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LINCOLN - In the event electrical outages result from the snowstorm descending on the Lincoln area, Lincoln Electric System (LES) is prepared to call in additional employees if needed to help with restoration, said Russ Reno, spokesman.

The biggest concern is the forecasted 35-mph winds this evening, which could cause tree branches to fall into lines, he said. Equipment also could fail due to cold temperatures.

Customers experiencing an outage need to call the automated LES PowerLine at 888-365-2412, he said. The address of customers entered in the database will be immediately reported to the LES dispatch center. Unregistered customers may follow the voice prompts to provide outage information or to enter their location information in the database. About 70 percent of customers are registered.

If a power line falls to the ground, Reno warned customers not to approach or touch a downed wire or anything it contacts. He said customers should stay at least 10 feet away. Also, he said, do not remove items caught in power lines. Customers seeing a downed line or items in a line should call the PowerLine number, 888-365-2412.

Reno offered several suggestions to help customers cope in the event an outage occurs:

• Keep a flashlight and spare batteries nearby.
• Keep candles and matches handy but out of the reach of children.
• Turn off appliances and other electrical equipment to reduce electricity demand when power is restored, which could cause a power surge that could damage electric equipment.
• Have a manual can opener on hand and make sure all know how to manually open the garage door.
• Food in a refrigerator may be safely stored for up to eight hours and up to 48 hours in a freezer if they are not opened regularly. Meats may be cooked immediately and then frozen for future use. Inspect all foods before eating.
• Close off all rooms that are not in use and do not need to be heated. Also close curtains, shades and drapes to retain heat.
• Keep the LES PowerLine number by a phone so it can be quickly located.

"It is our hope that we get through this storm as well and even better than the more than 12 inches that fell near the end of last month," he said. "Despite high winds, our system sustained no long-term, area outages. Most outages were individual homes where tree branches fell into lines. If that storm didn't weaken equipment, we hope to experience few problems."

Last year was one of the best years for average outage time per customer in LES history, Reno said. The 2009 average outage time is expected to be under 17 minutes, which would be the second best average on record behind 10.8 minutes in 2000. LES' goal is to keep the average below 60 minutes.