Eco Electrical Systems, LLC

Eco Electrical Systems designs and manufactures wildlife outage protective products for avian/bird, squirrel, and other wildlife for overhead electrical distribution systems and substations.

The wildlife outage protection products are designed to be installed while the circuit and equipment is energized with approved hot line tools or approved rubber protective products. All products utilize 'snap fit pins' to prevent the covers from blowing off or becoming dislodged during periods of high winds.

The insulator/conductor covers are designed to 'sit up' on top of the insulator and not jeopardize the leakage distance of the insulator.

The cutout covers also employ our 'snap fit pins' to insure they will not blow off or become dislodged during periods of high winds. The non-loadbreak designs are designed so the lineman can operate the fuse door with a loadbreak tool. The cover does not have to be removed for operation. Cutout covers are designed to fit a multitude of manufactured cutouts. The ECC-1 will fit AB Chance, ABB, S&C, and Cooper Power cutouts 15 kV 110 BIL and 27 kV 125 BIL. One cover will fit 7 different cutouts.

Electric energy providers have been designing and constructing electrical distribution circuits for nearly a century, utilizing wood, steel, concrete and composite poles. These poles provide a perch for birds to hunt for prey, provide shade in the summer and protection from the elements. Smaller birds such as sparrows and pigeons perch above electrical equipment, defecate on the equipment, bushings, cutouts, arrestors and terminations which results in heavy contamination buildup and the result is failure, an outage, and an upset customer. Squirrels and other wildlife interact with powerlines and equipment causing thousands of outages to customers, residential and industrial.

Utilities can take a proactive approach to these wildlife caused outages by looking at their existing construction standards. The Avian Powerline Interaction Committee, or APLIC for short, consisting of approximately 30+ utility members has recently revised their 'Suggested Practices for Avian Protection on Power Lines' in 2006. This guide will serve as a good reference for reducing not only bird related outages but also other wildlife induced outages.

The benefits of implementing wildlife outage protection measures include:

Compliance with Federal Laws

The Golden and Bald Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Yes, a utility can be held liable for the electrocution of protected birds and can be subject to Federal prosecution under these laws.
Reduced momentary and permanent outages
During new construction installation of these products will reduce costs vs retrofitting
Environmental Awareness/Stewardship
Protection of wildlife

The design of wildlife outage protection products may appear to be quite simple but rather it is quite complicated. These covers must not interfere with the dielectric properties of the insulator that they are interfacing with. They must also remain fixed or in place and not rotate or become dislodged during periods of high winds. They should fit a multitude of products, i.e. various sizes of insulators or cutouts. These products need to be UV resistant, track resistant, puncture resistant for the voltage that they are being applied, and not cause or contribute to structure failure, i.e. pole fires due to high levels of leakage current. Our snap fit pins provide a secure, mechanical method to prevent the covers from blowing off.

During the design process we collaborated with a number of utilities to insure the materials and design would meet their approval and acceptance. Prototypes would be made, lineman would hotstick and install the products at test facilities and after final approval tooling would be procurred.

We invite your comments, suggestions and questions. Feel free to contact us anytime with your wildlife issues. Please call 775-853-8623 PST. We've helped numerous utilities, Fortune 100 companies, US Military and Energy Providers with wildlife related issues, Avian Protection Plans and other electrical issues.

Eco Electrical Systems wildlife outage protection products are intended and designed for inadvertent contact by wildlife. They are not intended or designed to be used as insulating protection for employees or the general public from electrically energized equipment.

Eco Electrical Systems tested its first design at a High Voltage Lab. They were subjected to 15 and 25 kV dry and wet flashover tests. The test configuration consisted of a wood pole, an 8 ft. wood crossarm, and a wood brace to support the arm. The insulator pin was solidly grounded during all testing. Various insulators were used according to the voltage applied during testing