When a heavy rain storm with lightning hit, it left over 3,000 Montgomery County residents without power Thursday morning. The cause of the outage was a lightning strike near a Dayton Power and Light substation.
Sometimes, depending upon the severity of the damages, restoring your power can take anywhere from an hour to even a few days. However, most of us do not have a clue about what it takes to get the lights and the air conditioning, back on. So, I went behind the scenes with power crews to find out how they are trained, and what it takes to do this often dangerous job.
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I learned that the Dayton Power and Light Company is responsible for more than 10,000 miles of lines.
"Literally, from Wapakoneta down to Greenfield. Then from Oxford near Miami University all the way over to Columbus and everywhere in-between," said Bruce Coppock, DP&L Director of Operations.
With 120 line workers responsible for 24 counties, the power company focuses on training, equipment testing and maintenance, to keep their operations running smoothly and safely.
DP&L Director Bruce Coppock talks about the in-depth training his technicians receive.
"To do anything by yourself it's a 6-year progression, so we bring you in day one perhaps not even knowing how to climb a pole and for 6 years train you on everything that can happen in this field," Coppock said.
Equipment is constantly tested, even the their gloves. Shawn Talley tests gloves every day in a special lab to make sure they will protect the line workers.
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"We're looking for obvious gashes, punctures and holes," said Talley, an electric meter technician. "They are the second biggest thing you can use. The most important thing is your brain. Make sure you watch out for what you're doing so hopefully, these are your second line of defense."
Each line worker has a checklist before they even tough the electrical lines.
"They do a job hazard analysis that they do onsite when they show up to a job. They walk the job, see what hazards are there and they'll evaluate those hazards and write them out," said Safety Coordinator, Terrance Tolbert.
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When we are not experiencing high winds or storms, Dayton Power and Light crews are performing maintenance. They follow a five-year cycle of tree-trimming to keep branches off the power lines and prevent future outages.
"I like telling people it's like trimming all the way to Tampa and all the way back. So we do a tremendous amount of maintenance, " said Mark Vest, Director of Operations. "It's a well-oiled machine."
Rain or shine, near your house or down the street, crews are working each day to keep your power on.
"They're usually here pretty quickly," said Ron Vorhis of Kettering.
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