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What to Do When the Power Goes Out: Business Continuity Basics

Report it — don't assume the utility already knows

The first move when the power goes out is to report it to your utility, even if it seems obvious that other people are affected too. Most utilities offer an outage-reporting line, a mobile app, or a website form built for exactly this — and reports from multiple customers help the utility map the true size and boundary of an outage, which can affect how quickly it gets prioritized against other outages happening at the same time. If your business is on a circuit that serves a smaller number of customers than a busy residential block, your report may be the one that gets a crew dispatched sooner.

Check the outage map before making decisions

Once it's reported, most utilities maintain a public outage map showing affected areas and an estimated restoration time, updated as crews assess the damage. That estimate is often rough, especially early in a widespread outage, but it's still the best available information for deciding what to do next — whether that's sending staff home, switching to a backup power plan, or simply waiting it out. Checking the map periodically rather than calling the utility repeatedly also keeps their phone lines open for genuine emergencies.

Safety basics that matter most in the first hour

A few safety habits matter more than anything else in the immediate aftermath of an outage. Never run a portable generator indoors, in a garage, or near an open window or door — generators produce carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas that can become lethal in an enclosed space within minutes. Keep generators outdoors, well clear of doors and windows, and follow the manufacturer's guidance on safe placement. It's also worth unplugging computers, point-of-sale systems, and other sensitive electronics during the outage, since the surge that can accompany power restoration is a common (and easily avoidable) cause of equipment damage — a surge-protected uninterruptible power supply (UPS) offers similar protection without unplugging everything by hand.

If your business carries perishable inventory

Restaurants, grocers, and any business relying on refrigeration face a more urgent version of this problem, since food safety is a ticking clock once cooling stops. The general guidance is to keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible — a full freezer can typically hold a safe temperature for roughly two days unopened, and a refrigerator for a much shorter window, though the exact time depends heavily on how often doors are opened and the ambient temperature. If an outage stretches on, having a plan for dry ice, a backup cooler, or moving the most valuable inventory to a working cold storage facility is worth thinking through before it's needed rather than during the outage itself.

Build a business continuity checklist before you need it

The businesses that handle outages calmly are usually the ones that decided what to do ahead of time, not the ones improvising in the moment. A basic checklist worth having on hand includes: which equipment gets backup power priority if you have a generator or UPS, how critical business data gets backed up so an outage doesn't also mean data loss, a simple staff communication plan for reaching employees when phones and email may be affected, and a short list of what to check first when power returns (equipment for surge damage, refrigeration temperatures, any process that may have been interrupted mid-cycle). None of this needs to be elaborate — it just needs to exist before the outage happens.

Frequently asked questions