Case Study: SCE minimizes environmental impacts at Carodean Substation with UltraSystems Environmental biological services

SCE completes weekly environmental monitoring with Ultrasystems Environmental for a 115 kV substation

Ultrasystems Environmental provided biological services to SCE for a project at its Carodean Substation near Twentynine Palms, California. The challenge was to complete construction and maintenance work safely near a live 115kv substation while ensuring full compliance with environmental regulations and minimizing impacts on native flora and fauna, including protected species like the desert tortoise.

The solution implemented by Ultrasystems included pre-construction surveys and weekly construction monitoring. They trained work crews to avoid buffer zones for active bird nests and provided routine monitoring logs with figures to track restrictions. As a result, Ultrasystems confirmed no special-status species were observed onsite and successfully monitored bird nests until chicks fledged, thereby minimizing environmental impacts to the maximum extent feasible while maintaining safety.

SCE