When Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on August 29, the CBS Service Shop in Gonzales, LA, was left without power. With customers in the same boat, they had to call upon the strength of Group CBS to provide emergency electrical support.
Within 48 hours, the team in Gainesville, FL, prepared a trailer with water, snacks, and assorted supplies to send to Louisiana. These CBS disaster trailers are complete portable repair shops that can be deployed anywhere in the United States.
By September 2, the Gonzales team was up and running, working on 480 V and 13,800 V breakers and contactors in the trailer. The team on the ground serviced grain elevators, chemical plants, and refineries and supported testing companies to inspect, clean, and test equipment in southeastern Louisiana.
“The work we needed to perform changed continuously as we made discoveries during the process of repair, but we came together as a well-oiled machine to support companies in the hardest hit area,” said Butch Powell, the on-site operations manager. “The Gonzales office and shop adapted to difficult circumstances, and the Gainesville team went above and beyond to support us.”
Shop manager Terence Nelson (right) and technician Cayne Chapman worked on breakers in the portable workshop Group CBS sent to Gonzales, LA, to provide emergency electrical support after Hurricane Ida.
The CBS technicians performed retrofits of trip units, cleaned and dried arc chutes on old DH circuit breakers, and provided parts needed in the field, such as 6/15 kV 1200 A porcelain bottles for DH switchgear, porcelain main bus pass-through windows, and porcelain saddles for main bus support. There was also structural damage to repair, such as the 3 x 9-foot metal switchgear door that blew off the hinges at a substation.
Group CBS takes pride in offering on-site support whenever an electrical emergency takes place. Contact us at 1-800-232-5809 when an unscheduled electrical outage has you looking for immediate professional assistance.