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Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative

Email 2 of 4: Reporting an Outage

We don't like outages, either.

But sometimes Mother Nature has other things in mind. Your cooperative works year-round maintaining the system and making sure we're ready to respond to power outages. When severe weather is predicted, our crews are ready to roll if an outage occurs. Here's what you need to know.

Two easy ways to report an outage

Call - MVEC’s

24/7 Dispatch

at 952.492.8255

or 800.232.2328

MVEC has 24/7 dispatch, so there is always a live person available to assist you. During times of high call volume, you might reach our automated system, but there’s always the option to speak with someone. Calling in your outage helps our system map out the scope of the situation.

Text - OUT or STATUS to

855-963-3830

You can report an outage and request restoration updates by text. All you need to do is use the phone number that is matched to your SmartHub account, the co-op’s free

account management tool.

Make sure your phone is registered in SmartHub! (See more about SmartHub further down in this email.)

Whether you call or text, the phone number you use when you report an outage works with our member database to quickly identify your location. If the phone number you use to call is different than the number MVEC has listed for your address, it will not populate our outage map correctly, and it may take longer to locate your outage. You can always update your contact information here

Stay in the know. Outage info is available 24/7 at mvec.net

If over 250 members are affected by an outage, we also post updates on Facebook.

Other outage essentials

The majority of MVEC outages are restored within two hours or less. Many factors affect estimated restoration times – weather conditions, time of day or night, and the resources needed to restore power.

When we report a transmission outage, this means one of our wholesale power providers is experiencing an issue. Sometimes MVEC crews assist in restoring these outages, and sometimes the cooperative has to wait for restoration just like you do.

Your correct phone number is important for outage restoration

Make sure the phone number you use to text your OUTAGE is the same one you used to sign up for your free and secure SmartHub account. Then your phone number is automatically associated with your location for our outage map and data. PDF and video directions are available to help you through the process.

Set up SmartHub now

Next week: Your Energy Use & Savings

Again, welcome to the co-op!

Learn More About MVEC

Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative

952.492.2313 or 800.282.6832 | info@mvec.net | www.mvec.net