Penn Power equipment installation helps protect ospreys

Staff report

MERCER, PA.

As part of its ongoing efforts to protect nesting birds, the Pennsylvania Power Co. has installed new fiberglass crossarms on nearly two dozen utility poles along the Route 18 causeway over the Shenango River Lake in Mercer County.

The work will help prevent electrical service disruptions by discouraging ospreys from nesting on utility poles, according to a Penn Power news release.

Crossarms are mounted on the top of a utility pole to hold up power lines or other equipment. Workers replaced 21 wooden, double crossarms with a new, single fiberglass crossarm.

Unlike a double crossarm, the single crossarm design does not entice an osprey because it is not large or stable enough to hold the nest, which can measure up to 3 feet in width.

The Penn Power service area has experienced a spike in the osprey population over the past five years, but the company’s previous attempts to deter them from nesting on utility poles along the causeway have been unsuccessful.

Electricity to the distribution line that spans the causeway had been rerouted to another line since June to protect the nesting birds and prevent hazardous situations such as pole fires.

With the new fiberglass crossarms providing a more permanent solution to the osprey nesting issue, the line has been re-energized and customers in the area are benefiting from a more reliable, resilient system, according to Penn Power.

While the birds were South for the winter, utility personnel also worked closely with FirstEnergy’s environmentalists and state wildlife officials to remove nests from substations and transmission towers.