Wildfire Readiness
It’s never too early to prepare. Gunnison County Electric Association (GCEA) reminds residents there are plenty of things they can do to prepare themselves, their families, and their homes, to reduce the risk of wildfire. Things like:
- Trimming shrubbery
- Clearing tree limbs that are close to a home
- Cleaning gutters
- Keeping lawns mowed and watered are good first steps
- Removing anything within a 15-foot radius around a powerline pole if possible
- Maintaining unobstructed access to all GCEA’s equipment, overhead, and on the ground
Call (970) 641-3520 if anything looks amiss or concerning our equipment.
Wildfire Mitigation Plan
Our primary concern is always the safety and protection of our community and environment. The wildfire mitigation plan is part of a larger, ongoing strategic effort to improve the safety and resiliency of our electric grid.
Vegetation Management
We’re currently on a three-year cut cycle to analyze and cut if necessary (typical tree growth in five years is 10 feet). Dangerous or hazardous trees are removed, including dead trees at risk of falling into overhead power lines.
System Inspection
We have a program to visually inspect our overhead system every year.
Pole Testing
Each power pole is tested every eight years (roughly 800 poles every year) for structural integrity. Poles that fail testing are replaced.
Investigate All Temporary Faults on Main Feeders
Temporary faults can sometimes turn into permanent faults, so we spend the time patrolling our main feeders for all substation trips, even when the breaker successfully re-closes.
Monthly Substation Inspections
We inspect our substations monthly.
Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition Devices
Equipment in the field (reclosers and switches) provide immediate notification of system disturbances throughout our system allowing us to quickly dispatch operations crews.
Advanced Metering System
Provides rapid notification of system outages further narrowing down the location of system issues.