When the lights go out, members might not think about what it takes to get the power back on and how that process of finding and restoring an outage has changed over the years.

Today, members can report an outage by phone call, text message or the SmartHub app. The report goes directly to Central Rural Electric Cooperative’s outage management system, where it helps the Systems Operation Center (SOC) staff pinpoint the location of the outage to coordinate with line crews for outage restoration.

But it wasn’t always this way. Before the automated system, outage response started with a phone call and a paper ticket.

Members reported outages using landline phones, and if they didn’t have a phone, they would walk to a neighbor’s house who did have a phone to report the outage.

Central employees would record each call on an outage ticket, and during major storms, employees from across the cooperative helped answer and document the outages. There were also night dispatchers who lived at Central.

“During major outages, we’d have almost all staff taking calls,” said David Freeman, Director of Information Systems and Central employee for nearly 30 years. “People in accounting, member services and other departments would record calls on outage tickets, and a staff member would pick up the tickets. We’d group and sort them on a table based on the substation and service location.”

Those paper tickets helped crews narrow down where the outage might have occurred, but identifying the exact problem still required fieldwork.

“We didn’t have the technology to collect and sort through the information or the ability to send communications to test the meter for power, so linemen would have to patrol the line to identify the fault of the outage,” Freeman said. “We’d make outage restoration callbacks to ensure members’ power was restored.”

Central’s transition from traditional meter reading to automated metering began in the late 1980s, completing the installation process across the system in 2001. The change provided better access to meter information, but the systems were not fully integrated.

The transition to the Outage Management System (OMS) happened in 2007, it required a digital mapping system and new processes.

“The process took several years,” Freeman said. “It was a big step; we went from recording outages on paper to an automated system.”

Today, outage reports are automatically entered into the digital system, which can predict where the outage fault is located. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) devices and automated meters allow the dispatch team to remotely monitor the outage.

“We can see that change in real time from the predicted outages based on calls and reports,” Freeman said. “We can ping meters to help narrow where the outage fault may be.”

Once the location is identified or narrowed down, line crews can be dispatched to investigate the problem and make repairs.

The OMS technology allows dispatch to ping meters to confirm if members’ power is restored and identify remaining problems, such as blown fuses or issues with individual taps.

“We’ve gone from the entire line department out in the field during scattered storms, with 15 people in the outage center, to maybe one person in the outage center and a couple of line crews out making repairs,” Freeman said. “The technology has made our response so much more precise. We’re doing the same work, but we’re doing it safer, with fewer people, less time and a much clearer picture of where the problem is.”

Members also have more ways to report outages than ever before. Outage texting and SmartHub reports go directly into the OMS, helping reduce the time it takes to get information to dispatch and line crews.

Central also utilizes Cooperative Response Center (CRC), an after-hours call center that provides dispatching services for utilities. CRC helps handle outage calls when Central’s offices are closed or call volumes are high.

The result is a response process that is faster, more precise and more efficient, allowing Central to get members restored as safely and quickly as possible.

“Safety and processes have changed a lot during my time at Central,” Freeman said. “Technology has enabled real-time data so we can get crews out faster and find more accurate fault locations. It’s helped with efficiency.”

Today, a member can send a text about their outage and watch it appear on the outage map on Central’s website. Behind that simple report is decades of evolution, from landline calls and paper tickets to automated meters, digital mapping, remote monitoring and real-time data reporting.

The technology has changed, but Central’s mission hasn’t. Find the problem, fix it safely and restore members’ electricity.