Monsoon season is finally blowing through the Valley putting Arizona utility companies on high alert for possible power outages.
Salt River Project (SRP) and Arizona Public Service (APS) prepare many months in advance for the summer. Both heat and monsoon storms pose a threat to the state’s utilities.
“Whether it’s making sure our power plants are able to generate the electricity or our transmission system is working in the best way possible,” SRP spokesperson Patty Garcia-Likens said.
Garcia-Likens said SRP also clears vegetation leading up to severe storms to limit obstructive objects from blowing into power lines.
“It’s the wind that does the most damage,” Garcia-Likens said.
Thousands of customers between SRP and APS lost power during the first monsoon storm of the season on Wednesday.
All outages were restored by the following day.
Both SRP and APS have similar restoration plans, including keeping personnel on stand-by when storms light up the radar.
“We have people and equipment spread throughout the Valley in order to respond quickly,” APS Distribution Operation Center Manager Wesley Horne said.
Crews immediately head into the operation center once outages occur to reroute power from unaffected areas to communities where the lines are down.
“You may see a power line down in your neighborhood, but you still have your lights on, that’s because we’re able to reroute that power pretty quickly from other areas of the territory,” Garcia-Likens said.
Linemen head to fix broken lines as soon as it’s safe to be outside.
“There are times where the storm does blow through rather quickly but can be violent,” Horne said. “We get right behind the storm, and we can start restoring power and cleaning up the mess as quickly as possible.”
Restoration response times vary depending on the severity of the storms and damage.
“We’re dealing with storms that may be unpredictable,” Horne said.
Garcia-Likens said it’s possible for homeowners to minimize the potential for damage by securing or bringing in loose outdoor items ahead of storms.
“We always encourage our customers to look around your back yard, look around your front yard at things that could caught up in the winds during these storms,” Garcia-Likens said.
Both SRP and APS recommend having a safety plan in place if the power goes out.
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