Want to avoid injury, embarrassment, expense and inconvenience to yourself and potentially your neighbors? If you’re building a deck, planting a tree, installing a fence or mailbox, call 811 before you begin any digging projects this spring. 

Homeowners and professionals alike can practice smart digging by calling 811 before each job to have underground utility lines located and marked before the digging begins. The depth of electricity, natural gas, telephone or cable lines varies and there may be multiple utility lines in a common area. Call at least two days in advance of digging and a representative will mark underground facilities in the vicinity of your project.

Besides, calling 811 before you dig is the law, but the call and location service are free.

April is National Smart Digging Month. NV Energy joins with Common Ground Alliance, a coalition of regulators, engineers, excavators, utility locators, emergency services and more to issue reminders each April as do-it-yourselfers and professionals take on springtime digging or excavation projects. 

"Every digging job requires a call -- even small projects like planting trees or shrubs," said NV Energy Senior Damage Prevention Administrator Jay Mendiola. "If you hit an underground utility line while digging, you can harm yourself or those around you, disrupt service to an entire neighborhood and potentially be responsible for fines and repair costs."

 The process is simple. Call 811 at least two working days prior to digging. Tell the operator where you're planning to dig, what type of work you will be doing and your affected local utilities will be notified about your intent to dig. A locator will be sent to mark the approximate location of your underground lines, pipes and cables, so you'll know what's below, and be able to dig safely.

 Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, NV Energy, Inc. is a holding company with principal subsidiaries, Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company, doing business as NV Energy. Serving a combined 45,592-square-mile service territory, NV Energy provides a wide range of energy services and products to approximately 2.5 million citizens of Nevada and nearly 50 million tourists annually.