Our dedicated team of IBEW employees, both from our own staff and contractors, are working six-day weeks day and night to bring much-needed improvements to our customers. Our current projects focus on system upgrades to better withstand high winds associated with storms, reduce outages due to vegetation and animal contacts, and allow for growth without stressing the system. Areas of concentrated work include:

• The western part of our service territory with 129 pole replacements and upgrades of associated hardware and the installation of remotely operated devices to more rapidly restore customers after outages. You can see completed work along Lake Osborne Drive, Detroit Street, Lake Worth Road, and Engle Street. Additional aggressive vegetation clearing, and wrapping of poles with animal guards, was performed along the French Avenue canal bank, where the large population of iguanas had led to multiple outages when they climb our poles and come in contact with energized wires.
• The eastern part of the service territory has seen neighborhood electric system upgrades to include new poles and associated hardware, new transformers, and a conversion to a higher operating voltage to reduce stress on the system and provide capacity for growth. Over 550 customers spread across the area from Lake Avenue to 16th Ave North on Palmway, Lakeside, and Golfview and from Lake to 3rd Ave North from Federal to Palmway, are now being fed from newly hardened electric infrastructure.
• The area of 7th Avenue North leading to Boutwell Road is undergoing upgrades of poles and associated hardware, including some undergrounding of electric lines, in support of improvements to the Park of Commerce roadways and sidewalk infrastructure.

Additionally, vegetation management comprised of tree trimming and mowing of alleys, as well as wrapping of poles to prevent wildlife from climbing up to our wires, continues daily across the entire system.

If you see our employees and contractors at work in your neighborhoods, please thank them for their efforts, and of course, slow down and be extra careful as you drive by their job sites for their safety and your own.

Thank you,

Ed Liberty