Power Quality
Reliability is about more than just keeping the lights on when you turn on a light switch. With today’s modern electronics, it’s more important than ever that our Members have consistent, quality power for their appliances, devices and electronics.
CoServ has a team of experts dedicated to Power Quality investigations.
Here’s how CoServ works to keep your power trouble-free:
- System design, preventive maintenance, upgrades and 24-hour system monitoring
- We continuously monitor the voltage in our systems.
- We use regulating devices to maintain proper voltage ranges.
- We have an extensive right-of-way vegetation management program.
- Deployment of system automation
- We improve system performance by regularly enhancing the “grounding” of our equipment.
Power Fluctuations
Power fluctuations are rare on CoServ’s modern electric system but they do happen occasionally.
Examples of Power Fluctuations:
- Lights dimming or flickering
- Malfunctioning equipment and/ or appliances
- Failure of equipment and/ or appliances
- Unexplained computer issues
- Unusual equipment/machine malfunction
- Inconsistent HVAC operations
If you are experiencing any of these issues, please use your SmartHub account to report a partial outage. Please provide details in the comments section.
If deemed necessary, our Power Quality Technicians will come out to conduct an investigation to determine if the problem is on CoServ’s side of the meter or the Member’s side. They measure the power coming into the meter and put a small load on it, like a hair dryer, to test the quality of the power. If there’s adequate power going into the meter, the problem is likely on the Member’s side and will require an electrician.
After the preliminary assessment, a technician will visit your home, business or construction site to offer guidance and suggestions, including:
- Facility upgrades
- Deployment of protective devices
- Surge protection
- Grounding/ bonding enhancement
Surge Protection
Even if your power quality is fine, you should proactively protect your electronics by heeding this advice:
- Use surge protection devices. This will discharge the brunt of the energy during a lightning strike or other surge conditions. Remember to protect more than just your electric line, though. Surges can enter your home through telecommunications and TV coaxial lines, as well.
- Unplug appliances and electronics during thunderstorms. If you don’t have protective devices or just want one more level of safety, unplug everything from the wall when you see lightning.
The most common causes for power fluctuations include:
- voltage surges such as lightning
- utility switching during adverse conditions, and
- when large appliances such as HVAC turn on and off inside the Member’s home or facility
A Member may incur damage at the time of a lightning strike but may not notice ill effects until days or weeks later. This happens because the lightning strike may weaken some circuitry while destroying others. It's also important to note that lightning strikes can occur several miles away and still affect your house. The smaller surges most likely occur without the Member ever knowing, yet they take a toll on electronic equipment/ appliances and reduce the life span of the device. Eventually, the device fails short of its expected life span.
Members are responsible for protecting their appliances, electronics and other equipment from lightning and other surge conditions. It is not possible for CoServ to eliminate these risks simply because most surges are generated by nature and the affected appliances are on the Member's side of the meter.