Mercury is rising and to keep locals as cool as possible, Mon Power is utilizing some high tech – and high altitude – methods. With the use of helicopters and special infrared “thermovision” cameras, inspection of transmission lines, hardware and equipment has been completed across Mon Power’s 34-county service territory, including the immediate area.

 

Locating and fixing problems will help prevent power outages and insure prime working conditions when it’s time to crank up air conditioners. According to the National Weather Service, that could be as soon as Monday when temperatures are projected to reach into the lower 90s.

 

“Our customers turn up their air conditioning to keep cool during sweltering summer weather,” said Holly Kauffman, FirstEnergy’s president of West Virginia operations.  “We proactively inspect and maintain our equipment to ensure system reliability to meet the increased electrical demand when the temperatures climb and customers depend on us to help them stay comfortable.” 

 

Helicopter patrols have completed inspections across more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines, looking for damaged wire, broken cross arms and failed insulators, among other problems not visible from the ground. 

 

“Our helicopters fly quite low and slow over the lines to do their visual inspections, sometimes hovering in place while engineering inspectors snap photos and make notes, etc.,” said Mon Power spokesman, Todd Meyers.

 

Components checked from the air include insulators, switches and cross arms. On the ground, thermovision cameras are used to capture infrared images, detecting potential problems - not visible to the eye - with Mon Power substation equipment like transformers and capacitors. 

 

It's important to do such preventive maintenance now, Meyers said, before heat places additional stress on electrical components. 

 

Meyers said thermovision technology has been around for a number of years, producing good results for Mon Power/FirstEnergy.

 

“I saw this technology married up with cutting-edge drone technology at a demonstration last summer in the Elkins area,” Meyers said. “A skilled drone pilot maneuvered a drone equipped with a thermovision camera and was able to conduct an inspection on substation components from the air far more quickly than a substation engineer on the ground.”

 

That could open a whole new frontier, he said.

 

Mon Power utility crews have also conducted inspections of distribution circuits, which also included transformers, capacitors, reclosers and lightning arrestors to ensure the equipment is operational and the lines are ready to perform efficiently when demand for electricity increases during the summer, typically due to air conditioning usage.

 

Tree trimming is another key to preparing the system, maintaining proper clearances around electrical systems and helping to protect against tree-related outages.  Mon Power tree contractors have trimmed more than 1,000 circuit miles of electric lines since January and expect to trim another 3,500 miles by year end.   

 

Editor’s Note: A substation engineer uses an infrared “thermovision” camera to look for hotspots on transformers and other equipment in a substation near Bridgeport.