When the lights go out, some folks wonder why it takes San Patricio Electric Cooperative so long to turn them back on. Isn’t it as easy as a flip of a switch? Unfortunately, it is not. To help members understand the time and effort involved, let’s examine the meticulous process of restoring power after an outage.
When an outage is reported, the dispatcher’s system can “ping” other meters near the reported area to help pinpoint the affected location. Then linemen are dispatched to the area. Once crews arrive, they investigate potential causes. Our crews already know where the fuses and breakers are and which one is predicted to be open. (Fuses and breakers are closed when operative and open when there is an outage.)
When a crew identifies the open device, the dispatcher enters this information into the system, providing an indication on every account affected.
Next, linemen patrol the line that is without power. This could mean driving or walking past miles of line, closely examining every pole, transformer, wire, crossarm and insulator to see if anything is out of the ordinary. The crews also look for animals, balloons, tree limbs and other objects that could be touching the lines. If it is dark, stormy or foggy, weather conditions can make this process longer and harder for our linemen.
Once they locate the cause of the outage, the linemen verify again that the line is not energized before installing grounding devices on the line to ensure their safety. After placing the necessary safeguards, they can begin working to solve the problems—and those can seem endless.
Linemen might have to cut up a tree that has fallen on a line, requiring chain saws and other ground-maintenance equipment. They might need to remove broken lines and string new ones. They might have to remove a broken pole and install a new pole, transformer and other equipment. In that case, linemen must call the co-op office with details, such as size and type, then wait while the equipment is delivered.
Also, if a new hole must be dug for a pole, the linemen must call for someone to locate underground telephone or gas lines in the area. This kind of “emergency locate” requires a minimum of two hours to respond to the request, but it might take longer to get a state-certified contractor to check the area for other underground utilities.
The linemen are not permitted to dig until the contractor has approved the area for digging. For this reason, our men will often attempt to pull the old pole out of the ground and put the new pole in the same hole.
Once a new pole and equipment are installed, wires spliced back together and any other required repairs made, the grounding devices must be removed from the lines. Then finally, power can be restored.
As you can see, outage restoration is a complicated process, requiring painstaking attention and compliance with many safety measures. It can’t be accomplished with just the flip of a switch. But our linemen always work as quickly and safely as possible to ensure that your power returns as quickly possible.
As always, we thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work to restore your power.