Hot temps, winds impacting Basin’s electrical service

Ray Huggins is the Line Foreman for the town of Basin.  Because of recent unscheduled outages he wanted to address a few questions and concerns that have been raised by members of the community.

He explained that recently, that the combination of an unusually dry winter and an exceptionally warm summer has placed greater demand on the electrical system. As a result, the town has experienced a few issues that he would like to explain.

“We have had three outages. The first was caused by a tree branch falling into a power line. During the second outage, our crew patrolled the entire line but could not identify a clear cause. We believed strong winds may have been responsible. During the third outage, which also occurred during high winds, we found what we believe was the source of the problem—a power line contacting a security light under windy conditions.”

There was also a brief power interruption on July 13. This is  when the electrical department  temporarily de-energized the substation so they could make adjustments to increase system voltage and better meet the high electrical demand.

Huggins has worked as a lineman for the town for nearly three years. As of July 1, he became the Line Foreman. During the last three years they have made “significant improvements to the electrical system to increase its reliability and performance. These upgrades have included adding transformers, replacing aging poles, installing improved secondary conductors, upgrading old mechanical connections to modern compression connections, tightening hardware throughout the system, and trimming trees away from power lines.”

 A frequent question or comment they hear is about the old substation on the south side of town and the removal of it. Huggins shared, “The new substation on the north side was built because the old facility had reached the end of its service life and was falling into disrepair. For the past 18 months, we have operated solely from the north substation while keeping the old one available as a backup so we could monitor how the system performed. After a year and a half of reliable operation with no significant issues, it was determined that the old substation could be safely retired. The power transformer from that location has been moved to the new substation to serve as a spare if needed” 

He continued, “To address these voltage concerns, we have a contractor scheduled to arrive in Basin within the next two weeks to install a Voltage Regulator Bank. This upgrade will greatly improve the system’s ability to maintain consistent voltage during periods of heavy demand and should help prevent similar issues moving forward.” 

The town has asked residents to make power conservation efforts until the issue is resolved.   The conditions Basin is facing is common throughout Wyoming. Huggins noted that “Communities across Wyoming are facing the challenges of ongoing drought conditions—something none of us can easily fix. We are grateful that our community continues to have water and that the electrical issues we’ve experienced have practical solutions that are already being implemented.

“Thank you for your patience, understanding, and continued support as we work to improve the reliability of Basin’s electrical system. I especially appreciate those of you who have taken the time to express your thanks and encouragement. It means a great deal to our crew, and we remain committed to providing you with safe, dependable electric service. We’re proud to serve the Basin community and will continue working hard to keep your lights on and our electrical system moving in the right direction.”