APS girds for summer demand

Jul 2 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Chris McDaniel The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.


Arizona Public Service has taken steps to ensure they are quickly able to respond to any power outages caused by monsoons or high electrical demand this summer. Monsoon season officially began June 15 and will end on Sept. 30.

"Our crews are continually in the field conducting system maintenance during the off-season preparing for the summer storms and the heat, and really to get the system in place so that we can ensure our crews are available and ready to serve the area during the storm season," said Phil Smithers, APS manager of energy delivery for the Southwest division, which includes the Yuma area.

According to APS, the most common causes of an outage during a storm are high winds and lightning strikes. Since it is extremely difficult to predict where and when such events may happen and affect the power grid, APS is prepared to respond to any location at any time, Smithers said.

"Monsoons in the summer storm season are really unpredictable. We don't know where those storms are going to be or when they are going to hit, and we need to be prepared 24 hours a day to bring our customers back online as soon as possible."

That includes coordinating with resources across the state who are aware they may be dispatched to Yuma if there is an emergency situation.

"What we do is meet with divisions across the state, including the Phoenix area, to better understand where the manpower is so we can properly dispatch crews as needed when the storms hit," Smithers said.

In the event of a power outage, APS will coordinate its efforts with first responders and law enforcement personnel, he added.

"We have been working with emergency coordinators in the area ... to prepare for the outages and how we are going to manage and provide emergency support during those times of outage."

To prevent outages, APS has made an effort to repair or replace equipment and power poles as needed, "to ensure that the infrastructure is safe and reliable for the summer season," Smithers said.

As part of their preparations, APS has been systematically replacing old wooden poles with steel poles in areas that have been consistently effected by storm activity.

This includes a portion of County 14th Street between Avenue 1E and Avenue 2E where 18 wooden power lines were knocked over by a downburst on May 8, leaving 29 customers without power.

"That 69-kilovolt line there has been impacted several times by storms," Smithers said. "The majority is now steel poles, so that should be pretty well-reinforced for the summer."

Another issue facing APS this summer is the dramatic increase in demand for electricity being used by air-conditioning units. The demand is about double for the area as compared to winter when A/C units are not being used.

"We understand there is a peak load impact during the summer and that we need to have the generation resources as well as the reserves available to meet that peak load," Smithers said, noting the load during the afternoon of the hottest days is expected to be about 420 megawatts in the Yuma area.

To put that into perspective, that much electricity can power about 105,000 homes, Smithers said.

APS has also taken measures to prevent another large-scale power outage such as the one that originated in Yuma County on Sept. 8, 2011, and affected millions of people, including most of Yuma County.

"We have been in close communication with all the utilities on really a daily basis since earlier this month, and that will continue through the summer months, because we as much as anyone want to do everything we can to ensure that type of event doesn't happen again," said Damon Gross, APS spokesman.

Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.

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