Animal intrusion in substations and transmission towers

Loss of utility revenues have been considerable due to increased customer minute interruption (CMI) caused by animal intrusion in substations and transmission towers. As a part of the deregulation of electric utilities in California, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved a new rate mechanism called "performance based ratemaking" (PER) which includes positive and negative rewards depending mostly on annual CMI average. Also the wide use of computers have demanded better power quality. Animals, such as, squirrels, cats, birds, snakes and rats are just a few examples of perpetrators in energized switchracks and transmission towers that can and do contribute to CMI. Substation switchracks and transmission towers make an ideal place for animals to protect themselves and enjoy their food away from peril. Fortunately, modern technology offers electronic bird repellers, wrapping tapes, sprays and many other preventive measures that can be used to decrease outages due to animal intrusion. Identifying and implementing preventive measures can greatly decrease customer interruptions, therefore, improve customer satisfaction and utility revenues. This paper presents a discussion on utility application of some of the devices available in the industry, that have produced positive results.