— from Suzanne Olson for OPALCO —
Sunday, November 26th was a long day for OPALCO linemen, engineers and staff members. A big wind storm knocked down transmission poles on Shaw at around 3:15 a.m. cutting off power to Shaw, Orcas, Crane, and Blakely for more than 20 hours and all of San Juan County was affected for about two hours. A crew of nine linemen worked steadily to rebuild a span of seven transmission poles and power was restored by 11:15 p.m. A limb through the line at the BPA substation on Lopez shut down power to Lopez and San Juan islands during the midday, but all were restored by about 1:30 p.m. OPALCO thanks the membership for their patience.
The event began with a tall tree across the street and outside of OPALCO right-of-way that fell and knocked down two transmission poles on Shaw Island that feed Orcas, dragging the wire from a span of seven poles. By 7:30 a.m, nine linemen were on Shaw, having brought over the trucks, equipment and supplies necessary to make the repairs. The crew set two new poles and then strung line for about a half mile to rebuild the system. Delays were caused as the crew found additional damage on the standing poles and had to replace hardware as they strung wire into the night.
It really does take a village. Foreman Brian Swanson thanks Hardy Schmidt on Shaw for his support, equipment, and tools, the Fire Department for their support and the members on Shaw who delivered bags of groceries, hot coffee, and goodwill to the linemen who, in some cases, worked for ~20 hours straight. “Their generosity and kindness was much appreciated,” said Swanson. “They kept the snacks and sodas coming into the night.” The ferry captain, carrying a line truck and trailer with a 70’ pole, changed course to make it possible to unload on Shaw.
The real heroes of the day are the linemen who worked from dark to dark to rebuild our system and bring light and warmth back into our homes. Please take the time to thank a lineman when you see them. Their dedication and skillful work is what protects us and keeps our lives humming.
OPALCO realizes the importance of keeping members updated during an outage and will continue to make improvements based on member feedback and preferences for getting outage information.
Members asked why the lines on Shaw are still above ground. High voltage (69,0000 volt) transmission lines are all above ground for safe maintenance and faster outage repairs. The cost to bury high-voltage lines, as well as safety considerations for crew and the public, make it impractical to underground. The question of right-of-way clearing was also raised. OPALCO maintains a right-of-way around lines and also identifies possible hazard trees on private property outside the easement areas, working with members to remove them. In such a heavily forested environment, trees will always be an issue, and OPALCO will step up its right-of-way clearing program. Member cooperation is much appreciated!
In OPALCO’s 2018 budget, just passed by the Board, the Olga substation will be upgraded, enabling us to reroute power from the new BPA tap at Decatur (2017) through Olga to supply most of Orcas with power in the case of an outage in the main feed from the mainland, decreasing our dependency on the Shaw transmission. The project is scheduled for Spring of 2018. Also in the budget, propane generators will be installed to prolong the back-up period for communications throughout the islands, expanding the current eight-hour battery back-up duration.
Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) is our member-owned cooperative electric utility, serving more than 11,000 members on 20 islands in San Juan County. OPALCO provides electricity that is 95% greenhouse-gas free and is generated predominantly by hydroelectric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937.
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
Kudos to the OPALCO linemen! And good news about OPALCO stepping up its right-of-way clearing program. I hope that includes stepping up identifying possible hazard trees on private property outside the easement areas, working with members to remove them!
The new Olga substation upgrade, enabling rerouting power through Olga to supply most of Orcas in the case of an outage in the main feed from the mainland, decreasing dependency on the Shaw transmission, will also be very welcome. The Shaw transmission lines seem to be a real problem, with all the problem trees and problems bringing in repair materials and equipment in the middle of the night. I think that was the same location of the downed poles in the big power outage a couple years ago?
Thank you to our wonderful and very hard-working linemen who worked through the night to restore power to Shaw and Orcas. You guys are the best and are very much appreciated.
Thanks to the generations of linemen, their back-up staffs and families who have “kept the home fires burning”. Bravo for keeping up with technology and the needs of our island communities.
Thank you crews and staff! A very apt Thanksgiving at his time of year. A day and night without power (however romantic) is a reality check. If memory serves me, is this not the 3rd incident within the same area and the heavy transmission lines this year? Question coming: As a forest owner with an easement through my property, I would not necessarily want to have an outside agency (in this case OPALCO) want to cut additional trees within the legal easement if I didn’t think it necessary. However, if I were to block the cutting as the land owner, could I be held legal for future outages/disruptions in that same area?
OPALCO employees deserve all the thanks we can give them. But I also noticed, not for the first time, how cooperative WSF is in making unscheduled stops to adapt to conditions and activities in our islands. They deserve some thanks too.
I am very grateful that all who worked so hard through the wild weather and dark of night are safe. Thank-you to the men and women of OPALCO, WA State Ferries, and all those in our community that contributed to restoring our electric power.
When I wake up to a power outage in the middle of the night, as I did again this past Sunday night, I think immediately about you OPALCO linemen and ground crew. I think about you getting up to go out in the cold dark, with the wind blowing, and the rain coming down, to work for as long as it takes to restore the power, while I stay comfortably in bed under the covers. And I am ever so grateful for you!
Thank you again!!!
Great work, guys. Our hats are off to you! Actually, mine blew away in the wind . . .
Sounds like OPALCO needs to stockpile a few power poles on Shaw and maybe Lopez, too.
Rick Markov – Good question about owner responsibility for trees and right-of-way clearing. We regularly maintain our easements and ask members to help us to identify any potential hazard trees on private property – outside of our right-of-way – that could impact lines. If OPALCO asks a member to cooperate in taking down a hazard tree and they refuse, the member will be held financially responsible for any damage caused by that tree. Also, if you have concerns about trees near the easement on your property, please call us to discuss options.
Thank you for this detaled explanation of the Outage and the heroic efforts of all concerned to restore Power to our Islands. Bless you all!