Beavers cause Westend outage

Oneida Road residents have a beaver to thank for a November 29 power outage, PUD Line Crew Foreman Shane Pfenniger reported to the PUD’s commissioners at a brief December 4 meeting.

When the line crew isolated the outage to its point of origin, they discovered a beaver den dug out underneath the road. The power line ran through the four-foot-high den, and the beaver had partially gnawed through the cable, Pfenniger explained. Beavers have also chewed through utility poles in the area, necessitating the use of wire mesh around the poles’ bases, he added.

Water crew foreman Jim Jespersen said the crew had been busy installing water meters as December 31 approaches. The end of 2012 marks the end of the system development fee waiver for new water meters. Since October, the crew has installed 16 meters on Puget Island and six meters in the Westend, he reported.

The substation construction project in progress at the PUD’s Jacobson Road site is on time and under budget, PUD Manager Dave Tramblie announced. Two minor issues on the transformer need to be corrected before energization, but Tramblie said he is confident the issues will be resolved without delaying the project. The substation is slated to begin full operation on December 21.