BGE delivers electricity to more than 1.1 million customers in Central Maryland through 21,000 miles of wire and thousands of electrical components. Electricity is, almost always, so reliable that most of us take it for granted. But at BGE, we are not satisfied with 'almost always.' Our first job is to provide our customers with dependable, uninterrupted power. That's why we are committed to maximizing reliability. BGE is spending nearly $70 million each year on projects designed to prevent outages from happening in the first place, and shorten their duration if they occur. And since 1994, sustained outages have been reduced by 27%. The main goals of our reliability programs are to:
- Reduce customer interruptions
- Minimize the number of customers affected by interruptions
- Improve service restoration efforts following an interruption.
Here are some of BGE's initiatives to maximize the reliability of our electric system:
Defending the system against nature
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Tree Trimming - BGE spends approximately $15 million a year on a formal tree-trimming program to minimize outages and ensure public safety. Customers typically experience 57% fewer tree-related power interruptions after trimming.
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Wildlife Protection - Since 1995, BGE has been installing new barriers and insulation materials to protect electrical components from damage caused by wildlife, resulting in a 33% reduction in wildlife-related outages.
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Lightning Protection Program - Lightning strikes can cause damage on overhead and underground lines. BGE has installed upgraded lightning protection equipment throughout the system and lightning-related interruptions are down by 27% since 1994.
Maximizing technology to improve the system
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Distribution Automation - BGE is installing state of the art equipment to isolate the problem areas and restore sections automatically while the primary problem is further assessed and repaired. This means fewer customers will be out and faster restoration overall.
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Automatic Internal Analysis - The use of computer programs to identify repeated or prolonged outages enables our engineers and technicians to easily prioritize equipment repairs.
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Thermovision - Infrared cameras are used to detect hot spots on underground equipment. These spots indicate potential failures, so equipment can be repaired before an outage occurs.
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Infrastructure Reliability Projects - BGE's engineers and field staff are constantly assessing and upgrading the distribution and transmission systems to improve and enhance reliability.
Maintaining system reliability
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Inspection and Maintenance Program - We constantly tour our 21,000 miles of wire and thousands of electrical components to identify elements needing repair prior to failure.
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Cable Replacement Program - We use a new method to identify problematic underground cables and repair them sooner - preventing 30,000 customer interruptions a year.
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Wood Pole Program - BGE inspects our 350,000 wood poles regularly to check for deterioration and insect damage. We treat, reinforce, and replace poles regularly to ensure a safe network.
What can you do?
You can help prevent problems by being safe around electrical equipment. Don't plant trees near power lines or green transformer boxes. If you plan to dig, state law requires that you call Miss Utility first at 1-800-257-7777 at least 48 hours prior to beginning any project. A utility representative will mark underground lines so you know where wires and pipes are buried.
