Near 77th and Oakwood streets in Ralston, Michele Mulder says she and her neighbors are used to random power outages, no matter the weather. “A lot of times, if you watch our Nextdoor chat, it’ll be like, ‘Hey, my power’s out. Is anybody else’s power out?'” Mulder said.”There’ll probably be four or five times each summer where we’ll hear a transformer explode because you’ll hear the big bang, and somebody will say, ‘Oh, our lights are out,’ and not necessarily during the stormy time, it just happens.”Wyndle Young, OPPD’s director of customer service and government infrastructure, said neighborhoods south of L Street and east of 84th Street tend to have a lot of trees, which can lead to issues.”Typical causes is really just vegetation, growth, animal activity, squirrels, birds, raccoons, those types of things,” Young said.”If you look down the street, you can definitely see the trees are coming over the lines now,” said Mulder.Young said tree trimming is the best solution. He added that OPPD crews rotate tree trimming locations every three years.”There’s still times where we will come back more frequently if necessary. Ralston’s probably one of the areas that warrants that more so because the density of the trees and different activities that would occur in that part of town,” Young said.”Ideally, I wish they would invest in the infrastructure and bury the lines,” Mulder said.But Young said moving the power lines underground would be disruptive to landscaping and harder to access over time. He said OPPD has considered underground powerlines for commercial areas like new buildings and stores but not for residential areas in Ralston.”The developers actually pay the cost to put those in the ground during the construction phases of those areas, so if we were to do that here, the homeowners would have to bear those costs,” Young said.At this point, residents like Mulder say they’re just ready for consistency when the lights are on.”It’s definitely a nuisance, it’s definitely a nuisance,” Mulder said.Young urges customers to report outages at 1-800-554-OPPD. He said the more frequent calls they get in a specific area will trigger a faster maintenance response.
Near 77th and Oakwood streets in Ralston, Michele Mulder says she and her neighbors are used to random power outages, no matter the weather.
“A lot of times, if you watch our Nextdoor chat, it’ll be like, ‘Hey, my power’s out. Is anybody else’s power out?'” Mulder said.”There’ll probably be four or five times each summer where we’ll hear a transformer explode because you’ll hear the big bang, and somebody will say, ‘Oh, our lights are out,’ and not necessarily during the stormy time, it just happens.”
Wyndle Young, OPPD’s director of customer service and government infrastructure, said neighborhoods south of L Street and east of 84th Street tend to have a lot of trees, which can lead to issues.
“Typical causes is really just vegetation, growth, animal activity, squirrels, birds, raccoons, those types of things,” Young said.
“If you look down the street, you can definitely see the trees are coming over the lines now,” said Mulder.
Young said tree trimming is the best solution. He added that OPPD crews rotate tree trimming locations every three years.
“There’s still times where we will come back more frequently if necessary. Ralston’s probably one of the areas that warrants that more so because the density of the trees and different activities that would occur in that part of town,” Young said.
“Ideally, I wish they would invest in the infrastructure and bury the lines,” Mulder said.
But Young said moving the power lines underground would be disruptive to landscaping and harder to access over time. He said OPPD has considered underground powerlines for commercial areas like new buildings and stores but not for residential areas in Ralston.
“The developers actually pay the cost to put those in the ground during the construction phases of those areas, so if we were to do that here, the homeowners would have to bear those costs,” Young said.
At this point, residents like Mulder say they’re just ready for consistency when the lights are on.
“It’s definitely a nuisance, it’s definitely a nuisance,” Mulder said.
Young urges customers to report outages at 1-800-554-OPPD. He said the more frequent calls they get in a specific area will trigger a faster maintenance response.
Read More: Ralston residents say they keep dealing with power outages