Electical Contractor

Superstorm Sandy, a post-tropical cyclone, closely followed by a wicked nor’easter, left more than 1.7 million Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) customers without power. These outages represented two-thirds of New Jersey’s entire population.

As U.S. utilities made projections for the summer months and predicted there would be enough capacity to meet demand with no outages, Mother Nature seemed to have other plans.

Hurricane season is over, and the inundation of floodwaters in many parts of the country has likely receded by now. However, evaluating electrical equipment that has been subjected to water and determining whether to recondition the equipment or replace it remains a serious issue.

More than 600,000 people lost power when Hurricane Irene slammed into the East Coast at the end of August. Flooding in North Carolina, New York and Vermont has added to the massive power restoration project now underway.

Spring roared in like an angry lion, crashing through many states, including North Carolina. The state experienced its worst tornadoes in more than 20 years.

As the electric grid develops to incorporate renewable generation, more robust transmission and smart meters, utilities are beginning to work on the final segment of delivery by automating their distribution networks.

Three years after Hurricane Rita, while electrical contractors in southern Texas were still repairing and replacing damaged electrical systems, Hurricane Ike surged into Galveston and brought contractors the most work they had seen in decades. Ike made landfall in Galveston on Sept.

Hurricane season 2008 is well under way, and some electrical contractors may be working with customers on storm preparedness. In the past, the standard practice was to take chances with big storms and power outages.