David Latona: Welcome to Co-op Conversations with DEMCO, where we talk about the topics that impact your power, your co-op, and your community. I'm your host, David Latona. In this episode, we're talking about a piece of equipment on our system that most people never see, but plays a big role in keeping your power steady and reliable. Joining me today are Michael Welborn and Ashton Stokes. Thank you both for being here, gentlemen. Ashton Stokes: Thanks for having us.
Michael Welborn: Thank you man. David Latona: So glad y'all are here. The experts are in the studio, y'all. When people hear the word capacitor, they may not know what that is. Can you guys tell us a little more about capacitor and what that means to an electric distribution system like DEMCO? Michael Welborn: Basically, a capacitor stores electrical energy. So when you have several of them grouped together, we call it a capacitor bank.
Ashton Stokes: And those capacitor banks, they store and release energy when it's needed to help the voltage steady depending on hot days, cold days. Depending on the weather change, it's able to fluctuate the voltage. David Latona: So for all our electricity nerds out there, I like to know how things work also. Let's dive in a little deeper. When you say the capacitor banks help regulate voltage, break that down for me. What exactly are they doing to regulate that voltage?
Michael Welborn: Basically, you can think of voltage like pressure. It's what pushes electricity through the lines. And a capacitor bank helps keep that pressure steady. So things run the way they're supposed to. David Latona: Okay, that makes sense. So what happens if that voltage isn't steady? Ashton? Ashton Stokes: Multiple things can happen, lights dim and flicker. Your equipment might not run as efficiently. It can have strain on your systems.
And overall the power quality you have can drop. David Latona: So it's not just about convenience, right? It's also about protecting equipment, making sure power is safe and reliable. Are voltage changes always a problem? Ashton Stokes: Not always. Having the capacitors there keep it within the regular standards that we hold that serve the customers best. David Latona: Okay, well that makes sense. But then also that can be created by something outside of our control. Is that right?
Michael Welborn: Yeah. That's right. Sometimes it could be in the home of the customer, like they're wiring the breakers or even a large appliance turning on and off, such as like an oven dryer, heater, something like that. David Latona: Okay, okay. So as a member or somebody listening to our show, how can a member of the community know what it is on their system that's causing some of these issues?
Ashton Stokes: A good thing to do is if your house is experiencing problems, reach out to your neighbors and see if they're experiencing the same problems. Usually whenever we have a problem, it involves multiple houses because from the power source
is feeding multiple customers. If your neighbors aren't experiencing voltage problems, it might be something to do with your breaker in your house, and it would be a good idea to get a licensed electrician to look and review and see what the problem is. David Latona: Excellent. Those are great tips. What are the signs that it may be something on the system and not in someone's home? What should they watch for? Michael Welborn: Repeated outages in the same area.
Power going off and staying off for, you know, a decent amount of time. Hearing unusual noises like buzzing or popping. Seeing sparks from power lines. Something damaged on a pole, something in that area. David Latona: Maybe a loud boom. Michael Welborn: Yeah. David Latona: We get that call a lot when there's maybe an issue with a transformer or a conductor. So if someone sees something like sparking or a downed line, that's pretty serious, right? What's the steps there?
Michael Welborn: Yeah, it is pretty serious. We always tell everybody to stay away from it and report it as soon as you see it. That way we can go out there and safely, you know, fix the issue, whatever it may be. David Latona: So while some flickering might just be an annoyance, especially if it's brief, if it's ongoing or widespread or looks unsafe, that's when it becomes a real concern, right?
Michael Welborn: Yeah. Anytime there's an issue, you can always call DEMCO at 1-844-MY-DEMCO phone line. We're on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. No matter what the issue is, you can get somebody out there to check. David Latona: That goes right to your home phone, right, Michael? Michael Welborn: Yes. David Latona: Yeah. Okay, good. Those get you when they make that call. So let's go back to the work you all were doing. When you're inspecting capacitor banks, what are you looking for?
Ashton Stokes: We're making sure everything's operable the way it should be. That includes checking connections, making sure the equipment is switched correctly, and looking for any signs of wear. We're also looking for anything damaged or out of place, because those are the kinds of things that can lead to problems if they're not fixed.
David Latona: That is interesting. You think there are environmental factors that can damage, like you said, the lightning or something that could cause a fault on our system, whether it's a limb or wind that makes conductors contact one another, that can cause damage on those capacitor banks so. I see how that makes this inspection so important when we're going through our system. So our members may not know this, but we have a field office with crews and equipment across our
entire system. And we serve seven parishes. And you inspected 94 capacitor banks. That's a huge effort. What does that process look like when you're laying that plan out? Ashton Stokes: We usually just take it by area, you know, and go through East Baton Rouge, do all the ones in there and then, you know, move. We have East Baton Rouge. We have Livingston, you know, Denham Springs and Watson. Baton Rouge is a pretty big area in itself.
David Latona: That's great. And it really is something that's behind the scenes that our members may not see the efforts we're making for that consistent power. When you're coming here and you've got a work order of a certain location that you're attacking with the capacitor. So you're coming here or you're getting your gear and you're going to make those inspections, just walk us through that day.
Michael Welborn: So basically, the inspections that we do are on the iPad through our mapping system. It has pretty much all the capacitors mapped on the system, and it highlights them so you know where they're at. So then we'll, you know, go to that location. You're going to have your fuses on the capacitor bank. We have to go up there, test them, make sure that they're still good. Lightning strikes will damage them. Sometimes, blow them out completely.
David Latona: Is the tank switch operated by a long boy? Michael Welborn: Yes, they are. David Latona: Okay. Michael Welborn: Not all of them. Some are thermal banks that have a vacuum canister on it that will close in automatically whenever they're needed. So a lot of these capacitor banks are spread through the system in areas that need it. Like when we have a, let's say, a hot hot day or a really cold day, you'll see the voltage kind of start going down a little bit.
And once it gets close to our threshold of where we're supposed to, you know, maintain it, we can go to that area and close them. That's why we have to test them to make sure they're operable. Because if you need them and then they're not operable, then you're fixing them that day. Ashton Stokes: And the deal is from the substation to where the circuit ends, depending on how long it is that you have line loss.
So if we put the voltage on the line at the station, it's going to be lower towards the end of the circuit. So that's why the capacitors are able to pick up the voltage. So we can carry it further from the station. David Latona: Okay. Serving in some comparisons, like water tower is pumping water up to repressurize the water line. Ashton Stokes: You could almost look at electric, our lines as water lines.
Depending on the size of the wire, the size of the pipe, depends how much voltage you're going to get. How far you're traveling, you know, same thing with water, is it same thing, you'll probably have less water at the back end than you do coming out of the well. It's the same thing as the substation.
David Latona: I think it's interesting to hear about the work you guys do outside of storms, just like we've had on past podcasts that you're always working, updating and maintaining the system. People don't see that every day, so this is really helpful to hear about that work and how it helps. Michael Welborn: That's right, David. We usually, you know, work a lot and try to maintain the system that way everything's up to par.
David Latona: Excellent. So while you're here, I do have a question I know you two can answer. Sometimes the power goes off, and then comes right back on. Some members may call that a blink or a quick out/on on their system. What's happening there when we see that on our service in homes and businesses? Ashton Stokes: That's a part of our system doing its job. It's called a recloser. David Latona: Okay, so a recloser, what is that supposed to do?
Ashton Stokes: A recloser is a device that protects the system. If it senses a problem, a tree on the line, a squirrel, or some of those sorts, it will shut off. And when it comes back on, if it doesn't see the fault,
it will re-energize the line. If it continues to see the fault, like, say, there's a downed power line or there's a bigger issue or a pole that's broken, it can go up to three times to see the issue, which will de-energize the line, and it will open and protect itself from the rest of the line. That way we sectionalize that outage instead of having a bigger outage. David Latona: So that quick off and on, that means the system is actually working?
Michael Welborn: So basically instead of blinks, it's actually operations. They're designed to operate three times when they see a fault. David Latona: Okay. Michael Welborn: That way it tries to clear itself without having to send somebody out there. David Latona: So it's like a smart switch. Michael Welborn: Yeah. Basically. So it actually even has capabilities of what we call a hotline tag.
So we can put it on hotline tag to work on it safely, where it just goes to a single operation, where if it sees one fault, it'll open up that way, you know, if anything bad happened. David Latona: Sure. Michael Welborn: It's de-energized. David Latona: So in those rare instances, we have line work happening. We can set that equipment to be off immediately when it senses something the first time instead of –. Michael Welborn: Right. Anytime we work on it, it's got to be on hotline tag.
David Latona: Okay. Okay. Ashton Stokes: As a safety precaution for us. David Latona: And when should someone report that issue? Ashton Stokes: If it blinks once and comes back on, that happens pretty frequently with the amount of squirrels and the amount of trees we have in the area. If it's out, that means there is a problem and that will need a lineman to, you know, come and figure out what the problem is and get the power restored.
David Latona: So when it stays out, that's when you make that call. Ashton Stokes: I would say if it stays out, you definitely need to make a call. But if it is blinking periodically over a day, over a couple hours, I would think you would have to call. There's probably something that is. David Latona: That's good to know. That's good.
Michael Welborn: Or even if it blinks, if it blinks for, you know, say a couple of times a day for a week or so, it could be something going on, you know, on the lines that need to be assessed. Even if it's not opening it up completely. Ashton Stokes: I mean, there's multiple things we find on the line, whether it's trees, squirrels, kites, balloons, snakes, raccoons, anything. Falcons, I mean anything.
David Latona: So I get this, that if this system is not in place like 20 years ago and that limb touches that line, the breaker comes out, we've got to mobilize a team to go assess, maybe even do nothing but put the the fuse back in. But with a smart switch, it's doing it on its own. So you can imagine the reliability that a member sees when that's automated so many times. Michael Welborn: We have, I mean, they're spread out through the system a lot.
I mean, we have them a lot of places, a lot of major intersections. And then even on our smaller lines, we have individual fuses to isolate problems if something was to get on it. But a lot of people don't see that how far a circuit actually travels from the substation to their homes. So they might not see anything right there, but it might be a broke pole 4 or 5 miles from where you live.
David Latona: Yeah. And I know that we have spoken in the past with district managers who say that you all are the most familiar with these circuits, right? You know that, hey, historically this one keeps blinking or there's an issue, and we don't have smart switches on it. So you can actually have some buy in and recommending smart switches in certain areas. Is that how that works for you all?
Ashton Stokes: Right. As a lineman, if you go to a problem and you know you're on call, you get called out multiple times. You usually draw a job up to try to see if we can better it, whether it be to cut trees or add switches. That way we can sectionalize the problem as close as we can, which helps us because when you sectionalize it, you have a smaller section to look at instead of a, you know, whole mile, two miles of line through the woods.
If you know where frequent problems are at, it's good to install switches that way it doesn't affect other people's lights. And also it kind of directs us to where the problem would be. Michael Welborn: And they actually record data from when they go out, and they can pull it up, have a full log of how many times it's operated. Everything. David Latona: Data driven reliability. Michael Welborn: Yes, sir.
David Latona: That's a good thing for our members to hear that we're not just going and repairing broken lines. We're doing some progressive work to ensure that reliability. Well, Michael, Ashton, thank you both for joining us and for the work you all do every day. And to our listeners, this is a great example of the work happening behind the scenes to make sure you have safe and reliable power. Thanks for tuning in to Co-op Conversations with DEMCO.
If you like what you heard, leave us a review. Like and share the episode with a friend. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode! For Michael and Ashton, I'm David Latona. Let's keep the conversation going.