The month of July has always been a favorite of mine. It’s the middle of summer, we enjoy cookouts with friends, and of course, we celebrate Independence Day! We know, though, that an occasional severe storm can threaten our fun in the sun. If July comes in with a boom of storms, you can trust that Bartholomew County REMC is ready to respond.
This spring served as a powerful reminder of Mother Nature’s unpredictability and strength. Our crews responded to multiple severe weather events, including two EF-2 tornadoes that tore through parts of our service territory. These storms caused significant damage to infrastructure and left many without power, but thanks to the dedication and expertise of our team, power was restored safely and efficiently to our members. The primary cause of most power outages is damage to power lines caused by falling trees and branches. We work year-round, through right-of-way clearing, to prevent damage to power lines in our service territory from trees, branches, or other types of vegetation.
Despite proactive measures, major storms like the ones we faced this spring can still lead to damage of power lines and poles from falling trees and wind.
Our top priority during such events is the safe restoration of power to as many members as quickly as possible.
We start by mobilizing our line crews and other critical staff. Priority is given to resolving significant issues like damage to transmission lines serving thousands of members before addressing localized damage in other areas. These problems must be corrected before we can focus on individual homes that have a power outage.
Next, BCREMC’s line crews inspect substations to determine if the problem is there or if the issue is down the line. If the root of the problem is at the substation, we investigate whether the grid can be switched using our Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, and if power can be rerouted from another substation to restore power to as many members as possible.
Then, line crews focus on primary service lines. They look for a fault or damage
to the lines. Line crews will then repair the damaged lines, restoring power to the mid-size outages. By once again leveraging our SCADA technology, we can quickly identify alternative power sources and reroute electricity to areas affected by the outage. If you continue to experience an outage, there may be damage to your home or business. We call this a single outage, where only one member is without power. The outage might be caused by issues with the transformer, the service wire running into your home, or a meter/meter base problem.
While we strive to prevent outages, nature sometimes intervenes. When a storm does hit, stay updated on outage information through our Facebook page. Have a fun and safe July, hopefully full of sunny days.
