Train Takes Out Another 20; Various Other Outages
It happened the first weekend in June, when a series of severe storms struck from one end of Co-op Country to the other. As if storm-related outages were not bad enough, what started as storm damage in the Van Horn area quickly turned into a massive outage with 21 poles down. The first downed pole was due to the storm. Then, in typical “it could only happen to Rio Grande” style, the line from downed pole #1 was snagged by a passing train, which took out another 20 poles.
Meanwhile in another location near Van Horn, a motorist crashed into a pole, downing it and causing a separate outage. It is unknown if the driver sustained any injuries, but the pole sure did.
Contractor crews were called in to help Rio Grande’s crews with the repairs due to the sheer volume of downed poles, and enormity of the restoration efforts. Area Operations Manager Rocky Vindiola reported the morning of June 7 that all poles were up, and crews were working on stringing conductor and placing guy wires. Power was restored by that evening.
Meanwhile over in the Fort Stockton Operations area, they were dealing with another 8 poles downed by the storm.
It seems the Van Horn area has been plagued by a rash of bizarre incidents lately. June 1, an oversized vehicle came in contact with an overhead line. As far as we know, there were no contact injuries reported to the person or people involved, but the incident did cause an outage.
Bird and snake take out substations. Other areas have had animal-related outages recently. Over at the Del Rio Substation, a bird got up close and personal with energized equipment. It didn’t end well for him -- or the equipment. A few days prior to that, the problem was a snake in Cienega Substation. It slithered into the reclosers, and caused 2 high side fuses to blow, causing an outage down in the Big Bend area. Rio Grande Electric Cooperative (RGEC) installs snake guards at substations, but they still manage to get in. It’s actually a common problem for electric utilities -- especially those in remote areas.
June 12, The Cienega Substation, which serves areas south of Marfa, down to the Presidio area, blew a transformer. The transmission provider feeding RGEC’s substation also blew a transformer. RGEC’s 16-ton replacement was transported from near Van Horn, and power was restored the same night, thanks to the valiant efforts of those in the Alpine, El Paso, and Dell City operations areas, and the coordinated efforts of many.