By Patrick Tepoorten

At approximately 2:15 a.m. on Dec. 4, an area from north of North Branch to areas of Branch and Sunrise Townships experienced a power outage. Almost 1000 residents were affected. The outage lasted until just before 4:30 a.m., when power was restored by ECE.

Communications Manager for ECE, Tony Minnichsoffer, attributed the outage to equipment failure, which he stated does occur with some regularity. ìIt happens a couple of times a month year-round,î he said, although he added that they have become less frequent as more of the system is updated.

Of those that lost power, about 250 took advantage of ECEís automated voice response system (AVRS), which can be reached through 1-800-254-7944. Customers experiencing outages can also use AVRS to get updates on when power is expected to be restored.

Minnichsoffer reminds residents that it is always a good idea to keep working flashlights, batteries, and portable radios available in case of power outages. Hard-line phones that do not require power like cordless models do, are also a handy item in case an outage needs to be reported.

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