While destructive weather can impact our region at any time during the year, the spring and summer months are historically viewed as the primary storm seasons here in the Midwest and Northern Great Plains.
Tornadoes, lightning, micro-bursts, heat waves, and other weather occurrences can instantly turn normal operations into an emergency response situation at your utility. And when the power goes out at your members’ and customers’ homes, farms, and businesses, having an adequate inventory of equipment, materials, and supplies is essential to get back up-and-running.
Here are three tips from RESCO to help your utility best prepare for damage caused by inclement weather:
- Check your inventory early and often. Don’t get caught off guard and don’t make assumptions about what you currently have stocked. Inventory management is a year-round function, but paying close attention before the spring and summer storm seasons can help ensure your utility has the necessary equipment and supplies–and the appropriate quantity–to properly respond to emergency situations and repair work.
- Work with your RESCO account representative to identify current and future needs. Our professional and experienced team is always available to discuss your needs and provide recommendations, based on past purchase history, current inventory, and immediate necessities.
- Call RESCO Storm Response for additional products and supplies. Even thorough and diligent inventory management doesn’t protect utilities from material, equipment, and supply shortages due to large-scale, weather-caused damage. Thanks to our strategically-placed storm trailers, we’re able to quickly assist our members and cooperatives with the products they need to repair damaged equipment and restore service. To reach RESCO Storm Response, please call 866-273-5030.
When power outages occur, inclement weather or heavy usage during extreme temperatures are usually the first thought that comes to mind. And while weather-related factors tend to be common sources of power outages and disruptions, there’s another source found in nature that can be just as impactful: wildlife.
According to findings from EPRI, a non-profit energy research and development organization, up to 20% of all power outages can be attributed to wildlife contact with energized equipment. Given the frequency of these incidents and the impact they have on your utility’s operations, a comprehensive, precise-fit solution that addresses risk points to the equipment and structures of each substation can dramatically reduce or eliminate these outages.
RESCO MEMBER TURNS TO GREENJACKET FOR PESKY SQUIRREL PROBLEM
Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, which serves more than 59,000 accounts in rural Wright County and western Hennepin County, experienced recurrent outages from squirrel activity at its Bass Lake substation. Despite vegetation management and repeated attempts to mitigate access to the substation itself, the incidents continued to occur.
A different approach was necessary to solve the substation’s squirrel problem, and the cooperative turned to Greenjacket to implement an asset protection and outage protection solution.
The project entailed full coverage of Hubbell’s Greenjacket substation solution. With a goal to eliminate all potential phase-to-phase and phase-to-ground contact points within the substation, the transformer, GOAB switch, regulators, reclosers, bus, conductors, pot heads and arrestors all received a customer-tailored cover-up to blanket all exposed contact points.
The installation of the cover-up took one full day. During the process, a full team from Hubbell was on-site for training and guidance purposes, as well as to ensure proper fit and troubleshoot any questions.
GREENJACKET OFFERS PROTECTION FOR HIGH-RISK SUBSTATIONS
Formed by an electric utility expert with years of field experience—who had seen first-hand the damage and disruption caused by animal and bird contact with equipment—Greenjacket is a precise-fit turnkey solution that offers the best product for high-risk substations where the substation is either a critical use station or has a history of persistent contacts regardless of attempts to use alternate wildlife guards and covers. A critical use station would be defined as a substation that feeds an airport, a manufacturing plant, a hospital, a nuclear station, a data center, a dense population area or another critical customer.
Greenjacket is a precise-fit, custom made-to-order product that has an exacting fit to within 1/8th of an inch accuracy to the underlying equipment. The exacting fit is achieved through a team of linemen who image customer substation equipment; designers who plot the equipment and design the cover; a patented made-to-order manufacturing process and shipping in a turnkey boxed solution complete with a Site Protection Plan for installation.
To learn more about Greenjacket and its services, click here.
We’re very pleased to announce that industry veteran Robin Doege has joined the RESCO team as vice president of its EUSCO division.
With over 30 years of combined operations and management experience within the electric utility sector, Robin brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to our EUSCO division.
Most recently, he served as the CEO of two rural electric cooperatives in Minnesota (Stearns Electric Association from 2018-2022 and Todd-Wadena Electric Cooperative from 2010-2018). Prior to these positions, Robin served as the metering manager, utility manager, and loss control manager from 1995 to 2005 at Connexus Energy, also located in Minnesota.
Robin will take the reins from Ed Kohmestscher, who will be retiring at the end of April. Ed successfully guided the division and provided leadership to the EUSCO team for almost 17 years. We thank him for his many years of service and contributions to the division, and we wish him the very best in his retirement.
Since May 2023, we’ve shared monthly timelapse videos that provided a timely visual of the progress of construction of our new warehouse in Stanley, WI. Construction of the exterior of the building and outdoor infrastructure was completed in mid-November 2023, and we’re pleased to share with you this final timelapse video that showcases the complete construction of the warehouse and grounds from start to finish.
To view the timelapse video, click here.
We’re very pleased to share with you the latest aerial footage of our new warehouse in Stanley, WI, which was taken the week of Nov. 20th. With development of the site commencing last May, this latest video really showcases the fantastic pace of construction our builder Market & Johnson, Inc. and its team of contractors have maintained the past seven months. It won’t be long before the new warehouse is operational and we begin to serve our members and customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan!
To view the video, click here.
Each passing week brings us one step closer to the completion of our new warehouse in Stanley, WI!
Once completed, the new facility will provide us with over 40,000 square feet of inventory space–along with outside fenced-in space–affording us ample room for storing our ever-growing inventory and enabling us to efficiently and quickly serve our members and customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.
Based on the current pace of construction, we expect to begin moving in product in mid-December, with the facility being fully operational sometime in the first quarter of 2024.
We’re happy to share this new batch of photos—taken the week of Oct. 16—which shows the great progress our builder Market & Johnson and its crew of contractors are making.
Supply chain and inflationary challenges continue to be top-of-mind issues within our industry. RESCO President and CEO Matt Brandrup recently participated in a Q&A exchange with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to share his insights on this timely topic and explain to readers how the RESCO cooperative model helps members and customers manage their product and material inventory more efficiently.
Click here to read the article.
Once completed, the new RESCO warehouse in Stanley, WI will provide us with over 40,000 square feet of inventory space, along with outside fenced-in space. This drone flyover video—taken earlier this month—shows the significant amount of outdoor space the site affords us for storing our ever-growing inventory, enabling us to efficiently and quickly serve our members and customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. Thank you, Market & Johnson, Inc., for providing the aerial footage.
To view the footage, click here.
The team at Market & Johnson, Inc. and their construction contractors continue to make great progress at the site of our new warehouse in Stanley, WI. We’re happy to share this latest batch of photos, which were taken the week of Oct. 2.
