'Tis the season for hurricanes
With the arrival of hurricane season this month, West Florida Electric Cooperative is ready to respond to storm-related power outages as efficiently as possible. When severe weather interrupts electric service for tens, hundreds or even thousands of WFEC customers, the Co-op’s PORCHE automated outage reporting system processes the high volume of calls from the customers affected. The PORCHE can simultaneously answer a heavy influx of calls far more efficiently than live operators can, and provides data allowing WFEC’s service center personnel to accurately pinpoint outage locations and dispatch crews to specific problem sites, equipped for repairing a particular problem. If you’ve provided WFEC with up-to-date information for your account, the PORCHE automatically identifies you when you call during an extensive outage. Then the system can provide the dispatcher with your location, as well as information about the feeder, substation, circuit and other devices involved in providing your service. With the PORCHE receiving and organizing multiple outage reports as they are called in, the dispatcher can concentrate on identifying the outage source and dispatching crews with maximum efficiency. During multiple outages, the PORCHE provides callers with a recorded list of areas to which crews have been dispatched. Please allow sufficient time for repairs before calling WFEC to report your outage again. WFEC’s linemen are working to restore your electric service as quickly as possible, but the repairs might take time. During extensive outages, such as those that follow a hurricane, WFEC’s linemen make repairs in a sequence that will restore service to the greatest number of customers in the least time possible – the only practical way. Working out from the substations, they first concentrate on getting the three-phase feeders, or main lines, leading from the substations back on. So, the closer you are to a substation, the sooner your electric service will be restored. Starting with the first set of breakers, the crews complete repairs on a section of line, then energize that section before moving on to the next set of breakers, gradually working out to the single-phase taps. WFEC’s PORCHE system facilitates this process by helping to pinpoint damaged equipment, such as a faulty breaker. Also, WFEC has installed sectionalizing devices that help to minimize the impact of an outage.
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