In order to maintain the safety of our system, Access Energy Cooperative’s Engineering and Operations Departmentswe has adopted a written program for inspecting and maintaining your electric supply lines. It helps determine the necessity for replacement, maintenance and repair, and for tree pruning or other vegetation management.
Vegetation Management
Representatives of Access Energy Cooperative complete our right-of-way maintenance program, consisting of tree pruning, brush pruning, and chemical treatment to impede future growth. The cycles and methods are determined using best judgement and knowledge of local factors; chemicals may be used in impeding future growth.
Vegetation management is set up to allow for a general schedule of having the entire system pruned and managed on an approximate 5-year cycle, or 20% of the system annually. Weather situations may affect the annual schedule, such as an extreme ice storm.
Overhead and Underground Line Inspections
Access Energy’s detailed line inspection program calls for the inspection of all overhead electric lines below 34.5 kV over a 10-year period with approximately 10% of the system inspected each year.
Substation Inspection and Maintenance
Substations serving Access Energy Cooperative are owned and operated by our power supplier, Northeast Power. Substation inspections are subject to their reliability plan.
Pole Inspection and Treatment
Access Energy has a program of regular above and below ground line pole inspection and treatment, with the complete system scheduled to be completed on a 10-year cycle. The inspections are done on an area basis with all cooperative-owned poles, within a given area, being inspected each year.
Oil Circuit Reclosers and Sectionalizer Maintenance
Your cooperative has a maintenance program in which all oil circuit reclosers and setionalizers on the cooperative’s system are scheduled for maintenance every three to ten years, depending on what type of unit they are.
Infrared Inspection
Access Energy Cooperative has available infrared technology we utilize on our system, that is also available to assist key account members in pinpointing hot spots your equipment may have. Finding these early allows you to make corrections and repairs before a failure could occur and prevent costly downtime and potential safety issues.