ONCOR Issues
Owens Park Neighborhood Association
Copyright 2010-2011 Owens Park Neighborhood Assocation
OPNA is a not for profit voluntary group comprised of residents of Owens Park
OPNA is a not for profit voluntary group comprised of residents of Owens Park
ONCOR Sub-station Screening
Trees
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
ONCOR Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager)
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
ONCOR Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager)
February 19, 2010
Trees replaced before Christmas 2009.
September 1, 2009
Submitted by Bill Gates @ 1503 Woodoak... There are 4 dead or dying trees that need to be replaced - working with Oncor.
Trees replaced before Christmas 2009.
September 1, 2009
Submitted by Bill Gates @ 1503 Woodoak... There are 4 dead or dying trees that need to be replaced - working with Oncor.
Resolved Issues
Open Issues
Experiencing a power outage or other ONCOR related issue? Let us know!
NOTE: If you are experiencing a power outage, you should also call your electricity provider as directed on your monthly statement (OPNA needs this information for our broader conversation with ONCOR).
NOTE: If you are experiencing a power outage, you should also call your electricity provider as directed on your monthly statement (OPNA needs this information for our broader conversation with ONCOR).
One of the most frequent comments that the OPNA Board hears has to do with power outages. As thankful as we are for power, all to often
residents of Owens Park experience outages - sometimes its raining, sometimes its not :-) The OPNA Board is working with ONCOR to address this
issue as well as several others (see below), but we need your help... let us know when you experience issues!
Getting Power at Owens
Terminus
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
Oncor Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager) / Utility Designer
CoR Contact: TBD but likely Asst City Mgr David Morgan & Parks Superintendent Dan Baker
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
Oncor Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager) / Utility Designer
CoR Contact: TBD but likely Asst City Mgr David Morgan & Parks Superintendent Dan Baker
ISSUE AS COMMUNICATED TO ONCOR (NOV 2010)
Earlier this year, the City of Richardson terminated Owens Blvd at Woodoak Dr and created a very nice park area. OPNA has since been using this area as a "base" for neighborhood activities (fall picnic, trash bash, holiday hayride & caroling, neighborhood night out, etc) and would like to do more (holiday tree lighting, etc) but need access to power without imposing the cost on adjacent homeowners. Given the proximity of power poles, power towers and the sub-station, would it be possible to have a meter and outlet installed (maybe on the wood power pole) that could be billed to OPNA? Or, are there other options e.g., with the homeowners permission, a separate meter and outlet attached to an adjacent home?
Nov 17, 2010 Update - Katherine Cargile spoke with Barry Young
Barry is already following up with Oncor's Utility Designer to see what, if any, options exist. There will be a fee assoicated with the installation, but there are allowances that may decrease or elimate this fee (dependent on the level of effort). As we will need the power periodically through the year, whichever power company (e.g., TXU, Direct, etc) is selected to provide electricity, OPNA will have to incur a monthly minumum fee.
ACTION: Barry to update Katherine on the Utility Designer's findings.
ACTION: Barry to provide Katherine with a "ballpark" monthly minumum fee (as it is basically a pass-thru fee from Oncor for the meter).
ACTION: If the monthly minimum fee is reasonable for OPNA to cover, Katherine to follow up with CoR to determine the feasibility of this request (note: initially discussed with CoR Project Engineer Dan Tracy during Owens Terminus build - he felt it was feasible but we needed to work through Oncor). If approved, a provider must be identified, a permit must be pulled and an electrician must be contracted to connect to the Oncor installation - we need to determine if the City or OPNA will arrange and pay for this.
Earlier this year, the City of Richardson terminated Owens Blvd at Woodoak Dr and created a very nice park area. OPNA has since been using this area as a "base" for neighborhood activities (fall picnic, trash bash, holiday hayride & caroling, neighborhood night out, etc) and would like to do more (holiday tree lighting, etc) but need access to power without imposing the cost on adjacent homeowners. Given the proximity of power poles, power towers and the sub-station, would it be possible to have a meter and outlet installed (maybe on the wood power pole) that could be billed to OPNA? Or, are there other options e.g., with the homeowners permission, a separate meter and outlet attached to an adjacent home?
Nov 17, 2010 Update - Katherine Cargile spoke with Barry Young
Barry is already following up with Oncor's Utility Designer to see what, if any, options exist. There will be a fee assoicated with the installation, but there are allowances that may decrease or elimate this fee (dependent on the level of effort). As we will need the power periodically through the year, whichever power company (e.g., TXU, Direct, etc) is selected to provide electricity, OPNA will have to incur a monthly minumum fee.
ACTION: Barry to update Katherine on the Utility Designer's findings.
ACTION: Barry to provide Katherine with a "ballpark" monthly minumum fee (as it is basically a pass-thru fee from Oncor for the meter).
ACTION: If the monthly minimum fee is reasonable for OPNA to cover, Katherine to follow up with CoR to determine the feasibility of this request (note: initially discussed with CoR Project Engineer Dan Tracy during Owens Terminus build - he felt it was feasible but we needed to work through Oncor). If approved, a provider must be identified, a permit must be pulled and an electrician must be contracted to connect to the Oncor installation - we need to determine if the City or OPNA will arrange and pay for this.
Getting Additoinal Landscaping
around ONCOR Sub-station
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
Oncor Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager) / Transmission Manager
CoR Contact: TBD but likely Asst City Mgr David Morgan & Parks Superintendent Dan Baker
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
Oncor Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager) / Transmission Manager
CoR Contact: TBD but likely Asst City Mgr David Morgan & Parks Superintendent Dan Baker
ISSUE AS COMMUNICATED TO ONCOR (NOV 2010):
In speaking with residents and given my own observations, I know we've had some trouble with evergreens dying over the past few years. Even now, many of the evergreens are showing large brown areas and at least one of the replacement evergreens is leaning badly. Additionally, only the west side and north side are "screened" i.e., evergreens screen some of the wall and small areas above the wall - the east side is not screened with the exception of some very low bushes. Net - You can see quite a bit of the sub-station from several angles including residences adjacent to it (on Woodoak Dr, west AND east of Owens Blvd), Lookout Park and northbound Owens Blvd. Given the age of our neighborhood and relation to Lookout Park, it's frustrating that this sub-station is, after so much time, still so visible. This is especially true when a comparable sub-station (like the one at Heights - Floyd Rd and Arapaho Rd) is almost completely screened by vegetation and has what looks to be a 10'wall compared to our 8' wall. We all know it takes a long time to create a sufficient vegetation screen - is there a plan in place to address visibility given the open spaces surrounding the sub-station that could be utilized?
Nov 17, 2010 Update - Katherine Cargile spoke with Barry Young
Officially, the current screening is in compliance with an agreement between the City of Richardson and Oncor. That being said, Barry is already following up with Oncor's Transmission Manager to see what, if any, options exist.
ACTION: Barry to update Katherine on the Transmission Manager's findings.
ACTION: Katherine to send pics of current screening to Barry - we are starting to see a lot of brown (especially on the west side) and leaning trees (especially on the replacements).
ACTION: Katherine to follow up with CoR to get a copy of the "agreement' and understand why the City agreed to so little screening (especially on the east side). Also, determine if there is any plan to increase screening of the substation - if not, understand the process to address this issue moving forward.
In speaking with residents and given my own observations, I know we've had some trouble with evergreens dying over the past few years. Even now, many of the evergreens are showing large brown areas and at least one of the replacement evergreens is leaning badly. Additionally, only the west side and north side are "screened" i.e., evergreens screen some of the wall and small areas above the wall - the east side is not screened with the exception of some very low bushes. Net - You can see quite a bit of the sub-station from several angles including residences adjacent to it (on Woodoak Dr, west AND east of Owens Blvd), Lookout Park and northbound Owens Blvd. Given the age of our neighborhood and relation to Lookout Park, it's frustrating that this sub-station is, after so much time, still so visible. This is especially true when a comparable sub-station (like the one at Heights - Floyd Rd and Arapaho Rd) is almost completely screened by vegetation and has what looks to be a 10'wall compared to our 8' wall. We all know it takes a long time to create a sufficient vegetation screen - is there a plan in place to address visibility given the open spaces surrounding the sub-station that could be utilized?
Nov 17, 2010 Update - Katherine Cargile spoke with Barry Young
Officially, the current screening is in compliance with an agreement between the City of Richardson and Oncor. That being said, Barry is already following up with Oncor's Transmission Manager to see what, if any, options exist.
ACTION: Barry to update Katherine on the Transmission Manager's findings.
ACTION: Katherine to send pics of current screening to Barry - we are starting to see a lot of brown (especially on the west side) and leaning trees (especially on the replacements).
ACTION: Katherine to follow up with CoR to get a copy of the "agreement' and understand why the City agreed to so little screening (especially on the east side). Also, determine if there is any plan to increase screening of the substation - if not, understand the process to address this issue moving forward.
Resolving Frequent Power
Outages
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
Oncor Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager)
OPNA Contact: Katherine Cargile
Oncor Contact: Barry Young (Area Manager)
ISSUE AS COMMUNICATED TO ONCOR (NOV 2010):
Almost any time we get a group of neighbors together, the high frequency of power outages is one of the first topics brought up. It seems with even the inkling of rain, wind, lighting and/or thunder, the power goes out (sometimes for hours at a time). Or, we get what we've termed "brown-outs" - 10 to 15 seconds of the power going on and off multiple times (not so great for electronics!). And, we are all too familiar with the sound of a transformer exploding at the sub-station. What makes this even more frustrating for residents is that one side of a street may be impacted for hours, while the other side of the street has no issue (or is back up in minutes). As a resident of 1605 Woodoak Drive (3 houses east of the sub-station and large power lines) since 1986, I know these complaints are valid and unfortunately, nothing new to me and other long-time residents of Owens Park (especially folks nearest the sub-station... Woodoak Dr, Woodglen Dr, Owens Blvd, Woodcreek Dr). In all fairness, I don't recall any power outages in the last month or so (including last night [Nov 15/16] when I was absolutely sure power would go out given the hour of hard rain, lighting and thunder), but people's memories are long - has the root cause been identified and resolved?
Nov 17, 2010 Update - Katherine Cargile spoke with Barry Young
Barry has already started to work with Oncor's Operation Control Team - he pulled information on the 1609 Woodoak (John Wallberg's house) as a baseline - in the last 12 months, 10 outages have been experienced (some of the outages occurred on the same day and 8 of 10 occurred during severe weather). We talked at length about the biggest contributors to outages - trees, wildlife (i.e., squirrels!), weather and even lack of weather (dust on top of transformers can be a culprit). Oncor will be trimming trees in our neighborhood in mid-December to early-January. I will be posting a separate entry on this maintenance but here is a presentation from Oncor that explains the tree trimming and how it can impact outages. Barry was able to was able to resolve a few rumors - the north side of Woodoak doesn't come back on quicker because its on a different grid and we don't experience more outages because we are near the sub-station... frequency and length of outages are driven by where, how the interuption occurred and a myriad of other variables - there is not one magic answer, but keeping the lines clear of disturbance is our best chance of minimizing outages!
ACTION: Katherine to send Barry a sampling of other addresses to see if other areas of the neighborhood are experiencing more/less outages 1600 block of Woodoak. Based on these results, there may be more investigation needed.
ACTION: Barry to provide the average number of outages for comparable areas i.e., are we above, on par or below.
ACTION: Barry is willing to come to the OPNA Board and/or membership. Katherine to bring up at next Board meeting and get back with Gary.
Almost any time we get a group of neighbors together, the high frequency of power outages is one of the first topics brought up. It seems with even the inkling of rain, wind, lighting and/or thunder, the power goes out (sometimes for hours at a time). Or, we get what we've termed "brown-outs" - 10 to 15 seconds of the power going on and off multiple times (not so great for electronics!). And, we are all too familiar with the sound of a transformer exploding at the sub-station. What makes this even more frustrating for residents is that one side of a street may be impacted for hours, while the other side of the street has no issue (or is back up in minutes). As a resident of 1605 Woodoak Drive (3 houses east of the sub-station and large power lines) since 1986, I know these complaints are valid and unfortunately, nothing new to me and other long-time residents of Owens Park (especially folks nearest the sub-station... Woodoak Dr, Woodglen Dr, Owens Blvd, Woodcreek Dr). In all fairness, I don't recall any power outages in the last month or so (including last night [Nov 15/16] when I was absolutely sure power would go out given the hour of hard rain, lighting and thunder), but people's memories are long - has the root cause been identified and resolved?
Nov 17, 2010 Update - Katherine Cargile spoke with Barry Young
Barry has already started to work with Oncor's Operation Control Team - he pulled information on the 1609 Woodoak (John Wallberg's house) as a baseline - in the last 12 months, 10 outages have been experienced (some of the outages occurred on the same day and 8 of 10 occurred during severe weather). We talked at length about the biggest contributors to outages - trees, wildlife (i.e., squirrels!), weather and even lack of weather (dust on top of transformers can be a culprit). Oncor will be trimming trees in our neighborhood in mid-December to early-January. I will be posting a separate entry on this maintenance but here is a presentation from Oncor that explains the tree trimming and how it can impact outages. Barry was able to was able to resolve a few rumors - the north side of Woodoak doesn't come back on quicker because its on a different grid and we don't experience more outages because we are near the sub-station... frequency and length of outages are driven by where, how the interuption occurred and a myriad of other variables - there is not one magic answer, but keeping the lines clear of disturbance is our best chance of minimizing outages!
ACTION: Katherine to send Barry a sampling of other addresses to see if other areas of the neighborhood are experiencing more/less outages 1600 block of Woodoak. Based on these results, there may be more investigation needed.
ACTION: Barry to provide the average number of outages for comparable areas i.e., are we above, on par or below.
ACTION: Barry is willing to come to the OPNA Board and/or membership. Katherine to bring up at next Board meeting and get back with Gary.
Anouncements
Tree Pruning (Mid-December to
Early-January)
During mid-December to early-January, tree pruning will occur along Oncor's Spring Creek Feeder 2102 - Owens Blvd
(south of Woodoak Dr to Campbell Rd) will be affected. All residences affected will be notified 3-5 days prior to the
pruning by means of a door hanger. Asplundh (orange or white trucks) will perform pruning of the entire feeder
comprehensively i.e., all phases and laterals will be affected. Oncor prunes to industry standards and will be pruning
affected trees 10 ft. 4 in. as a rule; however, cuts could go back to the trunk in some cases so as not to jeopardize
the health of the tree. It is normal procedure to use cuts in the shape of "V" or "C" depending on the proximity of the
trees to lines, the type of tree, etc. Oncor is committed to providing safe reliable electric service to our customers.
This work is an example of that commitment. For more information, please reference Oncor's Trees, Safety and
Reliability presentation (PDF, MS Powerpoint).