Electricity Forum Intelligent Power Today Magazine Arc Flash Clothing
Electrical Substations Featured Fleet Management Growth & Innovation HV Test Equipment Industry News & Trends Lineman Safety MARKETPLACE Overhead T&D Power Transformers Renewable Energy Smart Grid Smart Metering Software and Apps State of Industry T&D Automation T&D Companies T&D Products White Papers

Physical Security & Monitoring


Protecting Substations Against Animal Invaders

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...

Ensuring Compliance vs Building Resilience

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,...

Critter Guard

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...

Physical Security & Monitoring

Integrated Security Operations Centers (ISOC)

The watchdog of electrical assets

BY RALPH KING, Electric Power Research Institute

Security operations centers (SOCs) are common in corporate information technology (IT), physical security, and industrial control environments. Many organizations have one or more of these individual SOCs responsible for defined physical regions or business functions. SOC capabilities range from providing basic environment or equipment status indicators to operating complex information gathering, analysis, alerting, and coordinating event responses.

However, as the quantity and...

Related Articles


Critter Guard

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...

Critter Guard

Distinctly DifferentAccording 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 to...

Critter Guard

Animal Outage Prevention

According to the American Public Power Association, squirrels are among the top causes of power outages across the United States. Depending on your geographic region, there may be no “quiet” season - squirrels and other “Critters” can be active all year long.Since...

Reducing Nuisance Alarm Rates from On-Site Security Systems

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...


magazine_may_june_2023_article_3

The Fight Against Animal-Caused Power Outages

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...

substation transformers view

The Fight Against Animal-Caused Power Outages

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...

Critter Guard

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...

Reducing Nuisance Alarm Rates from On-Site Security Systems

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...

The Problem with Birds in Substation Outages

Birds have been a problem for electrical substations since the first power distribution systems were built. The elevated components of substations create ideal perches and overhangs for birds to nest and find safety.Unfortunately, by choosing substations as their home, birds risk injury and death,...

Page 1 of 4