Draft a Utility Outage Notice Without Inventing Details

Start here

Gather your facts, then paste the prompt below into an ordinary AI chat that accepts text. Type your outage details where the prompt asks for inputs. Nothing else is needed: no terminal, no account setup, no integrations.

What to paste with the prompt: utility and service type; confirmed start and any confirmed end; affected streets or zones exactly as written; repair status; approved safety instructions; the contact method; notice date/time; and the intended channel.

Introduction

This prompt writes one resident-facing notice from only the details you supply. It never guesses a repair window, adds nearby streets, or invents emergency numbers. Anything missing or contradictory is collected under a clearly labelled unconfirmed section, so a staff member can review before posting or sending.

Check the output

• Every street and time in the draft matches what you typed.
• The status line repeats your status; it is not upgraded to a restoration time.
• No contact method or health advice appears that you did not supply.
• The unconfirmed list covers every blank or conflicting item you entered.
• If a check fails, the draft stops and names the failing check instead of guessing.

Limitations and permissions

This prompt only prepares a draft for human review. It does not post, send, call, page, or schedule anything. Do not paste personal resident data, private phone numbers, or internal incident notes you are not cleared to share with an external tool. Follow your organisation's approval rules before publishing anything.

FAQ

What if I leave an input blank? The prompt marks that item as unconfirmed in a separate section rather than filling it in.

What if two of my details conflict? It keeps both and writes a "Needs confirmation" line instead of choosing one.

Verification note

Source reviewed; runtime not tested.

Complete reusable prompt

You are helping draft a utility service interruption notice for residents. Use only the details I supply. Do not invent, estimate, or round any outage window, street name, repair status, cause, crew activity, restoration time, compensation, contact channel, or health claim. This prompt prepares a draft for human review; it does not post, send, call, page, or schedule anything.

Inputs I will provide:

1. Utility and service type (for example, water, power, gas, sewer, internet).
2. Confirmed outage window: start date/time and, if known, expected end date/time or duration; label which parts are confirmed.
3. Affected areas exactly as supplied: street names, blocks, building numbers, or service zones. Copy them without adding nearby streets.
4. Repair status as supplied: reported, crew dispatched, repair in progress, parts needed, scheduled, restored, or unknown.
5. Safety or service instructions already approved by the utility (for example, boil-water notice, do not use elevators, keep refrigerator closed). If none are supplied, write "No additional safety instructions supplied."
6. Who residents should contact and how, exactly as supplied. If none is supplied, write "Contact method not yet supplied."
7. Notice date and time.
8. Intended channel: SMS, email, website banner, printed door hanger, or social post.
9. Optional: a short reference or incident number.

Task: Write one notice in plain language, suitable for the chosen channel. If the channel is SMS, keep the main notice to roughly 300 characters and place anything longer under a separate "Full version" heading. Otherwise aim for 120-220 words.

Required structure:

• Headline: [Utility/service] interruption in [affected area].
• What is affected: service type and area, using exactly the supplied names.
• When: confirmed start and any confirmed expected end, with time zone if supplied.
• Current status: one sentence restating the supplied repair status, or "Status not yet confirmed."
• What residents should do: only supplied safety or service instructions. If none, say so plainly.
• Contact: only the supplied method.
• Issued: notice date and time.
• A final section titled "Unconfirmed or missing details" listing every item above that was not supplied or was marked unconfirmed. If everything is confirmed, write "None."

Rules:

• Never turn "repair in progress" into a restoration time, and never turn "crew dispatched" into "almost fixed."
• Do not use phrases such as "we expect," "should be back by," "most customers," or "brief" unless those exact words and figures are supplied.
• Do not add emergency numbers, websites, or health advice from general knowledge.
• Do not blame weather, equipment, or anyone unless the cause is supplied.
• If two supplied details conflict, do not choose one. Put both in the unconfirmed section and write "Needs confirmation: [detail A] vs [detail B]."
• Keep sentences short. Avoid jargon. Expand an abbreviation only if I supplied its expansion.
• Put the notice text in a block I can copy, followed by the unconfirmed list. Do not add a preamble or commentary.
• After the notice, add "Review checks" confirming: every street and time appears in my input; the status matches the supplied status; no restoration estimate was added; the contact method matches exactly; and unconfirmed items are listed. If any check fails, say which one and stop rather than guessing.

Fictional mini example: Input: Utility: water. Confirmed window: Tuesday 7:00 a.m. to no confirmed end. Affected: Oak Street between 2nd and 5th, and Pine Court. Status: crew dispatched, valve repair not started. Safety instructions: none supplied. Contact: city water line, supplied number. Notice time: Tuesday 6:40 a.m. Channel: SMS plus website. Expected output shape: Headline; what is affected; when; status as "crew dispatched, valve repair not started"; "No additional safety instructions supplied"; contact; issued time; "Unconfirmed or missing details: expected end time, cause, whether other streets are affected." Then review checks.

Failure test for this example: if the draft says water will return by noon, or adds a nearby street, or omits the unconfirmed end time, the notice fails and must be corrected before sending.

References and reuse

• ChatGPT release notes

Original TokRepo prompt · CC BY 4.0. Reference documents retain their own rights.