The area surrounding Utah Lake on the west side of Provo is home to a population of ospreys: birds of prey that tend to live near large bodies of water and build large nests. But when they chose to nest near power poles, it led to unexpected problems.
"The osprey were dragging their nest-making material across our lines which was tripping our circuit, and we were having power outages related to that," said Provo Power employee Cody Cornaby.
The project involved installing specially designed nesting platforms near Utah Lake to give the ospreys a safer place to nest away from power lines. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is responsible for managing and protecting the state's wildlife. They teamed up with Provo Power to tackle the problem.
"The apprentices were just there to dig holes, set the pole, make sure everything went smooth, basically," said Provo Power employee Braeden Walker.
Provo Power installed two of these nesting platforms near Lakeview Parkway and one other in Saratoga Springs.
"I feel like it was a good thing to do," said Provo Power employee Mitch Eliason. "Stubby built some good nests. Hopefully they'll be happy."
Provo Power and DWR are hopeful that their solution benefits both wildlife and the community.