Standard 8.

Major Outage and Restoration Estimate Communication Standard

A.

Within 4 hours of the identification of a major outage, the utility shall make information available to customers through its call center and notify the media of the major outage, its location, expected duration and cause.  The utility shall provide estimates of restoration times as soon as possible following an initial assessment of damage and the establishment of priorities for service restoration.

B.

Within 4 hours of the initial damage assessment and the establishment of priorities for restoring service, the utility shall make available through its call center and to the media the estimated service restoration times by geographic area.  If the utility is unable to estimate a restoration time for a certain area, the utility shall so state.