Every day across the country, animals enter substations for warmth, food, security, or simply out of curiosity. In many areas, wildlife intruding into power equipment has become the #1 cause of outages, according to a report from the American Public Power Association (APPA) – even more common than storms or vegetation.
A single substation outage can cost tens of thousands of dollars in equipment repair or replacement, man hours and more. The annual cost to utility...
For many years the limit for normal apparatus loading was based on the maximum nameplate rating or an arbitrarily set value, called ‘the red line’. On-line monitoring of power transformers and circuit breakers for condition assessment has gained popularity over the past twenty-five...
U.S. regulator takes next step in approving physical security standard BY PHILL FELTHAM, Editor-in-Chief Electricity Today Magazine Recently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced a proposal to approve the physical security reliability standard (CIP-014-1), submitted by the...
A closer look at animal-caused outages at substations BY BILL REICHARD, TransGard Systems Every year, squirrels, raccoons, snakes, and other climbing animals cause substation outages across North America. According to a 2010 University of Minnesota study, the resulting estimated cost to electric...
The realization that the vast majority of substations have significant security vulnerabilities was crystalized after the Metcalf incident of April 2013, during which unknown assailants caused the failure of 17 transformers at the Silicon Valley PG&E transmission substation in Metcalf,...
While condition monitoring is becoming an integral part of daily power grid operations, there’s a huge difference between simply checking on assets and truly proactive intervention. When a ‘check engine’ light goes on in a car, taking the directive literally and opening the...
Every day across the country, animals enter substations for warmth, food, security, or simply out of curiosity. In many areas, wildlife intruding into power equipment has become the leading cause of outages – even more common than storms or vegetation.A single substation outage can cost tens...
Every day across the country, animals enter substations for warmth, food, security, or simply out of curiosity. In many areas, wildlife intruding into power equipment has become the #1 cause of outages, according to a report from the American Public Power Association (APPA) – even...
Distinctly Different According to the American Public Power Association, squirrels are among the top causes of power outages across the United States. The Great Lakes region has squirrels as the #1 cause of sustained outages. And in many cases, bird related outages are at number two.Nobody likes...
The Insights from the Field series features insight from FLIR experts who recommend, deploy, and use thermal imaging technology every day. Join us as we discuss the diverse applications of thermal technology in security, safety, and equipment protection for critical infrastructure. Security...
The physical security of electrical generation, transmission, and distribution sites is critical. The potential risks of a security failure are clear: disruption to service, damage to equipment, and intruder fatalities.To prevent costly incidents and meet the National Electrical Reliability...
