KXO RADIO - Do not landscape electrical boxes

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Do not landscape electrical boxes

Todays is : Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Written by George Gale
Monday, 02 November 2009
(Imperial Irrigation District offers advice)…The IID says consider safety and reliability when landscaping around electrical boxes. The District says the boxes, also known as padmount transformers and switchgear, house high-voltage electrical equipment that could pose a safety risk if treated or handled inappropriately. They say blocking access to or disguising these facilities can cause neighborhood outages or delay to outage restoration process. Carlton King, Assistant Manager of the IID Energy Department, says crews have encountered an increasing number of challenges when locating and accessing equipment in several gated communities due to landscaping vegetation and materials placed on or around these boxes. King says they have encountered clearance issues, and are forced to immediately clear the area to gain access to equipment and adhere to state regulations. He says to prevent this; they are recommending that shrubbery be planted no closer than three feet from the sides and rear of the electrical boxes and no closer than ten feet in front to allow access to the equipment inside.