Idle services are just what the name implies. Electric services that don’t have active meters or accounts connected to them. Sometimes, an idle service is a pole in an overgrown field that once served a barn, but the structure was bulldozed and has been gone for years.

Or, an idle service can be an area light abandoned when a mobile home was moved out or a house burned.

An idle service can be many things, but it must be wrecked out and removed from Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative’s plant records. Here are the reasons why:

Safety and Liability

Idle services are accidents waiting to happen. In many cases, the secondary lines to the service locations are energized because more than one member receives power from the tap. Every year in the United States, idle services are involved in contact accidents. The worst mishaps involve maiming or death, like the incident in Alabama several years ago.

A car ran off the road in a rural area and hit an idle service, a pole in a muddy field. The pole had been standing for years and, in fact, was leaning, but it no longer served anything.

The line connecting the pole was “hot,” however. When the vehicle hit the pole, the line fell, and a 10-year-old boy who stepped out of the car was electrocuted.

Also, linemen have been killed or injured by back-feeding current from a portable generator energizing an idle service.

“Idle services pose a safety hazard to the public and to our employees,” said BREC Operations Manager Marvin Ours. “We need to get these services out of the field.”

Outage Risk

Recently, a BREC power outage was caused by an idle service. A loaded log truck snagged the low-hanging line and dragged it into a three-phase pole. The mishap would not have occurred had the idle service been removed.

An idle service is also another point on the system to attract a lightning strike, be crushed by a falling tree, or fall in a wind or ice storm. Depending on up-line protective devices, active services could be affected.

Theft Risk

Idle services might still involve energized lines and present the opportunity for power theft. The growing prevalence of mobile drug labs has pointed to the problem in rural areas of illegal drug manufacturers using stolen electricity to “cook off” methamphetamine.

Mapping Confusion

Idle services might not appear on system maps. This causes headaches when linemen are trying to locate problem spots or match services with accounts. Idle area lights are a continuous source of confusion.

Plant Values and Taxation

Idle services are non-performing facilities; that is, no revenue is derived from an idle service yet BREC continues to be taxed for its existence. It makes no sense to leave services in the field that don’t net kilowatt-hour sales or have no potential to produce future revenue. The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), the agency from which BREC borrows money to invest in the electric system, wants to see idle services controlled for obvious reasons.

Code Changes

Finally, over the years the code by which BREC must operate its electric system changes. Idle services seldom meet code requirements, due to condition and age. Removal is necessary because, even if an active service is eventually needed at the location, the facilities would have to be upgraded at either the member’s or the co-op’s expense.

“We have planned a major idle service removal program, starting with the oldest going to the most recent,” said Ours. “It is critical that the problem of idle services be brought under control on our system. Some property owners might not like the fact that we will be wrecking out lines and area lights. But, if the facilities haven’t been used in years, they probably won’t be in the future, no matter the good intentions.”