Dispatch service provides 24-hour relief

Melissa Schatz, Basin Electric
services dispatcher.

Inside, a family discusses homework assignments over a pan of lasagna. Outside, cold temperatures and heavy clouds promise a significant snowfall. In one bitter bite through a weakened power line, the wind zaps the power—and the house goes dark. The fridge stops humming. The heat shuts off. The television goes silent. It’s going to be a long night.

No matter what time of day or night the power goes out, Capital Electric Cooperative has a 24-hour dispatch service to answer your call. During our normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, an employee at Capital Electric will answer the phone. We ask our members to call the same phone numbers after-hours at (701) 223-1513 or (888) 223-1513 to report an outage. However, instead of speaking to a co-op employee, you will reach an employee of Basin Electric Power Cooperative in Bismarck.

Basin Electric has provided a dispatch service to Capital Electric since 1992. The system was designed to respond quickly to outage reports, repair reports, emergencies or vandalism.

When you place a call after-hours, it will be answered immediately by the dispatch service. You will hear the message, “Thank you for calling Capital Electric Cooperative. Your call may be recorded or monitored for quality assurance.”

You will then hear the following menu:

If you’re calling to report an electrical outage, press 1.
If you have a billing question, press 2.
If you’re calling to report a meter reading, press 3.
For all other calls, press 4.

If you pressed 1 to report an electrical outage:

A dispatcher will answer if available. If all the customer service representatives are busy assisting other callers, an automated outage system will assist you. You will be asked to press 1 to report an outage or 2 if you have critical information regarding the cause of an outage. If you’re calling to report an outage, you will be asked to leave the 10-digit telephone number associated with the account without power. You may be asked if you are completely out of power and if your neighbors have power. Once you have completely answered the questions, you will receive a message confirming that your outage has been reported and that line crews have or will be dispatched.

If you pressed 2 for a billing question:

A recorded message will give you Capital Electric’s office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and ask that you please call back during normal business hours.

If you pressed 3 to report a meter reading:

A recorded message will ask you to leave your name, account number, return telephone number, meter reading and date the meter was read.

If you pressed 4 for all other calls:

The next available dispatcher will answer the call.

To answer questions in any menu, callers will be asked to press 1 for “yes,” 2 for “no” and 3 for “do not know.” When the call is complete, the dispatcher or recording will thank the member for calling Capital Electric Cooperative.

To report power problems day or night, please call Capital Electric at (701) 223-1513 or (888) 223-1513. If all dispatchers are busy, please use the automated system to record your outage. If you experience difficulties, please let us know during regular business hours. We want to hear from you!

Capital Electric Cooperative is committed to serving our members. If the house does go dark, be assured that our lineworkers are just a phone call away.

(The editors gratefully acknowledge Darren Stastny, Security and Response Services supervisor of Basin Electric Power Cooperative, for material used in this article.)