I have loved owls since I was a kid, even though I grew up in Louisiana and didn’t see an owl in person until after I moved to Colorado in 1987. Once I saw a real owl, I quickly realized there is a regal and almost mystical quality about them.
Unfortunately, as we’ve developed around owls’ habitat and flight patterns, they sometimes search for food in less-than-ideal environments to include electric substations. Natural prey for owls – such as small birds like pigeons and meadowlarks – often try to nest in and around substations.
Now, thanks to new technology, a dedicated team of employees is hoping to save these amazing birds from harm and prevent disruptive electric outages.
When owls seek prey at electric substations they often encounter live electrical equipment, putting their lives at risk and triggering large service disruptions.
“We have about 60 substations on the electric grid and each one is vital to our system,” said Tucker Welch, substations maintenance engineer. “Some of these substations are more prone to impacts from wildlife, such as large birds. Avoiding these situations is incredibly important.”
Part of Welch’s responsibilities is to continuously evaluate substations for outage patterns and causes. One of the most pressing locations is our Bradley Substation, located just east of Fort Carson.
Bird-related incidents at the Bradley Substation have caused several, large-scale power outages since 2011 – each one affecting thousands of customers and tragically killing owls in the process.
“Bradley was specifically singled out based on historical outage data,” said Welch. “It was clear that large birds were often approaching the site for food. So, we immediately started to look for ways to deter the owls from approaching the substation in a way that did not harm them or our equipment.”
According to Welch, a variety of deterrents have been attempted in the past, with less than promising results.
“Deterrents like equipment guards, covers and isolating tape were either problematic from an operational perspective – such as trapping moisture – or did not redirect the owls from the site,” said Welch.
That led Welch and his colleagues to explore the use of laser-based technology that while not harmful to birds, deters them from approaching a location. Enter TransGard, a system of elevated laser light emitters that dissuade birds from landing nearby.
After extensive research, Welch and his colleagues selected the TransGard system to pilot at Bradley Substation. The system will be switched on this month, so the ultimate verdict on the system’s effectiveness remains to be seen, but Welch is confident the pilot will be successful.
“Part of our research involved outreach to utilities that had installed laser-based technology at their substations,” said Welch. “Everyone we talked with was able to demonstrate sustained success in avoiding bird-related outages and saw an observable behavior change in large raptors such as hawks, falcons and owls.
If successful, Welch says he and his colleagues plan to make a business case to install similar technology at other electric substations on the system.
“The resiliency and reliability of our electric grid is now more important than ever before,” Welch said. “As we transition to a new energy future with more distributed generation and battery storage facilities, electric substations will become increasingly vital.”