Page 7 - Fall 2023 BPU Connection PDF - FINAL

How Deep is a

Wooden Utility

Pole Buried?

On average, 10% of the length of the
pole plus an additional two feet is buried
underground. If a pole is 45 ft. tall it would
be buried 6 ft. Over time, narrowing of the
underground portion occurs due to dirt,
moisture and air combining, along with
destructive insects – all which increases the
rate that a pole decays and eventually fails.

Telephone Scam Targets

BPU Customers

Customers need to be aware of all scams, including the latest utility
scam telling customers that their utility bill is past due and service will
be disconnected unless a payment is made immediately. The caller uses
caller ID spoofing to make it look like the phone number they are calling
from is the BPU outage number, 913-573-9522. The caller will then give
instructions to make a payment.
Please be aware, BPU will never ask for payment over the phone or
threaten disconnection due to non-payment. Customers that suspect
they are being targeted by a scam need to hang up right away and call
the BPU Customer Service Department at 913-573-9190. Although
BPU sometimes uses pre-recorded messages to notify customers
about future dates for possible disconnection, they do not cold-call
customers to demand immediate payment.

Track Outages Online or via Mobile!

Stay informed of electric outages in your
neighborhood either online or via mobile
device with BPU’s Outage Map tool. Using a
birds-eye view of the entire service area, you
can see outages “live” down to the street level
at outage.bpu.com. To alert BPU about a power
outage in your area, dial 913-573-9522.
BPU Customer Service

answered more than
100,000 calls in 2022;
more than 8,000 of those
calls in Spanish.

7
FALL 2023 |