The state’s largest utility, Green Mountain Power (GMP), is ramping up resources for high winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy.
Extra hands from Hydro Quebec and contractors from Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Florida are coming in to help GMP maintain power services for the roughly 70 percent of Vermonters it serves.
Last night, some of the 250 out-of-state line workers and tree trimmers arrived in Vermont to help the utility prepare for and respond to the imminent storm. The rest of the out-of-state team is slated to arrive today.
“We’re expecting crews to arrive here in Colchester this afternoon for safety training,” said GMP spokeswoman Dotty Schnure on Monday morning. GMP will train all crews in its protocols and safety standards before allowing them to operate on the ground.
With this additional help, said Schnure, GMP’s response team is approaching 1,000 workers.
GMP is part of a northeastern utility cooperative that shares labor resources. But Sandy is threatening all New England states, leaving the utility without that close-range assistance.
“Because this storm looks to have such a wide effect, utilities where this storm is hitting will not release such crews,” said Schnure. “We started a week ago to line up outside crews, so I think we got a jump on a lot of the others.”
Bringing crews in from as far away as Florida is not common, said Schnure, but it has been done in previous emergency situations. After Tropical Storm Irene, GMP brought in crews from as far away as Texas and Missouri to aid in the recovery effort.
On the ground
Schnure said GMP is keeping a watchful eye on Rutland and towns along the western slopes of the Green Mountains and in the Northeast Kingdom, where forecasts predict the storm will be particularly strong.
“We’re watching as the storm progresses to make sure we have crews where the highest winds are expected, and then once we start having damage we’ll adjust according to where the actual damage is,” she said.
When the storm hits, GMP will send out scouts, called “birddogs,” to assess the damage. These birddogs will pinpoint areas of need, and then GMP will send out line crews accordingly.
Schnure cautions Vermonters to watch out for downed electrical lines and trees, which may carry an electrical charge.
“If there’s a line down, unless we’ve been there to make sure it’s off and grounded, you cannot tell whether it’s live,” she said. “You have to stay away from it. If you see a tree down, don’t start messing with a tree unless you’ve checked first to make sure there are no power lines tangled in it because the tree could conduct electricity and electrocute you.”
Lowell wind project
GMP’s 400-foot wind turbines are standing tall at the site of the Kingdom Community Wind project in Lowell. While 21 turbines have already been erected, Schnure said that only half have been brought on line to date.
How might the massive towers hold up to the sustained 60-80 mile-per-hour gusts of wind projected for the region?
“Fine,” said Schnure. “Those are built for much higher winds than anything that’s predicted for up here. They’re built to handle sustained wind gusts of about 130 miles per hours.”
At such high wind velocities, said Schnure, the turbines come off line and feather, turning parallel to the direction of the wind.
Vermont Yankee
The crew at GMP isn’t the only one making emergency preparations for the impending storm; Vermont Yankee officials are also rounding up their troops and performing a long slate of safety checks.
Rob Williams, spokesman for the nuclear plant, said that the Yankee team is in the process of testing and topping off emergency diesel generators, which would provide power to the plant if it lost energy from the grid.
Other preparations include: ensuring storm drains are open, verifying communication networks are working, securing any equipment or material susceptible to damage from high winds, and bringing in additional people to make sure staffing levels are sufficient in case of transportation or other troubles.
“We’re in excellent shape,” he said. “The plant is designed to operate through harsh weather, and that is our plan. The plant is designed to withstand tornadoes.”
