Common Outage Causes & How We Work To Prevent Them

Beaches Energy is proud to be the listed as the top-ranked electric utility in the state of Florida on the System Average Interruption Duration Index, with our customers experiencing outages for the least amount of time. But, outages can sometimes be inevitable despite best efforts. From flickers to lasting outages, here are the most common causes for power outages in our service area.

Wildlife Interference

Did you know wildlife could cause outages? It’s more common than you think! An outage of this type is most likely to occur in the morning or evening, when wildlife like birds and squirrels are most active. Beaches Energy is installing insulation barriers around electrical equipment and using coated power lines to keep our power on, critters safe and reduce the risk of incidental contact.

Fallen Trees

Our tree-lined streets are beautiful, but can be more susceptible to outages. Occasionally, trees damage power lines in hard-to-access areas, increasing the time it takes for crews to repair lines. Fortunately, Beaches Energy inspects and trims around high voltage lines and lines through neighborhoods to prevent outages and ensure safe conditions for our community and linemen. 

Lightning & Severe Weather

In Florida, lightning is inevitable. That’s why Beaches Energy installs lightning arresters on all overhead transformers, protecting the equipment from a strike. Arresters are built to survive a specific number of strikes before they need to be replaced. Beaches Energy conducts inspections regularly to assess the health of lightning arresters and prevent failure wherever possible. 

Equipment Failure

Equipment such as transformers and power lines can break or wear out due to age and exposure to the elements, especially in months where demand is high. But with regular maintenance, prevention is easy! Beaches Energy conducts infrared scans of transformers, allowing linemen to check for heat, which indicates a failure will occur soon. Drones are also used to inspect power lines that are difficult to access.

 

For information on our power restoration process, click here.