Cooperative Living January/February 2024 - 20

SMART CONNECT
Battling the Elements
How electric co-ops prepare for extreme weather
by Scott Flood, Contributing Writer
Extreme storms
have long put power
lines and electric
cooperative crews
to the test.
2
F
rom the earliest days of
electricity, weather has
presented the biggest challenges
to reliability and safety. Severe
thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes,
heavy snowfalls, fl ooding and wind
events have long put power lines and
Virginia's and Maryland's co-op crews
to the test.
Severe weather events have always
presented the biggest challenges to
power reliability and safety. Electric co-ops
take proactive steps to prepare lines and
equipment for severe weather damage.
If you've thought storm events seem
to be more frequent and more intense
these days, you're not wrong. Th e
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, which tracks weather
and climate disasters causing more
than $1 billion in damage, reported
an annual average of 18 such events
between 2018 and 2022. Th at compares
to an average of just 8.1 major disasters
per year from 1980 to 2017.
While scientists and policymakers
debate the causes of increasingly wild
weather, electric co-ops are diligently
working to prepare for it. From coast
to coast, cooperatives are taking steps
to harden the vital infrastructure that
delivers electricity to members' homes,
farms and other businesses. Co-ops
have been upgrading equipment and
connections to the nation's electric
power grid so they can better withstand
disaster-level events. Th ey're also
taking steps to prevent damage from
happening in the fi rst place.
For example, you may have noticed
an emphasis on tree trimming and
other vegetation-management
strategies. Keeping trees and branches
at a safe distance from power lines
reduces the potential for weatherrelated
outages. Everyone is sometimes
sad to see favorite trees trimmed, but
many of the outages co-ops handle
every year happen when trees tangle
with power lines.
As drought conditions contribute
to wildfi res in places where they've
previously been rare, we also need to
plan for the possibility of similar fi res in
our area. Keeping vegetation away from
power lines and equipment helps us
prevent wildfi res and limit their spread.
Hardening infrastructure will also
include a long list of other strategies.
Co-ops are paying more attention to
the condition of the system. If one
18 * Cooperative Living * January-February 2024
power pole is damaged or otherwise
weakened, strong winds might bring
it down and leave a big area in the
dark. Th at's why co-ops keep an eye
on all poles and install more durable
replacements when necessary.
When crews aren't fi xing problems,
they're working just as hard to prevent
them from happening. Th ose poles
and the wires connecting them are
frequent targets for lightning, so they
can protect the local power grid by
installing devices that safely divert
surges caused by lightning strikes.
Power outages are just one way
extreme weather can aff ect energy
costs. Weather extremes in one part
of the country can have signifi cant
eff ects on energy availability and costs
elsewhere. As winter temperatures
drop in many areas, the demand for
heating drives market energy prices up,
and not-for-profi t electric co-ops may
have to pass those higher costs along
to members.
Considering the impact of potential
weather disasters and implementing
steps to prevent damage is just
one more example of your electric
cooperative's dedication to making
sure your power is always ready when
you need it most.
*
Scott Flood writes for the National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association.
co-opliving.com
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living January/February 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living January/February 2024
