Oncor Powers Up Power-Outage Web Site

This morning I had to go to the Oncor site to look for something that may or may not be related to the myriad tree limbs still intertwined with the power lines behind my house. Whilst there, I figured I'd take a look at the recent press releases, see if...

By Robert Wilonsky

May 26, 2010

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This morning I had to go to the Oncor site to look for something that may or may not be related to the myriad tree limbs still intertwined with the power lines behind my house. Whilst there, I figured I'd take a look at the recent press releases, see if there was something I'd missed. And, sure enough, two weeks back Oncor sent word that in order "to satisfy customers' desire for more information on restoration efforts, Oncor is piloting a new website including a map of outages and real-time weather information."

It's right here. And, sure, it begs the question: How useful is an outage map on the Internet when your power's out? (And, do you need a map to tell you when your power's out. And, what gives with all the outages on a day without storms or even the slightest suggestion of a hint of a whisper of a breeze?) Just keep in mind, it's in the early stages, meaning: "Future upgrades include a smart phone browser-friendly version of Oncor.com, and a mobile application to help customers easily report outages." So that's nice. And, look, Brad Barton's weather report is on the site, so there's that. Sure, it's a day old at present. But still. The great Brenda Jackson would love your feedback.

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