Liberty Utilities begins aerial inspection of transmission lines

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Liberty Utilities-Empire District will begin its annual aerial inspection of company transmission lines and substations this week. The inspection is expected to run through Friday, Aug. 31; however, the length of the program is dependent upon weather and wind conditions.

The aerial inspection process uses a low-flying helicopter to survey approximately 1,300 miles of transmission line throughout Liberty's local electric service territory. The survey focuses on identifying potential problems with transmission structures, hardware, conductors and vegetation. The process uses a high-resolution infrared imaging system to detect potential equipment issues that may go undetected in a typical visual inspection.

According to Jeff Westfall, Central Region director of transmission and distribution operations, "Annual aerial inspection is an important part of our routine maintenance program designed to ensure safe and reliable operation of the transmission system. The high-resolution infrared system helps us detect and address issues before they result in an outage for customers."

About Liberty Utilities

Liberty Utilities Co. owns and operates regulated water, wastewater, natural gas and electric transmission and distribution utilities in 12 states, delivering essential services to over 750,000 customers across the United States. Liberty Utilities currently operates in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Texas. For more information, visit www.LibertyUtilities.com.

General News on 08/22/2018