Transformer oil serves as a cooling fluid inside our transformer equipment, mounted on utility poles. Transformer overloads – an equipment failure that sometimes occurs within electrical systems – can cause the oil to spill out, necessitating clean-up and replacement of the transformer.

In 2007 we accelerated our efforts to reduce spills by using specialized software to analyze a small (test) portion of our electrical system. 142 transformers classified as overloaded were fixed or replaced, reducing oil spills in the test area by 53 percent.

If implemented across our system, this project has the potential to prevent 270 spills annually. We’ve allocated additional funding toward this project in the coming years to address another 100 overloaded transformers.