Protecting Wildlife, Protecting Our Lines: How Animal Guards Help DEC Maintain Reliability

When an outage occurs, many people are quick to guess the cause – Was it due to storm damage? A car accident? An issue with equipment? Often, a loss of power isn’t because of something that dramatic. In many cases, something as simple as wildlife coming into contact with energized equipment can be the reason your lights go out. When a crew arrives on the scene, animal interference is one of the first things lineworkers look for when attempting to restore power. In 2023, 224 outages were caused by animal interference – a number the Co-op continues to work to decrease. Through the use of animal guards on our system, DEC prioritizes the protection of its lines from unnecessary damage.

In most cases, animal guards are made of a hard, protective plastic, and serve as a shield over equipment on utility poles, as well as on substation equipment. In certain instances, a layer of insulating plastic – referred to as “eel skin” – will be used on the lines themselves to reduce animal contact. According to operations supervisor Frankie Timmons, animal guards serve a dual purpose – keeping local wildlife safe while simultaneously improving reliability.

“We always have to consider the impact we make on the environment in everything that we do, and we also have to consider the cost of an outage, both in terms of the cost to members and the cost of equipment. When it comes to our system, a lot of that equipment is very expensive, so we have to protect it, or we have to replace it,” Timmons says. “The guards we use are good for protecting the wildlife from possible contact with electricity, but they are also good for reliability, because sometimes all it takes is one small animal to cause a lot of damage.”

The Co-op continues to be committed to providing members with the most reliable, affordable and sustainable power possible. Through implementing animal guards on electrical equipment, it achieves this goal, as well as invests in the safety of our furry and feathered friends.