Tips for Power Companies to Tame Blackouts

Power outages become a severe inconvenience to power utility firms because they affect entire operations. Blackouts in various regions can last several hours or days. Changes in climate conditions and natural calamities are often attributed to most causes of catastrophic power outages. However, squirrels and rodents finding their way into substations across power lines largely disrupt power too. Critter Guard’s Line Guard and Pole Guard systems prevent critter access to these, so they are not a problem. Still, power utility companies need to find solutions to cushion themselves from the impact of unexpected or planned power failure. Here are a few tips:

Reduce Energy Consumption 

Overwhelming the power supply that serves your company through extra or unnecessary consumption may result in a power failure. Taking the following steps towards reducing energy consumption within your enterprise can minimize the chances of a power outage.

• Sometimes, it gets hot in summer, and the air conditioner comes in handy. If you have central air installed in your office, ask your staff to shut any empty rooms every time before switching on the conditioner. Also, remind them to turn off the A/C before they leave the building to prevent it from running uselessly overnight.
• Switch off any idle equipment or machines to reduce extra power consumption. Consider turning off any of these at the wall or unplug them from the power socket. Also, if there is a fault in any of your equipment or appliances that cause tripping on your RCD, seek an expert to fix the problem as soon as possible.
• Turn off any lights that are not in use, and keep on only necessary lighting throughout the day.

Trim Overgrown Trees

Trees growing and getting overgrown near power lines increase the probability of power failure. The leaves, branches, and limbs interfere with power lines supplying electricity to your offices, which can increase the frequency of power outage. Therefore, inspect the trees around your establishment regularly and trim those that have overgrown. The local energy provider should assume the responsibility of trimming trees that are approaching power lines.

While there are plenty of tasks to do to reduce power failure chances, these are merely reactive. Power companies must be proactive in protection, which can save time and money, and avoid frustrations in the future and long-run. Critter Guard products help with that. For more information on how to protect your firm from a power outage with our Line Guard and Pole Guard systems, contact us today!