Contact: Priscilla Knight, 703-392-1580, pknight@novec.com
NOVEC Says Be Prepared for Possible Power Outages
NORTHERN VIRGINIA — The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative says Virginia's sales tax holiday for hurricane and emergency preparation is a good time for homeowners to get ready for possible power outages. Consumers can purchase certain emergency preparation products without paying Virginia’s sales tax during the week of May 25-31, 2010.
“In February, some people in our region lost power during back-to-back snowstorms,” says Mike Curtis, NOVEC vice president, Public Relations. “Many of them were not prepared to go without electricity for several days. We rarely have powerful storms that knock out power for more than a few hours in Northern Virginia, but it’s good to be prepared just in case.”
The following emergency products qualify for the sales tax holiday, if each item costs $60 or less:
- Bottled water
- Water storage containers
- Non-electric food storage containers
- Ice packs for coolers
- Manual can opener
- Gas or diesel fuel containers
- Flashlights and battery-powered lanterns
- New batteries for flashlights and radios
- NOAA weather radio or other battery-powered radio
- Cell phone batteries
- Fire extinguishers
- Smoke detectors
- Carbon dioxide detectors
- Duct tape
- Waterproof sheeting
- First aid kit
To qualify for the sales tax holiday, portable generators must cost $1,000 or less.
NOVEC also recommends having enough prescription and over-the-counter medicines, pet food, and baby care items on hand.
For details about Virginia's sales tax holiday, visit www.tax.virginia.gov/salestaxholiday.
NOVEC advises customers to post NOVEC's telephone number, 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500, in an easy-to-find place. To expedite the outage reporting and restoration process, customers should make sure NOVEC has their current home phone numbers. To report a new or changed number, a customer can call NOVEC, with his or her account number handy, and follow the prompts.
