Mishawaka Utilities electric distribution system is the second largest municipal utility in the state of Indiana, providing service to a population of 46,557. The utility operates 11 substations located at strategic points throughout the city of Mishawaka and maintains the distribution system, which consists of nearly 127 miles of overhead and 176 miles of underground distribution lines.
In 2001, Mishawaka began to explore the application of an animal deterrent system for one of its substations that had been experiencing a high number of outages caused by squirrels.
“Substation repair is more than just the expense of replacing parts,” said Tim Kobb, substation supervisor for Mishawaka. “There are also the man-hours required to investigate the problem and diagnose and repair the animal damage. These repairs can easily add up to thousands of dollars, even on just one substation.”
TransGard worked with Mishawaka to assemble the right components for Mishawaka’s most problematic substation. The installation process for the substation took a two-man team from TransGard just one day to complete, including grading the stone around the substation to prevent animals from going under the fence.
Mishawaka observed the performance of its initial TransGard installation for a year, during which time there were no instances of animal-related outages. Mishawaka installed TransGard systems on three additional substations that had been experiencing a high number of animal-related outages. Since that time the company has experienced no animal outages on any of the substations protected by TransGard fencing.
“The design and installation teams have provided great support and have made themselves available for follow up since the first steps in the consultation process,” Kobb said.