Power for Progress…A weekly column from the Grand River Dam AuthorityMore electric tips for a safe holiday season

The Grand River Dam Authority wants to help you stay safe this holiday season, so in keeping with last week’s theme about holiday energy tips, we thought we would share a few more. Keep these tips - from the Electrical Safety Foundation International (esfi.org) - in mind as you decorate, celebrate, and entertain over the next few weeks.

1. Do not overload outlets… overloaded outlets and faulty wires are a common cause of holiday fires. Be sure to plug only one high-wattage appliance into each outlet at a time.

2. Consider battery-operated candles for your decorations … According to the National Fire Protection Association, candles start almost half of all home decoration fires.

3. Care for you cords … To avoid shock or fire hazards, your electric cords should never be pinched by furniture, forced into small spaces under doors or windows, or placed under rugs near heat sources.

4. Check those labels … Electric Christmas decorations not bearing a label from an independent testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL) have not been tested for safety and could be hazardous.

Team GRDA wishes you a happy, and safe holiday season!

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: employees, electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, and efficiency.

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