Alerts Frequently Asked Questions

RGE Alerts is a service that allows you to receive important information for your home or business.

Outage Alerts: receive information when a power outage occurs including our estimate of when the power will be restored.

Meter Read Reminder Alerts: receive a bill based on actual energy usage each month when you provide a meter reading on the month's we're scheduled to estimate energy usage.

Please sign up for RGE Alerts so you can get the information you need the way you want it.

To sign up for RGE Alerts, please log in to your online RGE account, or it’s easy to create an account if you don’t have one.

Once you log in to your account, click the “Manage RGE Alerts” button. Add your contact information for the alerts you want to receive, check the box to agree to the  terms and conditions, then click the “Save Preferences” button at the bottom of the page. (Note: if you choose to receive alerts by text message, you will receive a text message on your mobile phone asking you to confirm your enrollment. Reply ‘Yes’ to that text message to complete the enrollment.)

This is a free service for you, but standard text message and data rates from your cellular provider may apply. Check your mobile plan for details.

You will be able to start receiving RGE Alerts about an hour after you sign up.

The first time you add a mobile phone number to receive RGE Alerts by text message, we'll send a text message to that phone to confirm your enrollment. Reply "YES" or "Y" (without the quotation marks) to confirm you want to register your phone to receive RGE Alerts. You will only need to do this once per phone, not for each type of Alert you choose to receive. If you previously confirmed your enrollment for Outage Alerts, and later choose to receive Meter Read Reminder Alerts on the same phone number, your phone is already verified and you will start to receive Meter Read Reminder Alerts without the need to confirm your enrollment again.

There are a few different scenarios that can cause a user not to receive a registration text message.

Unsupported mobile carrier: At this time, RGE Alerts is supported by major mobile phone carriers and most others. US Cellular currently does not support sending text messages longer than 160 characters from company "short codes" such as 743898. We are continually looking for ways to enhance RGE Alerts and anticipate adding more mobile carriers in the future.

Text messaging blocked: If your mobile carrier is supported, you may have a setting on your mobile phone's account that is blocking incoming text messages. Please contact your mobile provider to ensure that text messaging is enabled.

Short code messaging blocked: If your mobile carrier is supported, you may have a setting turned on for your phone's account that is blocking short code messages. Short code messages are any messages that come from a short number such as 743898. Please contact your mobile carrier to change your account setting to allow short code messaging.

Please reply with exactly "YES" or "Y" (without the quotation marks) with no other characters or punctuation in your response. If you have added an automated signature to your text message, remove those words or characters so that your response is exactly "YES" or "Y" (without the quotation marks).

The number of messages you receive will vary based on the types of alerts you choose to receive and the preferences you set.

You choose how you want to receive RGE Alerts. You can receive them by text message, email, and/or voice message - choose the options that work best for you!

Yes, you can add up to five contacts for each type of delivery method. (text message, email, and/or voice message)

Yes. You can sign up to receive RGE Alerts for each account in your name. Please set your contact information and preferences for each account.. If you choose to receive Outage Alerts and a power outage is affecting your service at multiple locations, you will receive separate Outage Alerts for each location.

Yes. Simply have the account holder add your contact information to receive RGE Alerts for that person's RG&E account.

If you have signed up to receive Outage Alerts and we detect a power outage at your location, you will receive Outage Alerts. We use several factors to determine which customers are affected by a power outage, including reported outages by customers. Sometimes our outage prediction will miss some customers that are affected by a power outage, so they would not receive outage alerts. You can always check our online outage map or outage listing page to see if there is an outage in your area.

Yes, just add your friend or relative's contact information in your preferences. You can add up to five contacts for each type of delivery method (text message, email, and/or voice message).

Yes. Power outages can occur at any time, and if there are certain hours you would not like to receive messages from us, you can set a Do Not Disturb time period. When you sign up for RGE Alerts, the default setting for this preference suspends alerts between 10 p.m. at night and 8 a.m. the next morning. You can change this setting by logging in to your online account.

You can set your own Do Not Disturb time period. When you sign up for RGE Alerts, the default setting for this preference suspends alerts between 10 p.m. at night and 8 a.m. the next morning. You can change this setting by logging in to your online account.

You'll be able to start receiving Outage Alerts about an hour after you sign up. Once you sign up for Outage Alerts, we will notify you when we detect a power outage at your location, and provide an estimated time when power will be restored. We will notify you if that estimated time changes, and we will notify you once power has been restored.

If you sign up for Outage Alerts while your power is out, you will be able to start receiving outage alerts in about an hour.

Yes. You will receive Outage Alerts with the time we estimate power will be restored. If we update that time estimate, we will send you another alert.

Yes. If you have signed up for Outage Alerts, you will receive an alert if we detect a power outage at your location, based on our outage prediction models.

No. If your power is out, our first priority is to get your power back on as quickly and safely as possible. We will do our best to keep you informed and provide estimated restoration times that are accurate and up to date.

We use several factors to determine which customers are affected by a power outage, including reported outages by customers. Sometimes our outage prediction will miss some customers that are affected by a power outage, so they would not receive outage alerts. You can always check our online outage map or outage listing page to see if there is an outage in your area.

Also, messages we send could get delayed or not delivered by your wireless carrier if your wireless signal is poor, or there is extremely high wireless traffic.

We use several factors to determine which customers are affected by a power outage, including reported outages by customers. Sometimes we may predict that a nearby outage caused you to lose power when it really didn’t.

When a power outage occurs, we estimate when power will be restored using the best information we have at the time. As we gather more information about the cause of an outage, or the repairs that are needed to safely restore power, we may update the estimated time power will be restored. You will receive an alert with the new time estimate, as well as confirmation when your power has been restored.

Sometimes severe weather can cause extensive damage and widespread outages. In these cases, damage assessment is more complex. Severe weather may linger and, of course, securing public safety is the first priority and providing an estimated time when power will be restored may take a bit more time. We will send updates with an estimated restoration time.

Please check the circuit breaker at your property. If resetting circuit breakers does not restore power, please report your outage online or by calling 800.743.1701. There may be additional damage at your location that caused the outage.

Yes. You can report an outage online or by calling our outage line at 800.743.1701. 

View your next scheduled billing date, and the window to submit a meter reading, in the At-A-Glance box on your account detail page here. You will receive your alert in the beginning of this window. Keep in mind, this date can vary slightly from month to month.

We have three options available: monthly, the months we’re scheduled to read or the months we’re scheduled to estimate. For assistance determining the option that meets your needs, click here. You can update your reminder options at any time.

You will have 5 business days to submit your reading after you receive your alert. If we have access to your meter and we’re scheduled to read, we may obtain a reading for billing. If we do not receive a reading, we’ll estimate your usage.

The Do Not Disturb time only applies to Outage Alerts.

Meter Read Reminder Alerts are available to most residential and small business customers. If you do not see this option and have further questions, please  contact us and provide your account number and name so we can look into it for you.

Yes, it’s important that we access our meter once a year for readings, inspection and maintenance. This is required by the NY State Public Service Commission.

You can be signed up for just Outage Alerts, just Meter Read Reminders or both Outage Alerts and Meter Read Reminders to use two-way texting.

You will receive a text asking you to select the account you want to view. For example, “reply 1 for 123 Main St, reply 2 for 456 Maple St.”

There is no limit to the number of accounts you can have for two-way texting.

Your text message will read “no payment due at this time.”

You will receive the most up-to-date information that we have at the current time.

RGE Alerts will be delivered from the following numbers or email addresses:

Text message: 743898

Email: no-reply@rge-alerts.com

Voice message: 800.743.2110

RGE Alerts are an automated service and the email address that delivers alerts is not monitored. There are several links provided in the email alert that you can use to contact us or contact us .

When you move, you will have a new RGE account number for your new address. Please sign up again with your new RGE account number to receive RGE Alerts.

Before you change your cell phone number, text STOP to 743898 to stop receiving RGE Alerts at that number. You can also log in to your online account and delete your cell phone number, and to add your new cell phone number.

Text STOP to 743898 to stop receiving RGE Alerts by text message at that number. You can also log in to your online account and remove your contact information.