Frequently Asked Questions
Electric and Power Plant Departments
Q: Why do the tree trimmers trim the trees so far back from the power lines?
A: Tree limbs needs to be cut back away from lines to keep from causing an outage. They are trimmed back farther from lines to allow for growth over the year. We also like to have them back far enough so that if high winds occur the branches won’t get into the lines. We learned from the ice storm in 2009 that having limbs back far enough from lines during ice and sleet is essential to keeping the branches and limbs from falling on the lines.
Q: What causes power outages?
A: Many times wildlife (squirrels, birds and even snakes) get into the lines and short them out. Sometimes tree limbs can get into the lines and short them out. Occasionally a vehicle will collide with a pole causing an outage. And Mylar party balloons in lines will also cause a short in the system.
Q: Customer has an electric pole and a fire hydrant in side ditch front of her house: the pole has wires running from the ground. Grass is growing around the wires. The yard man is afraid to mow this area. Is it the city’s responsibility to mow this area?
A: All wires running down our pole are inside conduit and therefore the wires inside the conduit should be safe to mow and/ r weed eat. We could send someone to inspect the conduit if the customer has concerns. CLGW does not mow or trim around poles and fire hydrants located on or adjacent to private property.
Q: Why do we only trim around primary electric lines?
A: High voltage lines will short out if they touch a tree. High voltage lines touching trees could be hazardous to people and pets should they come in contact with the tree. The secondary lines are insulated. There is not enough voltage in secondary lines to travel thru the tree limbs. Secondary lines do become rubbed into, in that case we would try and trim the necessary limbs to make access for the lines to go thru.
Q: Who is responsible for the clean-up of tree trimming debris?
A: CLGW is responsible for the clean-up of routine trimming. The homeowner is responsible for clean up if it is storm related.
Q: What causes an electrical line to catch fire?
A: A line that has shorted or that is overloaded causes a very high current to flow. A high flow of electrons generates heat and once enough heat is generated there can be a fire.
Q: If you see an electrical line on fire should you call the utility company or the fire department?
A: Call CLGW first. For the safety of everyone the power needs to be turned off. If the fire looks like it could spread to property or buildings, the fire department should be called.
Q: Where does the power in Kennett come from?
A: We are part of a power market called the Southwest Power Pool (SPP). Members of the SPP purchase power from the market, which is then transmitted to the town who ordered it. This is where the majority of our power comes from. We also have generators at the power plant which are duel-fueled by natural gas and diesel that are used when prices from SPP are higher than what we can generate. This helps to keeps local power costs down.
Q: Why do we purchase power when we have our own generating plant?
A: We purchase a base load of power and then use the power plan to meet the peak load. The operation of the power plant is often less expensive than purchasing power during peak hours of usage. This combination of base load purchase and peak generation results in a savings that is much more than the overall operation of the power plant.