Power Outages Due to Multiple Causes

There have been a number of power outages over the last week, especially on the west side of Baldwin City. These are not due to a single cause.

• Early in the morning on November 11th, there was a regulator fire on Evergy’s system outside town, as we reported. This caused an outage requiring investigation of the opened and locked out breaker. Connecting to a backup power source ended the outage.
• Friday, November 12th, there was a blink on the west feeder due to unknown causes. 
• Wednesday, November 17th, there was a blink on the west feeder due to squirrel activity. It is squirrel mating season, which means high stakes chases for the furry rodents.
• Thursday morning, November 18th, there was a brief, planned outage between Highway 56 and High Street. A line related to the construction at Baker University’s stadium project was successfully removed.
• Thursday evening, November 18th, there was a blink on the west feeder, again due to squirrel activity.

We recognize that power blinks are inconvenient. The blinks are a safety mechanism. Relays open the breaker on a feed when a fault occurs to avoid extensive damage to city equipment, homes, and businesses. The open breaker stops voltage until the contact clears away. If the contact is brief, the power will immediately come back on. Occasionally a longer outage occurs when an animal or tree branch gets stuck in place and needs removed.

Ways to minimize these types of outages in a Tree City USA include: 

• Plant trees away from power lines. 
• Trim existing trees away from poles and lines to keep critters from easily getting to the line.
• Remove dead or dying branches so they don’t fall on lines in a severe wind storm.
• Keep squirrel and bird feeders away from poles.