system. If they signed up for notifications, they’re going to get it," systems control supervisor Shawn Futrell said.
Futrell says even with the technology, they still rely on customers to report outages.
"We have a large system and sometimes when you have an outage it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s happening," Futrell said.
Jones said MTE is known for their quick response and they’re hoping to keep that reputation ahead of severe weather.
MTE serves about 750,000 people in 11 counties.
If they have a large outage, they will focus on restoring power to critical infrastructure first like hospitals.
If you still have internet access, you can report outages online. You can also call them at 877-777-9020.
