BGE’s Osprey Watch Program Protects Birds and Electric Service Reliability
March 01 2017 - 2:13PM
Business Wire
Customers Can Email Locations of Nests on
Utility Equipment Directly to BGE
March brings ospreys to the Chesapeake Bay region and the
likelihood that their nests will appear on Baltimore Gas and
Electric Company (BGE) electric equipment. These nests endanger the
birds and may cause power outages.
To keep ospreys safe and help BGE maintain quality electricity
power, Osprey Watch allows customers to email BGE directly
(ospreywatch@bge.com) if they identify
a nest on or near power lines and poles. BGE will dispatch a
trained crew to either shield the raptors from the equipment or
remove unoccupied nests. Customers reported 23 nests to BGE in
2016.
“The first year of Osprey Watch was a great success. Through
this innovation, we listened to our customers and engaged with them
in a common mission: keeping the region’s ospreys safe and
preventing outages. Working together to create programs that
benefit customers and wildlife is a great example of BGE’s smart
energy approach,” said Alexander Núñez, BGE’s senior vice president
of regulatory and external affairs and member of the board of
Audubon Maryland-DC. “BGE is committed to environmental stewardship
and has a comprehensive plan to protect wildlife. Osprey Watch
enables everyone to help maintain a safe nesting season for ospreys
on the Chesapeake Bay.”
How customers can help:
- When you see an osprey nest on BGE
equipment, report the location of the osprey nest via
ospreywatch@bge.com and provide the following information:
- If the pole is easily accessible,
please send us the pole number, located on a placard near eye level
on the pole.
- If the pole is not easily accessible,
please send us the nearest address to the pole and attach photos of
the pole (taken from different perspectives if possible).
Once a nest is reported, BGE will remove the nest if no birds or
eggs are present. If possible, the nest will be relocated. If the
nest is inhabited, shielding will be placed on the electric
equipment to mitigate the risks of contact. BGE adheres to the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald Eagle Protection Act and has a
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Special Purpose Utility Permit covering all
work involving active nests.
The vast majority of osprey related incidents occur between
April and August. The most impacted areas are located along the
Chesapeake Bay and include Havre de Grace, near Martin State
Airport, south Baltimore, south of Annapolis, and Shady Side to
Deale in Anne Arundel County.
In addition to implementing wildlife protections to improve
reliability, BGE is also investing significantly in gas and
electric equipment upgrades—more than $6 billion since 2002 and an
additional $4 billion over the next five years. BGE works with
other Exelon utilities to identify and adopt best practices that
help reduce the frequency and duration of outages. In 2016, the
average number of interruptions was the fourth lowest rate in BGE’s
two-hundred year history, despite more storms than the previous
year. When customers did experience an outage, BGE restored power
faster than ever before. The average length of a service
interruption has been reduced by 49 minutes over the last five
years.
BGE, founded in 1816 as the nation’s first gas utility, is
Maryland’s largest natural gas and electric utility. Headquartered
in Baltimore, BGE delivers power to more than 1.25 million electric
customers and more than 650,000 natural gas customers in central
Maryland. The company’s approximately 3,200 employees are committed
to the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas and electricity,
as well as enhanced energy management, conservation, environmental
stewardship and community assistance. The company also has an
estimated annual economic impact of $5 billion of output in its
service area, supporting more than 9,500 local jobs and producing
$923 million in labor income. BGE is a subsidiary of Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy
provider. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, YouTube and
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170301006348/en/
Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE)Richard Yost,
richard.yost@bge.comBGE Media Hotline: 410.470.7433
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