MiniPOD Protects Utility and Customer from Service Drop Teardowns
Falling branches and debris often snag service entrance cables between the utility distribution pole and the customer's building or home. The result of...
MiniPOD Protects Utility and Customer from Service Drop Teardowns
Falling branches and debris often snag service entrance cables between the utility distribution pole and the customer's building or home. The result of...
A Little Ingenuity and Collaboration Yield Results
When Pike Electric was hired to relocate a line for a road widening in Cumming, Georgia, north of Atlanta, pole crews encountered an obstacle course....
Helicopter Live Work Requires a Safe Platform
In today's environment, utilities such as Public Service Electric & Gas Co. (PSE Newark, New Jersey) are continually looking for ways to perform maintenance...
Taking Care of Restoration Crews After Hurricane Ivan
Experts warned us that Hurricane Ivan was coming as a Category 4 storm with 130-mph plus winds. When it hit on September 16, it was classified as a strong...
Aerial Surveys Calculate Vegetation Growth
The August 2003 blackout in the Northeast may have been a wakeup call for many utility vegetation management (UVM) divisions, but BC Hydro (Vancouver,...
OSHA Partnership Moves Safety Forward
This August, I received a call from Rod Henkels, CEO of contracting firm Henkels & McCoy, who suggested I get myself up to Washington, D.C. to track something...
Excitement Abounds at the International Lineman's Rodeo
The International Lineman's Rodeo, held Sept. 9-12, 2004, took on a decidedly different look this year, as organizers moved the trade show and evening...
Contractor Proud to be a Lineman
The power industry has evolved a lot since I started in 1970. My first job was trimming trees in the Northeast. That progressed into the apprenticeship...
Streamline Your Herbicide Handling Process
With an increasing array of environmental concerns facing the United States and the public highly scrutinizing large corporations, utilities can help...
Hurricanes Show No Mercy
The 2004 hurricane season is shaping up to be the most traumatic in recent history. Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan have already slammed into the...
Major Rebuilding Work Complete In DeSoto and Charlotte
Florida Power & Light Co. has announced it has completed the reconstruction of its electrical infrastructure in Charlotte and DeSoto counties, thirteen days after Hurricane Charley devastated Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Arcadia...
Every Storm Has a Silver Lining
One lineman shares the ups and downs of a career devoted to storm restoration....
Linemen, Sharpen Your Hooks
Some people chase ambulances, others stalk celebrities. I like to catch linemen at work. If I'm driving down the street and see a pole changeout, I have...
Looking Back on 40 Years of Safety
When I went to work for the electric company in 1964, the first meeting I attended was on safety. This is one thing that hasn't changed over the past...
Overhead to Underground Conversion in Oklahoma
Considering all the hurricanes, tornadoes and ice storms that wreak havoc on America's electrical systems each year, it is no wonder many utilities have...
Taking Control of Voltage Drop and Reactive Power
Voltage regulation and reactive power (VAR) control are fundamentals in the distribution of electric energy. In fact, voltage regulators and capacitor...
Fleet Managers Shy Away From Refurbishing
You would think that in tough economic times fleet managers would view refurbishing as a way to reduce operating costs carefully going through units,...
Emerald Cuts a New Path
In the Northwestern United States, the Emerald Peoples Utility District (EPUD; Eugene, Oregon) has recognized that trees growing in the wrong place can...
Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award
Each year, IEEE presents an award to one of its many outstanding distribution engineers. Past recipients have come from all parts of the industry, including...
We Energies Conducts Pole Fire Mitigation
In March 2000, a rash of pole fires occurred on the We Energies (formerly Wisconsin Electric) distribution system that affected a significant number of...
Georgia Power Performs Concrete Pole Repair
Georgia Power Co. was one of the first utilities in the United States to embrace steel-reinforced spun-concrete poles. The experience to date has been...
CAT Dealers Offer Hurricane Assistance
Caterpillar rental dealers across the East Coast of the United States and from as far away as Minnesota and Texas delivered several hundred emergency...
BC Hydro Pioneers Bare-Hand Safe Work Practices
BC Hydro was an early adopter of live-line tool and bare-hand technique for live-line work on its 45,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines....
Gas Insulated Line Takes Power to the People
Gas insulated transmission lines (GILs) are composed of pipes that house conductors in highly insulative sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas, which have high...
