Once again, TransGard is in the news. This time, La Plata Electric Association, a Colorado cooperative, garnered coverage for its plan to secure TransGard protection at all 22 of its substations. Two regional publications ran news stories on the plan. Highlights:
Nationwide notoriety
“In 2014, LPEA got quite a bit of notoriety across the country as a photo of an albino raccoon electrocuted in our Bodo Park substation went viral,” said Justin Talbot, LPEA manager of operations. Talbot noted that some 450 LPEA consumer-members, mostly businesses, lost power because of the raccoon incursion.
Seeking a solution
LPEA immediately took proactive steps to research the available tools for eliminating animal-caused substation outages. “It was essentially a final straw and we began our research for a solution,” Talbot said. In 2016, LPEA tested the new TransGard fencing in the Bodo substation — one of the most popular for local animals over the years.
Success in the field
The cooperative subsequently placed fences at other high-risk substations. The result: LPEA has had no animal-caused outages on those sections of the system, which Talbot called a “win-win” for all.
Total, system-wide protection
The complete success of the initial installations has encouraged LPEA to install TransGard systems at every substation the cooperative operates.
Talbot, LPEA’s manager of operations, summed up the experience:
“The installations of the TransGard fences in each substation have now paid for themselves, multiple times over. It’s a great safety measure to protect our consumer-members’ assets and ensure reliability of electricity service, as well as protection of our wildlife. We look forward to completing the project.”
Read the news articles below:
[button link=”https://pinerivertimes.com/articles/67532-electric-fencing-to-protect-lpea-substations-from-burrowing-critters” newwindow=”yes”] “Fencing to protect substations”[/button]
[button link=”https://pagosadailypost.com/2018/07/03/lpea-institutes-new-animal-protection-measures/” newwindow=”yes”] “New animal protection measures”[/button]