Mountain Parks Electric will place its electric distribution system on higher-sensitivity settings, effective 10 a.m. on March 21, as a wildfire-mitigation measure in response to the National Weather Service issuing a red flag warning for counties in utility company’s service territory.

When conditions improve and the warning is lifted, the system will be returned to its normal settings, Mountain Parks Electric said in a March 20 press release.

When areas of the system are under a red flag warning, Mountain Parks Electric uses its “hot line tag” setting. These settings are sensitive enough that the company also uses them to protect crews working on energized lines, the company said.

“When a fault is detected — such as a tree limb contacting a power line — power shuts off almost instantly rather than attempting to automatically reenergize,” the release wrote. “When higher-sensitivity fire protection settings are active, linemen must physically patrol the affected line before power can be restored. This helps ensure the hazard has been cleared and that re-energizing will not recreate the risk. Because MPE’s service territory is large and rural, these patrols can take time, but they are critical for public and firefighter safety.”

“We know how frustrating it is when power goes out or blinks at homes and businesses. Sometimes, for the safety of our families and livelihoods, the best thing is for the power to be off,” said Vice President of Operations Adam Paulson. “We trust these system settings for the safety of our linemen when they are working on energized lines, and we trust them for the safety of our communities when the threat of wildfires is high.”

Fire protection settings are used across the electric industry to reduce the chance that a line issue could spark a wildfire. While the system is designed to stay on through severe conditions, these settings do the opposite: they cut power almost instantly at the first contact or fault on a power line.

“After one of the warmest and driest winters on record, conditions across our region may contribute to a severe wildfire season … In simple terms, more equipment can now ‘see’ what’s happening on the line and respond quickly when something goes wrong. This allows the system to break into smaller sections during an outage.

“As a result, when a fault occurs (such as a tree limb blowing into a power line), it’s more likely to be contained to that area — reducing how many members lose power and helping crews restore service faster.”

For power outage updates, MPE’s outage map is updated automatically and is available at EBill.MPEI.com/maps/OutageWebMap/ or by using the Outage Map link at http://www.MPEI.com/outage. The SmartHub app can also be used to report outages.