Power Outage Tips

Keep a few good flashlights around your home where you can easily find them in the dark. Make sure you keep some fresh batteries around as well.
Candles and matches are also useful, but use them carefully.
Stay away from downed power lines. Report them to your power company.
Turn off all appliances except for one lamp. That way, you can avoid a circuit overload and another outage that may result when power is restored to all appliances at once. And you'll know the power is back on by that one lamp.
Keep a few basic emergency supplies on hand: a battery-powered radio and spare batteries, a few blankets and some water.
Always have some non-perishable food in the house, especially food that can be eaten without cooking.
Use surge suppressors with computers, stereos and other sensitive electronic equipment to protect them from power fluctuations that may accompany outages. You may also want to use an uninterruptible power supply with computers to gain some extra time to save or back up data if the power goes out.

If you have some warning about a major storm such as a hurricane or blizzard, you can take some other precautions.

Turn temperature controls on refrigerators to their coldest setting. A fully-loaded freezer will keep food frozen for up to two days if the door isn't opened.
If you rely on electricity to pump your water, fill bathtubs, bottles and other containers with water before a storm.
You can burn wood or coal in a fireplace or stove to help keep warm. Wait until the temperature in the house as dropped noticeably before starting a fire.
SOURCE: PEPCO