SCE&G Urges Customers to Prepare for Hurricane Season
June 1, 2015
CAYCE, SC – With today marking the start of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season, SCE&G is reminding customers to prepare now for the possibility of a hurricane impacting South Carolina.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts anywhere from six to 13 named tropical storms will form in the Atlantic Ocean between June 1 and Nov. 30. The forecast calls for three to six of those storms to become major hurricanes.
SCE&G President of Retail Operations Keller Kissam said the company prepares year round for the potential impact of severe storms. “We periodically review our storm plans, conduct drills, and are in constant contact with other utilities within our mutual assistance group, some of whom SCE&G has already provided storm response assistance this year,” he said. “Throughout the year we also trim thousands of miles of power lines and inspect our poles and wires to condition our system to withstand or quickly recover from inclement weather.”
Kissam said SCE&G customers also can benefit from preparing ahead of a storm. “Just as we prepare and practice emergency response plans, so, too, should our customers,” he said. “Our web site, www.sceg.com, offers helpful tips for keeping you and your family safe before, during and after a major storm or hurricane.”
Other than having power quickly restored, the thing people want most from their utility during an outage is communication, said Kissam. “More customers are turning to social media channels for information they can plan and act on during emergencies. We have updated our social media channels for the 2015 storm season and we encourage customers to follow us on these channels.”
- TWITTER – www.twitter.com/scegnews
- FACEBOOK – www.facebook.com/scegnews
- FLICKR – www.flickr.com/scegnews
- YOUTUBE – www.youtube.com/scegnews
Kissam cautioned that customers should not use social channels to report outages or share personal information, including their SCE&G account number or street address, but should monitor social channels for breaking news, outage reports and other important updates from the company.
“We use these social channels to share a variety of information, including safety tips, information about the restoration process, outage numbers, and photos and videos of our crews working to restore power.”
Other important communications channels SCE&G customers can turn to include:
- OUTAGE MAP – SCE&G updates its interactive outage map (http://www.sceg.com/en/storm-center/) frequently.
- MOBILE DEVICES – Customers can use mobile devices to report and check the status of outages at www.sceg.com/mobile
- TEXT MESSAGING – Residential electric customer or small/medium business commercial customers can report power outages and check their outage status via text messaging using a text-enabled cell phone/mobile device. Standard message and data rates apply. Customers must first register their cell phone number to their SCE&G account. Here’s how: http://www.sceg.com/en/storm-center/outage-text-messaging/.
- TELEPHONE – SCE&G’s customer service department is staffed 24/7.
- For non-emergency issues: 800-251-7234
- For power outages or to report downed/sparking power lines: 888-333-4465
- To report gas leaks: 800-815-0083
More information on SCE&G’s restoration process is available at SCEG.com.
SCE&G is a regulated public utility engaged in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to approximately 692,000 customers in South Carolina. The company also provides natural gas service to approximately 342,000 customers throughout the state.
