CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Energy providers Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper say they are keeping a close eye on the forecast as Hurricane Ian approaches the states. Preparations are underway to ensure the companies are ready to respond should the power grid be impacted.

“So, we’re gassing up trucks, bucket trucks, making sure we have poles and transformers and all of those things that go with it and just making sure our communications are working and things like that,” said Tracy Vreeland, a representative of Santee Cooper. “Right now we’re in OPCON 4 so that means we could be some effects, but we don’t know what those will be yet.”

“We have crews and equipment strategically staged all throughout our service territory and we’re there and prepared and ready to respond,” said Paul Fischer, a representative of Dominion Energy.

Both representatives say their respective companies are also in communication with mutual aid partners if an exchange of resources or manpower is needed.

In terms of power outages, both Dominion and Santee Cooper say they have active, real-time outage maps on their websites and apps, but if an outage is not reported on the map, customers should call their energy provider to report it.

“So we should know if your power goes out, but you can check all of that at stormcenter.santeecooper.com,” said Vreeland.

The number one cause of power outages during a storm is downed trees and limbs. In an effort to stem that when severe weather hits, energy crews work year-round to keep lines clear.

“Line clearing and safeguarding overhead lines to remove hazardous tree limbs and vegetation away from those lines,” said Fischer.

Energy providers remind you to avoid downed power lines as they may still be active and call your provider to report any downed lines.