Your role in underground safety

When you think of pow­er lines, you prob­a­bly pic­ture the ones hang­ing over­head. But did you know that over half of York Electric’s dis­tri­b­u­tion sys­tem is under­ground? These lines are more resilient to storms, pro­vide greater ser­vice reli­a­bil­i­ty and often increase your property’s aes­thet­ic appeal, but only if they are main­tained and undis­turbed.

That’s where you, our mem­bers, come in.

York Elec­tric is not the only util­i­ty oper­a­tor with under­ground facil­i­ties. Util­i­ty lines that deliv­er water, high-speed inter­net, gas and more are often buried below the sur­face. Whether you’re plant­i­ng a tree or installing a fence, even small exca­va­tion projects can quick­ly turn haz­ardous if you hit a buried line. Acci­den­tal con­tact can cause seri­ous injury, out­ages and expen­sive dam­age repairs.

With cool­er weath­er around the cor­ner, you might be think­ing about fall land­scap­ing or home projects. Before you dig, it’s impor­tant to noti­fy South Car­oli­na 811, the statewide “One Call Cen­ter” ser­vice that alerts util­i­ty com­pa­nies such as YEC about upcom­ing exca­va­tion. Here’s how to do it safe­ly:

1. Sub­mit a locate request to SC811 online or by phone at least three full busi­ness days before you dig, and be as spe­cif­ic as pos­si­ble about your project. Keep in mind this excludes the day the notice was sub­mit­ted, week­ends and hol­i­days.

2. Wait for lines to be marked. YEC and oth­er util­i­ty com­pa­nies will come to your prop­er­ty and mark their under­ground lines with col­or-cod­ed paint or flags.

3. Check your tick­et sta­tus before you dig to make sure all util­i­ty own­ers have respond­ed.

4. Respect the Tol­er­ance Zone: This area is 24 inch­es on either side of the util­i­ty mark plus ½ the diam­e­ter of the facil­i­ty line. Should you dam­age a line, stop and report it imme­di­ate­ly to York Elec­tric staff and SC811.

5. Always use hand tools near marked areas, and watch for changes in soil that may sig­nal a buried line.

6. Close out your request once your project is com­plete through SC811’s web­site.

This ser­vice is com­plete­ly free to you and helps pre­vent acci­dents before they hap­pen. YEC’s under­ground main­te­nance teams work year-round to improve sys­tem reli­a­bil­i­ty and reduce the impact of storms and oth­er haz­ards. By call­ing before you dig, you’re play­ing an impor­tant role in that work.