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A Green Approach to Wildlife Protection
Alaska Electric Light & Power has been updating avian protection plans for more than 20 years and is continuing to make great strides. By Eric Eriksen, Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. Tactical eagle eyes look back at an employee gazing out the window of Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. Scanning the environment for
BIG 3 Automotive: Greenjacket Precise fit cover-up delivers reliability, cost-effectively
Situated just south of Detroit, MI, a major automotive engine manufacturer was experiencing a number of animal-caused outages at the substation feeding their power supply. In 2011, this plant saw a rash of animal contacts. The contacts were primarily squirrels but raccoons were also a part of the problem. Squirrels would bridge insulators and raccoons
Greenjacket drastically cuts customer outage minutes!
Westar Energy, Inc. is Kansas’ largest electric utility. It retails electricity to about 700,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers as well as local and municipal government for the lighting of public streets and highways. Wildlife outages ranked as Westar’s second-leading cause of outages primarily from European Starlings, but also from Eurasian doves, owls, hawks, squirrels,
Under the Covers
Investigating Animal Mitigation Covers and Infrared Thermography Greenjacket Inc. is pleased to announce that it has received permission to distribute a White Paper on the issue of IR Scanning of electrical equipment while it is protected by cover-up. The Authors are Jay Bowen Jay Bowen is an ASNT NDT Level III -TTIR Certified Infrared Thermographer
Protecting America’s Birds with Greenjacket
See Full article in Utility Products Headquartered in Juneau, Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (AEL&P) provides retail electric service for approximately 16,768 customers. The Lemon Creek substation is a key site for AEL&P in supplying backup power and electrical distribution to the city of Juneau. It is located near a landfill, a food source
Greenjacket Reduced Wildlife-Caused Outages: AltaLink Case Study Part 2
This is the second in a two-part series that investigates the impact that Greenjacket has delivered in reducing the frequency of wildlife-caused outages to AltaLink, a Berkshire Hathaway company. AltaLink, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy company, is Alberta’s largest regulated electricity transmission company. AltaLink manages more than 13,000 kilometers of lines and 300 substations. AltaLink is
Greenjacket Reduced Wildlife-Caused Outages: AltaLink Case Study Part 1
This is the first in a two-part series that investigates the impact that Greenjacket has delivered in reducing the frequency of wildlife-caused outages to AltaLink, a Berkshire Hathaway company. AltaLink, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy company, is Alberta’s largest regulated electricity transmission company. AltaLink manages more than 13,000 kilometers of lines and 300 substations. AltaLink is
Best Standard of Safety and Performance for Substations
You Deserve the Best Standard of Safety and Performance The Importance of Standards – Why do we have them? Standards are established in order to meet technical, safety, regulatory, societal and market needs. Standards help create awareness and understanding of the importance of standards and the critical role they play in industry. What we do
Importance of Testing for Animal Mitigation Guards
Animal Mitigation guards should be tested to demonstrate they can accomplish the intended function of preventing wildlife contact with energized parts. IEEE 1656-2010 “Guide for Testing the Electrical, Mechanical, and Durability Performance of Wildlife Protective Devices on Overhead Power Distribution Systems Rated up to 38 kV”, includes the tests described below for this purpose. 5.2
The Drive Toward Zero Animal-Caused Outages
Is it even possible to suggest that you can drive toward zero animal-caused outages? Like many Canadian utilities, AltaLink’s experience indicated that nearly 20 percent of all outages were animal-caused.14 AltaLink’s animal-caused outages were specifically derived from bird contact on its low-voltage equipment, a situation that had become a rising trend in the early 2000s.15
Risk and Asset Management Strategies
Good data provides the ability to make appropriate decisions regarding an animal-caused outage problem. Specific animal-caused outage metrics need to be identified and tracked during monthly asset management meetings similar to other operational reliability measures, such as System Average Interruption Duration Index (“SAIDI”), System Average Interruption Frequency Index (“SAIFI”) and Customer Average Interruption Duration Index
About the Blogger
Darren Barnett
This post is the first in a series of seven excerpts from an electric utility industry white paper prepared by FTI Consulting, entitled, THE CASE FOR ELIMINATING ANIMAL-CAUSED OUTAGES IN ELECTRIC SUBSTATIONS AND ON POWERLINES. The full white paper may be downloaded by clicking here.
Darren Barnett, VP MEPP (Manufacturer’s Equipment Protection Program) / Technical Services, holds a degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from Louisiana Tech University and has over 28 years of experience in the electric power distribution industry. Darren’s career started as a design engineer for a major transformer and components manufacturer. From there he advanced to positions of increasing responsibility, including Quality Assurance Manager, Engineering Manager and Vice President of Components Operations. Darren is an active member of IEEE and was on the committee that developed the 1656 -2010 testing guide for wildlife mitigation products.