Our apprentices practiced this week with a 200-pound mannequin to simulate the rescue of an injured line worker. The training from atop utility poles is part of a three-week class to learn electric system process and safety. Apprentices complete 600 hours of class and field instruction over four years to become journeyman linemen.
Austin Energy crews are making the final connections to the new Stoney Ridge substation, which will begin delivering electricity May 30 to the growing area east and southeast of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The substation has one 30-megawatt transformer and can deliver power for 15,000 homes. The site has room to expand to four transformers as the area continues to grow.
Austin Energy is working with 51 apartment communities identified as having higher than average tenant electricity use compared to similar apartment properties – to help customers save money on their electric bills and make the properties a better bargain for tenants.
The action comes as part of the City of Austin’s Energy Conservation and Audit Disclosure ordinance, which requires multifamily housing properties to audit their energy use, and, in the case of very high energy consumers, share information about energy use with current and prospective tenants. The required disclosure to prospective renters states that the renter “may have a higher electric bill than would be incurred in a similar unit” in an average-use property.
Link to our website at http://bit.ly/JkKqrJ for the full news release.
Example of High Energy Use notice:
Austin Energy apprentices are learning how to safely and reliably climb utility poles and make repairs and installations during a three-week climbing class. For the first few days, a safety cable is used for climbing. Thereafter, the apprentices rely on the techniques learned in class, where they will also learn how to construct equipment atop poles.
The apprentices are taking part in 600 hours of classroom and field instruction over four years through the Northwest Lineman College curriculum, which they must successfully complete to advance to journeyman lineworker.
Austin Energy employees raised $10,400 for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure bike ride held this weekend at the Travis County Exposition Center. The amount raised was the second-highest in the corporate category. Our team featured about 20 cyclists and more than 100 employees and family members volunteering to work the event.
AE employees have a tradition of charitable giving, having raised a total of $2 million for the City of Austin annual combined charity fundraisers over the past 15 years.
A few of our employees from this weekend's event:
May 6, 2012
1:00 p.m.
There are currently about 150 Austin Energy customers without power due to overnight weather, with repairs needed at about 37 locations. Outage reports continued to come in throughout the morning. These outages involve a small number of customers in each location and are concentrated throughout South Austin. Austin Energy has 17 crews making repairs.
Crews have discovered as many as 5 transformers damaged by lightning that will require replacement. A transformer is the gray box at the top of the utility pole and generally serves between 2 and 16 customers. These change-outs will take additional time, which will push restoration work into the late afternoon for some customers. Transformers identified for change-out are on the following streets:
Cruz Street
Hank Avenue
St. Edward’s Circle
Midwood Parkway
Poncha Pass
If you are experiencing a power outage, please report it to Austin Energy at 322-9100. By reporting your outage, you will help our restoration system more quickly pinpoint the piece of equipment or power line that may be responsible for the outage.
Austin Energy welcomes the findings of a recent report issued by the Union of Concerned Scientists that demonstrate Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEV) are the clear environmental and economical winner compared to gasoline-powered vehicles.
The report, which Austin Energy staff reviewed in draft, confirms that PEVs avoid significant emissions regardless of where in the U.S. you get your power. The benefits increase when PEVs are charged in regions where the electric provider, like Austin Energy, has a generation portfolio that includes renewable resources like wind and solar.
The UCS report, entitled State of Charge: Electric Vehicles' Global Warming Emissions and Fuel-Cost Savings Across the United States (posted below) finds that:
“Folks that choose to drive electric cars are clearly making the smart choice when it comes to the environment and their pocketbook,” says Karl R. Rábago, Vice-President of Distributed Energy Services at Austin Energy and himself an electric car owner. Since buying a plug-in hybrid in November 2011, Rábago has driven more than 4,000 miles but has only used 9.7 gallons of gasoline. “It’s just easier and cheaper to drive electric,” he states.
According to the Capital Area Metro Planning Organization, Central Texas households drive on average more than 22,000 miles annually. If those miles were fueled with electricity rather than gasoline in Austin Energy’s service territory, the average Austin household would save nearly $3,000 in fuel costs and keep more than 10,000 pounds of CO2 from release into the atmosphere each year. Electric vehicles also reduce or eliminate emissions of air pollutants that lead to local air problems.
The environmental benefits of using electricity as a fuel will continue to improve in Austin. Austin Energy’s Resource and Climate Protection Plan to 2020 includes a target of 35% generation from renewable energy. When Central Texas drivers plug in to any of the more than 100 Austin Energy Plug-in EVerywhere ™ stations, they can fuel up for less than $5/month on 100% GreenChoice® electricity service, achieving further energy and greenhouse gas savings.
Austin Energy has been a national leader in developing innovative programs promoting the electrification of the transportation sector since 2005. To find out more about Austin Energy plug-in EV programs, visit us at www.pluginpartners.com
A utility pole at the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Oak Springs Drive caught fire at 7 a.m. today, causing a power outage for about 3,000 customers in the Airport Blvd, MLK, Oak Springs area.
During periods when there is little rain, dirt and dust can build up on the devices that attach power lines to the power pole (called insulators). This morning there was a light misty rain, which caused the dirt and dust to turn into a muck that tracked down the side of the insulator. Power flowing through the power line tracked over the muck down to the pole – catching the pole on fire.
AE crews covered the electric lines with protective plastic safety shields (called line guards). Once that was completed, the power lines were re-energized, and power was restored to all customers (about 8:25 a.m.). AE crews then made the repairs. They removed the crossarms from the damaged part of the pole and cut off the damaged area. They installed new crossarms and reattached the lines. This fix is temporary. The pole will be replaced over the next few days.
Images from the scene:
