After-Hours Dispatching Update:

We are thrilled to share some exciting news with you! As part of our ongoing commitment to providing exceptional customer service, we will soon be partnering with Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) to provide after-hours call answering and dispatching for outages and emergencies.

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
• The safety of our lineman is most important. This partnership will ensure that someone is always available to aid our lineman in an emergency situation.

• By partnering with NPPD our customers will be able to report outages and electrical emergencies
outside of our normal business hours.

• NPPD partners with many other Public Power utilities across the state to provide outage support and dispatching outside normal business hours.

• NPPD has trained professionals locally staffed 24/7/365 to assist customers with outage support and dispatching techs when the office is closed.

WHAT INFORMATION WILL I NEED TO REPORT AN OUTAGE?
• NPPD uses technology to make reporting outages simple and easy! They use an Integrated Voice Response system (IVR) to be able to self-report outages or you will have the option to talk to a live
representative.

• If you are calling from the primary number on your account, the system will be able to pull up your address automatically to report your outage. If you are unsure that we have your current phone
number on your account, please call the office to confirm this information.

NPPD will have very limited access to customers account information. You may be asked to provide
either your address, meter number, or account number for them to report your outage.

• NPPD will NOT have any access to our customer billing information. If you have a billing question
you will be directed to call back during business hours.

• NPPD will NOT be able to process a payment for you. If you wish to call in a payment to your account, you will need to call back during regular business hours to have our SCPPD staff process this for you.

WHEN WILL THIS CHANGE BE EFFECTIVE?

We are working with the team at NPPD to effectively and safely make this transition. We expect things to
finalized by the end of the summer. Please watch for more updates on our social media and website.

Protect your landscaping investment by paying close attention to the location of overhead power lines. Planning ahead before you even pick out a tree to plant is key. Selecting the right kind of tree for the location will help prevent tree-related outages and the increase of maintenance cost for the Power District. Trees growing into and falling onto powerlines are one of the main causes of power outages and can also start fires. Keep in mind, if the wrong type of tree is planted too close to the power line our crews will need to trim that tree a few years down the road and nobody wants that.

Don’t forget to call Digger’s Hotline at 811 at least 48 hours before you do any digging. Utilities will be located and flagged at no charge. Private lines, such as secondary conductor from a meter pole to the house is the property owners responsibility to locate.

The Internet has brought the world to our fingertips with real-time information and vast amounts of knowledge that we can instantly access with the click of a button. It has also connected us to millions of people in the form of social media. In its intended use, social media is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, however, some people have harmful intentions. Here are a few tips to keeping you and your family safe while using social media.

 

Check privacy settings
Check your social media privacy settings to limit what you are posting to the public. Your social media pages are a cyber criminal’s playground. They will study your public facing social media profiles to gather information about you such as your birthdate, address, workplace, where you bank, and other personally identifiable information. Try to limit the amount of information you are sharing publicly, like where you work or people you are related to.

Avoid fun surveys
Harmless posts, such as surveys, contain a lot of personal information. Many of these are designed to trick you into leaking answers to critical account security questions.

Protect your location data
Don’t allow social media apps to update where you are located. Criminals can use this information to either follow you or know when you are out of town. Don’t announce upcoming trips on your social media accounts and wait to post the pictures when you are back home. Also, turn off location data for your camera. Pictures you share can contain meta data that includes coordinates of where pictures were taken.

Unfriend hacked accounts
If a friend’s account becomes compromised, it’s best to unfriend them until you know they have gained back control of the account. If you have another way of contacting that friend, let them know that their account may have been compromised. Hacked accounts allow criminals to see posts that you made that are limited to friends only. We tend to share a bit more with our friends and this is exactly what criminals are counting on.

Be wary of strange links
Criminals will rely on our natural curiosity to catch us with our guard down. If you get a personal message or see a post on a trusted social media account that seems out of the ordinary, don’t click on it. Many of these messages will look something like “I can’t believe he just died!” or “Do you know this person?”

Check login activity
Many social media apps allow you to view your login activity. This lets you see when and where your account was accessed. Check these periodically to make sure that only you are accessing your account. If you do not recognize one of the locations, immediately have the app log you out of everywhere and reset your password.