By Snohomish County PUD

The electrical grid is a complicated web of wires, poles and other critical infrastructure. For the PUD, that means overseeing more than 100 substations, 7,200 miles of line and tens of thousands of poles.

The vast majority of the time, no matter the weather, thanks to a very stable, well-maintained system, the power is on and available for our 360,000 customers whenever they need it. But because of that complexity, sometimes things go wrong. Overloaded equipment can fail. Cars or trucks can strike power poles. And, the cause of most problems, trees or limbs can come in contact with wires and poles. All of the above can cause power outages and disruptions.

Reliable power is one of the PUD’s core values. We work year-round to battle the cause of outages. Engineers use multiple tools to harden the grid and make outages less likely, including infrastructure additions, improved equipment and advanced technology.

Here’s a look at how the PUD is improving reliability every day:

Tree trimming: The PUD’s Vegetation Management team trims limbs and shrubs away from power lines along more than 500 miles of lines each year. Tree trimming doesn’t remove the possibility of a limb causing an outage, but it does reduce it.

New infrastructure: The PUD builds new substations, redundant power lines and other new infrastructure to increase reliability. Additional equipment takes stress off the grid and redundant power lines gives the PUD the ability to isolate outages and quickly restore power to more customers.

Advanced technology: The PUD is using new technology like distribution automation to decrease outages. Using a communication network and advanced equipment like switching devices, reclosers and breakers, PUD operators will soon be able to control devices in the field to shorten outage times significantly.

Drones: The PUD has partnered with Eagle Eye Aerial Solutions to use drones to inspect hard-to-reach equipment. The drones can easily reach the top of poles and high wires, and take high-resolution optical and infrared photos in an attempt to find equipment that might be failing. During a recent inspection, a damaged 115-kilovolt switch was discovered, allowing the PUD to replace it before it could cause an outage.

The grid will never be able to avoid all outages, so it’s important to prepare for the lights occasionally going out. This is especially critical during storm season. Make sure to have your cell phone and digital devices charged up, check emergency supplies, including food and water, and make sure to bookmark the PUD’s outage map at outagemap.snopud.com.

Power Talks on Reliability

Join the PUD’s November Power Talks presentation at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 16 to learn how the PUD is using technology and strategic planning to decrease outages and improve reliability. To register, visit snopud.com/powertalks.