IID newsletter highlights power infrastructure regulation and safety

Power Infrastructure Regulation

Haystacks stored under, or in close proximity to, power lines pose a severe hazard, can damage electrical equipment, cause unnecessary power outages and result in potential liability for the responsible party.

A recent fire involving three haystacks near El Centro that damaged IID power lines, causing several customers to be without power, serves as a reminder that haystack fires can be dangerous and costly, yet preventable.

To help maintain reliable power service and prevent damage to the
district’s energy infrastructure, the IID Board of Directors passed
Regulation No. 23, “Clearance Requirements for Power Line
Corridors,” which prohibits the stacking of hay and other materials
near power equipment.

Practicing Safety

IID wishes to encourage safe practices to protect yourself and
the district’s thousands of miles of overhead energy transmission and
distribution lines by following these essential tips when storing hay
bales and working around power lines, poles and facilities:

• Store hay outside of IID power-line clearance corridors.
• Ensure hay is fully cured before bailing.
• Keep haystacks to a limited size.
• Store hay bales away from vehicles, machinery, equipment and potential flooding, to minimize moisture content and protect them from rain.
• Assume all overhead lines are energized, including service lines that run from poles to buildings.
• Always look for power lines and poles before you begin work and warn fellow workers of any concerns. Use a spotter.
• Avoid parking vehicles with extensions, such as cranes or boom lifts, near overhead lines.
• When you move irrigation pipe, ladders and other farm equipment, avoid hitting power lines. Do not raise irrigation pipe into the air.
• When pruning or working in or near trees, be careful to avoid contact with power lines. You may submit a request for IID to de-energize a service line, if needed, to safely complete your project.
• Call Underground Service Alert toll-free, at 8-1-1 or 1-800-422-4133, two workings days before starting a project. Experts will locate electric, gas, telephone, water and sewer lines on or near your project site.

Public's Help in Increasing Security Watch

IID asks the public to exercise increased awareness of any suspicious
circumstances and situations occurring around IID facilities and to
report any such instances.

Special attention should be taken when vehicles or people are
seen around IID energy facilities, substations, transmission and
distribution lines in both the Imperial and Coachella Valleys and
around the district’s water facilities and major waterways.

If you see an immediate threat to public safety, a threat of possible
sabotage, a vandalism in-progress or theft to any infrastructure,
please contact 911, followed by a call to IID’s Security, Claims and Investigations Unit at 1-760-339-9102 or 1-760-482-3688.