Training Ensures Electricity Keeps Flowing
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; Pager: 1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Lenoir, N.C., (June 19, 2008) - Keeping the power flowing to members' homes, businesses, schools, hospitals and others in our community is job number one for Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation. Line technicians and dispatchers who are prepared to respond quickly to locate and correct problems causing power outages is a key to ensuring members have the most reliable power possible.
"Blue Ridge Electric is achieving a 99.97 percent annual reliability rating, which is among the best performing utilities in the country-both in the cooperative and investor-owned worlds," said Lee Layton, chief operating officer of Blue Ridge Electric. "We're investing in training for reliability, and our linemen, dispatchers and other personnel deserve the credit for ensuring the power stays on for our members."
When outages involve transmission lines, restoration efforts are even more complex. Specialized training is required for working on these lines which deliver extremely high voltage electricity to community substations where the electricity is then "stepped down", or reduced, in voltage to usable levels for homes and businesses.
Enhancing skills to restore power as quickly and safely as possible was the goal during a recent transmission line training exercise coordinated by Ronnie Jewell, safety and training manager for the cooperative. Training using realistic situations included practicing restoration techniques conducted on power lines of 70- to 100-foot transmission line poles-locations too high for a bucket truck to reach.
"One scenario was that the line had a problem in an area that the lineman couldn't reach from the pole or a bucket truck," Jewell explained. "The linemen had to manually get to the location, using a platform device called a Baker's Board and a special ladder that attaches to the power line to help stabilize the lineman while he's making the repair.
"Can you imagine climbing a 70-foot pole and stepping out on that ladder hanging from the power line in the middle of a stormy night with 30 mile-per-hour winds?" said Jewell, who added that winds in the mountains sometimes reach as high as 80 miles per hour and weather conditions can include sleet or snow.
Layton added that the linemen take much pride in their ability to provide highly reliable power. "Our linemen jump to action when there’s an outage; they realize every second counts. I’ve heard time and time again of a linemen jumping out of bed in the middle of the night so that we can get the power back on and members won’t be inconvenienced.
"The care our linemen have for our members, coupled with training to restore power effectively, quickly and safely helps ensure our members have the power they need to go about their daily lives, no matter the weather conditions or other problems that may affect the power system," added Layton. "Our goal is that any problem is transparent to the member because we're working hard behind the scenes to make sure the power is flowing, night and day."
Blue Ridge Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative, serving some 73,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.
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