TWO – Tooele County Sheriff’s officials said the recent increase in power outages at the jail is related to the utility’s efforts to reduce the risk of wildfires by shutting off lines.
According to Lt. Darin Durfey, jail commander of the Tooele County Detention Center, the facility experienced six outages in the past month, one of which lasted up to six hours, raising concerns about a potential safety risk.
“Maybe a door is open,” Durfey said. “Maybe there’s a little push that opens doors – that’s happened to us.”
Durfey said that during power outages, guards must account for each inmate and secure areas while power is restored. He said it also means longer movement around the prison because there are manual locks and no temperature control.
“It’s a challenge to get space and make sure we keep inmates safe,” Durfey said.
Lt. Durfey talks about the problems and concerns the power outages have caused at the prison. (KSL TV)
He said Tooele County Sheriff’s officials contacted Rocky Mountain Power about the problem.
“They have indicated that there may be times when they may de-energize lines, and that may be in the event of a wildfire or high winds,” Durfey said.
Jona Whitesides, a spokeswoman for RMP, said the company is aware of the six power outages at the prison and that “enhanced security precautions” have been put in place in Tooele County, which could result in unexpected power outages for residents and businesses.
Whitesides said residents were notified of the shutdown in late May because the company wanted to reduce the risk that one of its lines could spark a wildfire.
“We are aware that we have impacted the daily lives of people and even businesses,” he said. “We simply do not want to start a major forest fire and endanger the grid structure.”
One of the Tooele County officials oversees security at the jail. (KSL TV)
Whitesides also noted that a recloser in the area, which he compared to a surge protector, recently malfunctioned, which may have caused the line to trip more frequently and possibly caused outages.
He said that once this problem is resolved, the impact on the prison in particular will be less.
“We’ve looked at the functionality of our generator and what it can do, and we know there are some deficiencies,” Durfey said.
Durfey went on to say that it is possible that the sheriff’s office may at some point try to increase the capacity of its emergency generators, but that this will come at a cost.
“When we talk about the need to meet our constitutional requirements and be responsible for meeting some of those basic needs, we may be asked to use a larger generator or need some type of source to power heating, ventilation and air conditioning units or other equipment if there is an extended power outage,” he said.
