Safeguards that reduce sparking can result in more frequent power outages
In response to heightened wildfire danger, the Town of Estes Park took proactive measures to safeguard the communities it serves with electricity. As part of its wildfire mitigation plan, Estes Park Power and Communications has reconfigured electrical equipment on all lines throughout its service area to reduce the risk of sparking and igniting wildfires.
Reclosers are safety devices that automatically interrupt and then attempt to restore power flow when a temporary fault, such as a lightning strike or animal contact, occurs on the line. Usually the reclosers attempt to restore power flow three times, to correct an outage. Currently, the reclosers are configured with the one-shot setting. After the first interruption, the recloser will not attempt to restore power and will remain de-energized. This is a time-consuming process that is implemented when Red Flag conditions are occurring or expected…