Utilities Put together for Potential Energy Outages On account of Overstretched Methods – CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – In the heat of the day, more and more people are moving inside.

“It’s getting a little warm. Do the gardening early in the day and try to avoid the hottest part of the day, ”said Lou Desanzo, who lives in Beaver County.

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Desanzo is not alone. But it’s not just people who get scorched by the sun.

“High heat can damage our equipment and that is one of our challenges,” said Hollie Geitner.

Geitner is with Duquesne Light, which has already deployed additional crews to prepare for possible power outages in the next two days.

“We have 90-degree temperatures and everyone turns on their air conditioners and fans, and there is an increase in electricity demand that we have not seen,” said Geitner.

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Not only is more electricity consumed, but it is also used over longer periods of time. These machines run all night because the temperatures are not cooling down, which can affect the subway lines.

“These cables can stretch and short-circuit because they are so hot underground. Lines can sag when things get really hot. Trees can get into the pipes and cause failures, ”said Geitner.

Then the transformers can burn up due to overheating of the oil inside. It’s just a situation that power crews want to avoid this week.

“We’ll work as quickly as possible. We have 800 square miles of service area and 7,200 sales lines. When we see what’s in our neighborhood, we forget that there is a lot more out there, ”said Geitner.

On Tuesday evening at 10:59 p.m., more than 5,300 customers are without electricity, according to Duquesne Light. Click here to learn more about the outages.

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In order for Duquesne Light or West Penn Power to know if your power is down, you need to let them know. Resolving heat-related issues may take a little longer. The earlier the crews know where the problems are, the faster they can get to work.