Building, maintaining, and upgrading the grid is a nonstop job at Idaho Power. Birds complicate that mission.

That’s why Idaho Power has installed six lasers at the Midpoint Substation north of Jerome. The green laser beams — which are visible outside the substation grounds — humanely keep pigeons from roosting inside critical equipment.

The lasers don’t hurt the pigeons, but they do keep the birds from building nests or making a mess, which can damage equipment and lead to outages. Pigeons interested in the equipment might fly into it, but they leave once they see the lasers. Eventually, they find other nesting grounds away from the substation.

The new lasers are mounted on poles about 25 feet in the air inside the station. The beams move, following a grid pattern through and around the capacitor bank. Shields keep the FAA-approved lasers from pointing upward and interfering with air traffic.

Lasers are a proven tool for keeping birds away from substation equipment. Utilities around the country have adopted them with increasing frequency in recent years. Idaho Power operates another laser array at a substation in western Idaho, though it is not visible to most people.

Visit idahopower.com/reliability for more information on Idaho Power’s commitment to reliability.

Sven Berg
Communications Specialist
sberg@idahopower.com
208-388-2905