Chances are you may find utility crews outside of your business or home in the coming days, busy inspecting utility poles, power lines, and even underground equipment and facilities. Indiana Michigan Power is delivering a heads-up notice to all of us regarding such inspections, being performed by crews including three outside contractors.
I&M officials say that in order to help ensure the reliability and safety of its distribution equipment, they and contracted teams from several other firms are conducting widespread inspections of poles, overhead equipment and underground facilities in various portions of their service area in both Michigan and Indiana.
I&M has contracted with Osmose out of Atlanta, Georgia, and Badgerland of Wisconsin, to visually examine the underground and overhead distribution lines and equipment to check on their conditions. If the contractors observe any problems that cause immediate safety or reliability concerns, they will remain on site until I&M crews arrive to make any needed repairs.
I&M has contracted with another company, GeoForce Utility Technologies of North Carolina, to visually examine poles in areas I&M serves. The inspection process includes minor digging at the base of the poles and, if necessary, applying a non-hazardous treatment to the wood Inspections are expected to continue throughout 2017.
Inspecting equipment and poles is just one of many actions the company takes to ensure safe, reliable service.
Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in Fort Wayne, and its 2,450 employees serve more than 589,000 customers. More than half of its generation is emission-free, including 2,160 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, 450 MW of purchased wind generation from Indiana, 22 MW of hydro generation in both states and approximately 15 MW of large-scale solar generation in both states. The company’s generation portfolio also includes 2,600 MW of coal-fueled generation in Indiana.
The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market.com depicts a portion of utility crew uniforms, and is courtesy of GeoForce Utility Technologies.
