Disaster Electrical Power

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Disaster Electrical Power

• An early draft
• Ray J. Vaughan, MS
• Last update 10/25/2020

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Disaster Electrical Power

• When to use a generator vs. Temporary
• Sizing
• Care and Maintenance
• Power cables
• Power Outlets
• Lighting

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Generator? Temporary?

• Think about
• Distance
• Power quality
• Noise pollution
• Duration
• Safety
• Theft

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Generator Safety

• Copy info from generator company

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Fuel safety

• Gas storage container
• BYOG
• Hand powered siphon
• Never suck gas
• Refuel while off
• Battery Lighting while fueling
• No Smoking

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Oil checks

• Log oil changes
• Have replacement oil on-hand
• Mark max hours/oil change
• Clean/replace air filter especially if dusty
  environment

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Temporary Power Feed

• First a warning
• This is not something the average
  do-it-yourselfer should attempt
• This is targeted for the electrician in your team
• The power could come back on at any time
• You have to assume that every circuit it hot and
  treat it with total respect

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Temporary Power Feed

• Connecting temporary service to existing power
  source
• Harder to set up
• Nothing to refuel
• Permission of owner
• Check voltages first!
• Usually stable, but area recovery repairs could
  cause outages

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Examples of temporary power sources

• Buildings
• Sewage Lift station (if 120/240 VAC)
• Traffic Signals
• Street lights (check voltage)
• Lighted bus stops
• Telephone company installations

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Grounding

• Driving a ground rod
• Borrowing existing grounds
• Bonding
• Connecting all grounds together

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Power Required

• What are you going to power?
• Calculate wattage
• Convert to amps

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Power distribution?

• Circuit breaker Panel?
• Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter
• GFCI

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Cable routing

• Keep is safe
• Trip hazards
• Physical damage
• Overhead
• Across pavement

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Wire size

• Wire capacity chart
• Voltage drop

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Connectors

• Standardized
• 15 Amp vs. 20 Amp
• Diagram
• Water proof connectors
• Twist Lock

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Lighting

• Types
• Incandescent
• Instant on
• Wattage Waste
• Florescent
• Good efficiency
• Not for cold weather
• Sodium
• Odd color
• Slow to light
• Metal Halide
• Slow to light

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UPS

• Good for critical loads
• Power while refueling
• Generator brownouts

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Dangers of Back-feeding

• Step down transformer also steps up
• Fatal voltage can go for miles
• Kills power company techs

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Command Post power

• Wish list
• Breaker panel on a hand truck
• Emergency light
• GFCIs
• Heavy Duty power cables
• Over head lighting
• Charging stations
• Radios
• Tools

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Summary

• Safety First
• Use an electrician if at all possible
• Safety Officer should be briefed before starting
  or energizing
• Do it right the first time
• Long term installation