During a storm or service outage

UniSource Energy Services is committed to providing safe, reliable gas and electric service to our customers. We’re ready to respond to service interruptions around the clock.

To report a service interruption, call our 24/7 emergency line: 1-877-837-4968. If you smell gas or suspect a gas leak, you should also call 911.

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Electric safety tips

Stay away from downed power lines. Never touch them. If you see a downed line or other damaged equipment, call 911 right away.

If a power line comes into contact with your vehicle, stay inside the vehicle until help arrives. Do not attempt to get out. By stepping out of the vehicle, your body can become the pathway for electricity to reach the ground, causing severe bodily harm or electrocution. Use a cellular phone, if available, to notify emergency services of your exact location.

Never try to remove tree limbs or other debris that may have made contact with downed power lines or other electrical equipment.

If you are at home during a storm:

  • Stay at home.
  • Use a cell phone. Never use a hardwire phone if you see lightning or hear thunder in your area, as phone lines can be a conduit for nearby lightning strikes.
  • Turn off electronic appliances that were on when the service interruption began. Leave one light on to indicate when power is restored.
  • Don't play video games connected to your TV. Lightning can travel through wires from game consoles to handset controllers.
  • Never touch wiring during a thunderstorm. It is too late to unplug electronics if the storm is nearby.
  • Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about four hours if it is unopened.
  • For longer power outages, consider packing cold and frozen foods into coolers or pack ice into your refrigerator. As a general rule, perishable foods with temperatures above 40 degrees for more than two hours should be thrown away.

Gas safety tips

If an interruption in natural gas service occurs during a winter storm or low temperatures, remember these safety tips, collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

  • If you plan to use a wood stove, fireplace, or space heater, be extremely careful. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and only if they are properly vented to the outside and do not leak flue gas into the indoor air space.
  • Do not place a space heater within 3 feet of anything that may catch on fire, such as drapes, furniture, or bedding. Never cover your space heater.
  • Never leave children unattended near a space heater.
  • Store a multipurpose, dry-chemical fire extinguisher near the area to be heated.
  • Protect yourself from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning by installing a battery-operated CO detector and never using generators, grills, camp stoves, or similar devices inside the house, in basements, in garages, or near windows. Learn more on our Natural Gas Safety page.
  • Never use a charcoal or gas grill indoors. The fumes are deadly.
  • Conserve heat. While you may need fresh air coming in for your heater or for emergency cooking arrangements, keep as much heat as possible inside your home. Avoid unnecessarily opening doors or windows. Close off unneeded rooms,
  • Call UES to have your natural gas service turned back on. Only UES field employees are allowed to turn on your natural gas service. To have your service restored, call 1-877-837-4968.

Before your natural gas service is restored, UES field employees may need to repair damaged equipment. This could require UES employees to isolate affected natural gas lines by shutting off gas service to individual customers.

After repairs are complete and gas mains can once again safely deliver natural gas, UES employees will work as quickly as possible to restore service to individual customers’ gas meters. For safety, customers must not attempt to restore service to their meters or relight their pilot lights. These services must be performed by UES employees.

UES employees should be dressed in a company uniform and have work identification displayed. Stay tuned to uesaz.com, UES’ Facebook page and UES’ twitter accounts of information about how UES field employees will restore service in the event of a large natural gas outage.