Co-op Outage Lingo Facebook Update: The outage was cause by an under-ground cable fault. What’s that? This is one of the most common questions we receive as we update our social channels during an outage. We know many industries have their own jargon, but we want to turn that jargon into common knowledge. Here are some of the most likely to be used terms during a power outage:
Animal contact: Outage term to define the cause of an interruption due to birds, squirrels and raccoons that use the primary distribution system as travel paths or landing spots.
Arc:
The flow of an electric current across a gap between two conductors, terminals or contacts. An arc can result in sparks, a loud noise, and a momentary or sustained outage as protective equipment operates.
Cable fault:
Brown outs:
Drop in voltage in electrical power supply, so named because it typically causes lights to dim.
Blinks:
A momentary outage usually lasting less than 2 seconds.
Back feed:
The ability to route power from an alternate direction.
6 Highline Notes May 2019
www.kwh.com
When the insulation of a power cable deteriorates enough that it’s no longer able to contain the voltage, causing a short. Basically, it’s a hole, or a crack, burning through the cable.
