vstorm-co Writing an outage notice
Residents need three facts. Everything else is noise while they are cold, dark or stuck.
Lead with the three
What is affected, by area and street rather than by asset name · what to do now, including the alternative and the vulnerable-customer route · when it is expected back, with the time you will next update even if nothing changes.
Vulnerable customers first
The priority-register route goes in the first paragraph, not the footer. Anybody dependent on the supply needs it before they need the cause.
Estimates
Give one, say it is an estimate, and update on the promised schedule. A missed update destroys more trust than a slipped restoration.
Cause
One plain sentence, or nothing. Detail invites argument and delays the notice, and nobody is waiting for it.
Never
Use internal terminology, publish an area boundary residents cannot map to their own street, or let an estimate expire without a new one.