West Penn Power gearing up for consistent summer heat
The sun has been shining over Downtown Pittsburgh and residents are feeling the heat.
“Sometimes it gets so damn hot nobody comes out, they stay in the air conditioning,” said Gus Kalaris, who owns Gus & Yiayia’s Ice Stand.
Kalaris is on his 88th year serving up shaved ice on the Northside and he’s waiting to see just how hot it gets. He’s not alone. West Penn Power is closely monitoring the climbing temperatures.
“Overnight when the temperatures don’t go down out of the 80s that equipment is staying hot. A lot of it is air-cooled and it isn’t given the chance to cool off and that’s when we start to see things breaking down,” said Todd Meyers with West Penn Power.
Meyers said West Penn Power is currently finishing up its proactive approaches to fix any weak spots, so as to limit potential heat outages.
“People are familiar with the lines running down the streets, we want to make sure the hardware all looks good; the fuses are ready to operate the line itself looks good,” Meyers said.
When it comes to spots you can’t see in the substations, Meyers said they use thermal vision cameras to spot the weak spots.
As we get into the heat of the summer, he believes the system will be ready to go.
Duquesne Light told Channel 11 that it’s also monitoring the hot temperatures. The system will remind customers to report any outages so that they can get it fixed as soon as possible.
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