Wildlife Damage in Electric Substations in New York

to s top faults. "preventable" animal-caused Wildlife managers have long been concerned with the damage wildlife can cause, especially to agricultural crops. However, one area which has received little research is the damage caused by wildlife to electric substations. Such research is needed because damage to electric substations increases operating costs of utilities and reduces reliability of service to customers. Six member utilities of the Empire State Electric Energy Research Corporation (ESEERCO) were surveyed to identify classes of substations experiencing animal-caused faults (i.e., short circuits), and to determine the impacts of those faults. Records of more than 200 animal-caused faults occurring from 1970-88 were examined. The mean cost of each fault was $12,550, and the total cost incurred by New York state utilities from 1970-88 may have been as high as $10 million. Substations experiencing animal-caused faults tended to be older (>30 yrs), tallerprofile structures of mid-range distribution-voltage classification. Sixteen types of animals caused faults in substations. However, squirrels (55%), birds (16%), and raccoons (12%) accounted for 83% of the faults. Although all electrified substation equipment was susceptible to faults, only 4 types of equipment experienced 74% of the faults. These findings provide information useful for targeting individual substations and specific substation equipment for protection from animals. Wildlife managers and damage control specialists may find this information useful as utilities search for ways INTRODUCTION Researchers have long studied wildlife damage to agricultural crops such as hay and corn (e.g., McDowell and Pillsbury 1959, Flyger and Thoerig 1962, Sperow 1985) and fruit crops (e.g., Decker and Brown 1982). The damage caused to highways and timber products as a result of flooding by beavers also has been researched (Purdy et al. 1985; Enck et al. 1988). In recent years, additional management concerns have arisen such as deer-car collisions (e.g., Wood and Wolfe 1988) and wildlife damage to ornamental plantings (e.g., Conover and Kania 1988). All of these areas of interest are receiving increasing research attention as the various stakeholder groups express their concerns to wildlife managers. However, one type of animal damage that has received relatively little attention is damage caused by wildlife to electric substations. Damage to a utility's electric system resulting from electric faults increases operating costs for the utility and decreases the reliabilty of service provided to customers. Faults caused by animals are of special concern because those faults generally are considered to be preventable, unlike lightening strikes or accidents. Animals may cause faults to transmission and distribution lines or to substation equipment. Although faults in substations are less numerous than faults to transmission and Dimensions Research Unit, Department of Natural Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853.