Blue Sky Outages You can't always blame the weather for power outages

Imagine sitting at your computer when all of a sudden the lights go out. Outside it is a beautiful day with hardly a breeze or a cloud in the sky. What could have caused an outage on a blue-sky day like this?

Most people can understand a power outage during a severe storm. They don't like it, but they can understand why it happens. What's hard to understand are all the other reasons for power outages that don't have anything to do with the weather.

Some of the reasons can sound pretty strange. Would you believe a snake? How about a squirrel? Sometimes the very next day a fuse that is weakened during the first outage will fail, causing another outage in the same area.

Sometimes outages are caused by vandalism. Recently an Illinois co-op had several outages caused by someone throwing a log chain across the power lines. In another case, a beer party turned into a lumberjack contest, and a nearby power pole became the victim of the drunken chop job. Besides causing outages, this type of criminal activity could land someone in jail, or worse, six-feet under.

Then there are tall cranes, other construction equipment, and farm equipment that can take out a line. Car wrecks can wipe out a pole and line, even on a clear weather day. Power line equipment can also fail. And then there are the trees.

Many outages during good weather and bad are caused by trees. Most blinking light problems are also caused by trees. For a rural electric cooperative with thousands of miles of line in rural areas, trees can be a real frustrating problem for both members and linemen. The good news is that co-ops across Illinois are making progress in many areas. Co-ops are taking a scientific, arborist approach to right of way management. Utility arborist standards and work practices save money in the long run, save trees, improve safety, and prevent outages.

Squirrels can cause outages even on a clear, blue-sky day. The little guy hiding out on this pole lost his friend when he wandered too close to one of the fuses protecting the phase on the far right. The blown fuse had to be replaced by a lineman to restore power.

DECEMBER 2004 www.aiec.coop 21