CTEC experienced a low number of power outages over the cold snap that rolled in late last week. “We knew with the type of weather that was predicted, it was likely we would have some outages,” said CEO Bob Loth “but I am happy and proud of how we came out; the system and our improvements performed how they were supposed to.”
The main issues faced were blinks that occurred west of Fredericksburg, in eastern Gillespie County and in the Kingsland lakes area. The blinks closer to Fredericksburg were both caused by transmission issues that were out of the co-op’s control. In both situations, load was shifted, and regular delivery of power was resumed. “By being able to reroute some of the load, we were able to avoid major failure to several substations that could have caused 10,000 or more members to be out of power.” In the Kingsland area, demand on the system also played a role in blinks, but CTEC personnel were able to adjust substation settings which remedied the issue.
CTEC has made many improvements since last February, including increasing the size of protective devices, implementing voltage conversions, and improving SCADA equipment to improve the communication between substations and CTEC’s outage center and employees. “We learn something from each storm, and that knowledge is used to continually improve the system,” continued Loth.
While the extremely low temperatures did cause increased load on the system, there was not extensive ice accumulation on power lines or trees, resulting in minimal damage. “ I am more than pleased with the performance of our system and employees in this event,” said Loth.