Monroe, NC
Union Power Attributes Clear Rights-of-Way to Low Number of Outages in Storm.
Union Power Cooperative is reporting no power outages this morning throughout its five-county service area. This is welcome news for the Cooperative’s 65,000 members who have experienced three days of sustained rains, wind gusts reported as high as 35 mph and weakened trees falling throughout the Cooperative’s service territory. On Tuesday, the Cooperative had approximately 800 of its 65,000 members without power due to the passing of Tropical Storm Ida through the region. All outages that have been reported within this storm were outside of the rights-of-way maintenance area. Those outages were restored quickly yesterday as crews rushed to repair the downed power lines.
The Cooperative attributes the low number of outages to an aggressive Right of Way clearing program which works effectively to remove dead trees and branches along the rights-of-way. Clearing trees, branches, and brush along the rights-of-way is the proactive approach taken to minimize power outages and in this storm it has proven successful. The Cooperative employs several Arborists and contract crews to systematically work with rights of way marking and clearing hazard trees throughout our system.
Union Power’s Regional Managing Arborist Wil Ortiz says, “Although we can’t storm proof an electrical system and guarantee that no outages will take place, we have taken all appropriate steps to minimize the impact.”
Ortiz adds, “We do need to expect that trees have been affected during the past couple of years due to drought conditions, which has weakened the root systems. When we have wet rains over an extended period of time along with high winds you can expect power outages to occur from falling trees and debris that may blow into the lines. We are very pleased that during this storm, we experienced very few outages considering the length of the storm.”
Union Power has over 2,700 total miles of line throughout its five-county system.
Union Power Cooperative is a member-owned electric cooperative, which provides electric service to approximately 65,000 members in Union, Stanly, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, and Rowan counties.
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