----6/22/2010----

LINCOLN - While the lightning that has lit the skies recently can be breathtaking, during Lightning Awareness Week it's good to be reminded that it is dangerous and can cause electrical outages and unsafe situations for Lincoln Electric System customers, said Dan Pudenz, vice president of energy delivery.

Lightning Awareness Week is observed nationwide June 20-26 and is designed to lower lightning death and injury rates.

Lightning is the most frequent cause of electrical outages in the U.S., and recent figures show that in LES' service territory it caused 46 outages in 2009 and 74 in 2008, he said.

"Almost all outages in Sunday's (6/20) storms were the result of lightning striking our equipment," Pudenz said. "We see lightning strike substations, transmission towers, poles, wires, transformers and other equipment, which speaks to the dangers of lightning and its deadly power."

For example, lightning can result in a downed power line, he said. "Never approach a downed line. They don't always spark, burn or arc, but can still be energized. Don't touch anything the downed line is contacting, because it, too, could be energized."

Customers should keep others at least 10 feet away from a downed line and then call the LES PowerLine number, 888-365-2412, he said. The PowerLine number also should be called if an outage occurs or if items, such as tree limbs or other objects, are in a line.

Customers can view a short video about PowerLine on YouTube by searching for LES Video Vault.

PowerLine immediately reports the address of customers entered in its database to the LES dispatch center, he said. 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.

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

• Keep a flashlight and spare batteries nearby.
• Use a battery-powered radio or TV to get updates on the situation.
• Keep a land line phone with a cord in the house since cordless phones need electricity to operate.
• Turn off appliances and other electrical equipment to reduce electricity demand when power is restored, which could cause a circuit overload that could damage electric equipment. Leave one light on to know when power is restored.
• Have a manual can opener on hand and show family 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.
• Keep the LES PowerLine number by a phone so it can be quickly located.