Prediction of distribution feeder outages caused by storms

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Every year, the Lower Mainland in British Columbia (BC) will experience storms and extreme weather in fall and winter. Severe storms could knock down trees and distribution feeders, causing power outages for thousands of customers over several hours to several days, forcing school closure, interrupted public traffic systems, and shutting down production lines. This problem is especially serious in winter because power outages mean no heating in cold weather. A distribution feeder outage caused by storms is due to multiple factors, including weather, environment and physical feeder conditions. High wind is a major cause of feeder outage in a storm event but is not a unique one. A distribution feeder can fail due to lightning, snow, icing, heavy rain and tree falling. Tree falling is related to wind and also to the proximity and health of the vegetation. An aged feeder may have a higher outage probability in a storm.