Home > News > CEC-PIER > Funded Projects > Raptor Electrocution on Power Lines
CEC-PIER: Funded Projects
Raptor Electrocution on Power Lines: Problem Assessment, Mitigation, and Monitoring
Contract #: 500-01-032
Contractor: University of California, Santa Cruz
Subcontractor: USGS
Subcontractor Project Manager: Robert Lehman
Contract Project Manager: Brian Walton
Commission Project Manager: Linda Spiegel
Commission Contract Manager: Linda Spiegel
The Issue
In California, avian interactions with power lines not only result in avian deaths and potential hazards from wildfires—a recent study concludes that the "base case" estimate of the cost of wildlife-caused power outages on the California economy is $34 million each year. Data on raptor electrocutions result primarily from retrospective studies that are based on incidental encounters with dead birds at the site. In such studies, it is difficult to standardize and replicate mortality searches or to assess potential biases. Data from these studies obviously do not represent all avian mortalities that occur in California from interactions with power lines, and given the lack of standardized methods, they may not be useful in estimating numbers of birds killed or inferring actual numbers of poles involved in electrocutions. With no way to measure electrocution mortality or estimate the scale of the problem, many utility companies must make critical decisions about the design of avian protection programs, but have no means of predicting success. The electric utility industry has a legal obligation to deal with the problem, but lacks tested methods to fully justify extensive, proactive retrofitting.
Project Description
The PIER Environmental Area is funding work at the University of Colorado that will provide the electric industry with practical recommendations for assessing, mitigating, and monitoring raptor electrocutions. The project will conduct the following activities:
• Estimate and contrast electrocution mortality among selected pole types and within selected habitat and landscape categories.
• Evaluate biasing factors that may influence estimates of electrocution mortality.
• Determine if raptors show preferences for particular poles for perching, and identify landscape features that may influence pole selection.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of retrofitting procedures currently in use to reduce raptor electrocution mortality.
• Evaluate the usefulness of incidental mortality records for monitoring raptor electrocutions.
The study will take place within the service areas of two public utilities, the Moon Lake Electric Association (which provides electrical service in northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah) and the Idaho Power Company (operating primarily in central and southern Idaho). These companies were chosen because they have implemented power pole retrofits in their service areas for a number of years. Moon Lake has implemented power pole retrofits in its service areas since 1999, and their level of retrofitting (over 50% of all poles in some areas) represents one of the most extensive attempts to date by a utility to reduce raptor electrocutions. Idaho Power began retrofitting power poles in the 1970s and was an early leader in industry efforts to identify the causes of raptor electrocution and develop retrofitting standards.
Like Moon Lake, Idaho Power has focused its retrofitting effort on structures thought to be most lethal and has concentrated effort in areas of high raptor abundance, like the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. This protected area occupies approximately 2,400 square kilometers of the Snake River Plain in southwestern Idaho, and supports one of the highest densities of cliff-nesting raptors in the world. Preliminary results were presented in a workshop at the Raptor Research Foundation Annual North American Meeting November 2004. Quantitative data from this study will be archived at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Richard R. Olendorff Memorial Library, Snake River Field Station, Boise, Idaho, and at Colorado State University. The data will be provided to all partners, cooperators, and utilities as requested or needed.
Final Report
Available Dec. 2007
Contact
Linda Spiegel • 916-654-4703 • lspiegel@energy.state.ca.us
