The Power Is Out — Now What? Who to Call, How to Check Notices, Can You Claim
The MEA/PEA numbers and apps for reporting an outage, how to tell a planned outage from a fault, the time limits the utilities are held to under ERC standards, and a straight answer on what you can claim when an outage or surge kills an appliance — every figure cites an official document. Nothing is guessed.
When the power goes out, do three things in order: ① check whether it is just your house or the whole street (look at the neighbours and the street lights, then your main breaker), ② report it immediately — Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan call MEA 1130 (24 h) or use MEA Smart Life; everywhere else call PEA 1129 (24 h) or PEA Smart Plus — ③ check the planned-outage notices to see if it is scheduled work. Under ERC standards an area-wide outage must be restored within 3 h (MEA area) / 4 h (PEA area) and a single-home fault within 24 h. For fried appliances there is no compensation table in any official document — you can claim under general tort law when the damage is shown to come from the utility's fault, and each case is judged on its own (details below).
How to check a power cut right now: planned work, a fault, or a flood shut-off?
- 29 Sep 2026 — MEA (official): planned maintenance and upgrade outages are suspended until 4 October 2026 across Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan to ease the impact on flood-hit areas. Until then a cut inside MEA's area is unlikely to be planned work, so report it to 1130 directly; after 4 October go back to checking the notice page first.
- 29 Sep 2026 — MEA (official): in deeply flooded areas MEA temporarily disconnects supply equipment to prevent electrical accidents, then restores power step by step once the area is safe (e.g. the Khlong Chan and Rom Klao housing estates, fully restored from the second floor up). If you are in a deep-water spot and the power goes, it may be a deliberate safety shut-off — do not try to reconnect anything yourself.
- Outside the MEA area (PEA): PEA's notice page splits "upcoming / in progress" from "completed" and can be filtered by province; the PEA Smart Plus app sends nearby-outage alerts and takes outage and fault reports 24 hours a day; and PEA's 1 October 2026 notice repeats that flood-related electrical problems go to 1129, 24 hours a day.
Flood season: four points both utilities stress
- Back home after the water drops, switch off the main switch / cut-out before checking anything. Wear rubber boots and rubber gloves, do not touch metal, and do not stand in water while checking electrical equipment (MEA 30 Sep 2026 · PEA 1 Oct 2026).
- Do not switch on an appliance that has been under water. MEA advises cleaning it and letting it dry completely for at least 24–48 hours, then sending it to a technician if it still does not work; PEA advises having an electrician check it before use (MEA 2 Oct 2026 · PEA 1 Oct 2026).
- Before you push the cut-out back up, if you find damp, wet equipment or a blown fuse, leave it about a day for the moisture to evaporate, and have an electrician fix any damage first (PEA 1 Oct 2026).
- If you see damaged equipment, a broken line or suspect leakage, do not touch it — report it to MEA 1130 / PEA 1129, 24 hours a day. Even after the utility restores power, have a technician check sockets, switches and anything that was under water before you use them (MEA 29 Sep 2026).
When to cut the power as the water rises, who is responsible for a submerged meter, and what to do about soaked solar panels: flood × electricity — when to cut power, what to check before switching back on.
How do I report a power outage to MEA (Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan)?
Which number do I call to report an outage to PEA (outside Bangkok)?
| Channel | MEA — Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan | PEA — the other 74 provinces |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | 1130, 24 h | 1129, 24 h |
| Official app | MEA Smart Life → "แจ้งไฟดับ" (photo attachable) | PEA Smart Plus → report a fault |
| LINE | MEA Connect (@MEAthailand) | @PEAThailand |
| Web / email | MEA e-Service · callcenter@mea.or.th | chat.pea1129.com · 1129@pea.co.th |
| Planned-outage notices | "ประกาศดับไฟ" page on mea.or.th + personal alerts in-app | eservice.pea.co.th/PowerOutage (by province) + in-app alerts |
Not sure which utility you are under: MEA covers only Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan; everywhere else is PEA — the differences are explained on PEA vs MEA.
Whole-village outage vs just my house — what do I check before calling?
- Have this ready before you call: your address/village/soi, the contract account (CA) or meter ID from the bill, a call-back number, the symptoms (total blackout / dim lights / a bang or sparks at the pole) and whether it is just you or the whole area — PEA's own intake procedure says staff ask exactly these to dispatch the repair crew.
- Never touch a fallen wire or leaning pole. Keep people away and report it on 1130/1129 at once (MEA Smart Life lets you attach a photo of the spot) — this is the report the utilities most want from you.
- While you wait, switch off motor/compressor appliances (air-con, fridge, water pump) and unplug the PC, TV and router — the moment power returns is when voltage can swing, and that, not the blackout itself, is what usually damages electronics (more on the voltage sag & surge page).
What the utilities are held to (ERC regulation B.E. 2558 + PEA service-quality standards 2567)
The ERC regulation on service standards (distribution licence, B.E. 2558), which binds both MEA and PEA, splits outages in two: a "distribution-system fault" — wide-area, e.g. a whole village or street — must be restored within 3 hours in Bangkok/Nonthaburi/Samut Prakan and within 4 hours elsewhere (≥90 % of events); a "power cut" affecting one customer must be fixed within 24 hours, 100 %, in both areas, counted from the report. Both exclude force majeure. PEA's own 2567 standards manual carries the same figures.
Where do I check planned-outage notices, and how much warning must the utility give?
Will an outage kill my computer — and can I claim from the utility when an appliance dies?
How to claim for a damaged appliance from the utility — 5 steps
In the order that gives the claim the most weight: evidence first, cause established by a neutral party, everything in writing.
Collect evidence on the day
Photograph/video the dead appliance, any scorch marks, the meter display and the street; note the date and time of the outage/surge; ask neighbours whether their equipment failed too (several homes at once points to the distribution side); and call 1130/1129 that same day so a time-stamped report exists.
Get a technician's assessment in writing
Have a service centre or licensed electrician inspect it and issue a repair estimate/quotation stating the cause (e.g. "board burnt by over-voltage"); keep every receipt. A third-party document is what separates a claim from an anecdote.
File a written claim with your local utility office
File at the MEA district office or the local PEA office with a copy of your ID, house registration/proof you are the electricity user, the bill, photos, the technician's assessment and the report number from step 1 — MEA also takes complaints with status tracking in MEA Smart Life. The utility then sends its own crew to determine whether the cause was its equipment, your installation or force majeure; ask for a copy of that finding.
Wait for the decision — case by case, no fixed table
If the finding points at the utility, settlement is usually the actual repair cost or the depreciated value of the unit, at each utility's discretion — we print no figure because no public document sets one. Meanwhile use your ERC-regulation rights: a written complaint must be answered within 30 working days (100 %), and a phone complaint responded to within 10 minutes (≥90 %).
Refused or ignored → escalate to the ERC, OCPB or the consumer court
The Office of the ERC handles complaints about electricity service (Call Center 1204); the Office of the Consumer Protection Board hotline is 1166; and consumer cases can be filed in court without first-instance court fees — using the same evidence as steps 1–3. The ERC regulation also requires utilities to keep performance records for at least 5 years, so a retrospective check is possible.
Frequent outages — what should a home keep ready? (official advice, not a product pitch)
- Earthing + a surge protection device (SPD): MEA, jointly with the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, lists "protect electrical equipment from lightning and surges by installing an earthing system and surge-protection devices" among its first summer-storm safety points — a licensed electrician's job, not a plug-in gadget.
- Unplug during thunderstorms: MEA's rainy-season advice, point 2, is "unplug non-essential appliances during thunderstorms to prevent voltage surges", and PEA says "switch appliances off immediately when the voltage drops / always unplug after use" — free, and it prevents more damage than any device.
- A UPS for the PC/router/CCTV: PEA explains that a UPS "keeps supplying power through an outage, surge or sag, controlling the voltage so the surge does not damage the appliance" — size it for the load you will actually connect, not the whole house.
- RCD/ELCB + keep the fridge shut: MEA recommends earthing plus an RCD that trips automatically on leakage, especially in damp spots; keep fridge/freezer doors closed during an outage — and never plug a generator into a wall socket (it back-feeds the grid and endangers the crew working on the line); if you run one, have an electrician fit a changeover switch.
- For businesses/factories the cost of an outage is a different and much larger question — the per-hour damage figures and the solar + battery backup options live on what a power outage costs your factory; this page does not repeat them.
This page is about faults — "cut off for an unpaid bill" lives elsewhere
Who wrote this page
Compiled by the CapSolar team, a commercial solar provider in Thailand, and reviewed by Frank Lee (Founder). Every figure and rule here cites ERC regulations/announcements, PEA's standards manual and official MEA/PEA pages whose accessibility we verified as of Aug 2026 (links at the bottom). Where public documents are silent — above all on appliance compensation amounts — we say so plainly. Nothing is invented.
FAQ
Keep reading
Voltage Sags & Surges at Home
Causes, self-checks, and when to upsize the meter or transformer.
Electricity Disconnection Rules
Notices, deferrals, reconnection — a different thing from a fault outage.
What an Outage Costs a Factory
Per-hour cost and solar + battery backup for businesses.
PEA & MEA Holidays
Office closing days — separate from outage notices.
Does your business stop every time the grid does?
For factories and commercial buildings, solar + storage cuts the bill and keeps critical loads running — CapSolar assesses free of charge, no obligation.