Vultures have a reputation of flying over animals close to death in the wilderness waiting for their prey to pass away. But they are found in other tragedies, too. Recently, a vulture flew into an Entergy substation, which led to a power outage for about 1,500 customers in Navasota, Texas.
The wings touched two conductors, and the system shut down automatically on Jan. 22, as a safety precaution set up by the utility. “It [the shutdown] does that to prevent what could be a large fire,” Ronnie Hale, an Entergy spokesman, told The Navasto Examiner newspaper.
The power was out for about an hour, and it marks the second such occurrence in the last few years. Entergy and other utilities are trying to find ways to keep birds from landing in substations in the future.
These kinds of situations illustrate the importance of devices from such firms as Minuteman Power Technologies. For instance, an uninterruptible power supply can provide energy so data can be saved or a back-up can take place before technology shuts down. The company also offers external battery packs.
Having flexibility is important, too. The Minuteman RPM Series 8 & 16-Port Remote Power Managers let businesses manage power for connected devices such as servers, switches, routers, modems, security devices and telephone systems – from a remote location. Locked-up devices can be reset from a PC, laptop computer, smartphone or tablet, with Minuteman products, too.
The recent snowstorms in the South and elsewhere in the United States have led to power outages, as well. If the power goes out suddenly, like it recently did in Myrtle Beach, S.C., servers and sensitive data can be compromised without an uninterruptible power supply from Minuteman.
It is important for businesses to be prepared, whether the outage risk comes from a vulture, snowstorm or other source.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson