Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Maine Public Service crews have been busy in recent weeks performing upgrades to a number of lines around town, following the completion of a $1 million substation project located at the Industrial Park.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
PERFORMING HIGH WIRE maintenance, a crew from Maine Public Services handles the task of upgrading electrical service at the intersection of Parsons and Turner streets recently. MPS will continue to perform upgrades on lines to the west of the Presque Isle Stream through the spring.
“At the end of 2007, a substation was constructed across from the Fed-Ex building, primarily to upgrade the voltage reliability and plan for possible growth,” said Virginia “Ginny” Joles, communications director for MPS.
Voltage has more than doubled with the creation of the new substation, according to Joles.
“The circuits for voltage prior to the conversion were 2,400 volts. The upgrade is increasing that to 7,200 volts or 7.2 kv,” said Joles.
To bring service up to date, crews have been busy on the west side of the city performing upgrades to power lines in that area. But to do the work, power has to be periodically shut off – as residents may have noticed over the past few weeks.
“There are customers west of the Presque Isle Stream that are being affected, mostly in the Industrial Park housing area, in and around MPG and Winnie’s, Braden St., that general neighborhood,” said Joles.
This is only the beginning of the upgrade, with work scheduled to continue through 2010.
“It’s a multi-year project. The whole upgrade, which includes most of the residents west of the Presque Isle Stream, will be completed by 2010,” said Joles.
Joles said the substation was energized at the end of 2007 but at present only serves a small portion of the city’s residents.
“It’s only serving a small segment of customers up until summertime, with possible short interruptions expected up until summer,” said Joles of the multi-year budgeted project.
Joles said there was another upside to the project.
“It’s the environmental impact. While we’re able to replace some of this equipment, part of it includes replacing PCB transformers, which we’ve been working away at for 10 years,” said Joles.
Joles indicated much of the cost of the project falls under planned maintenance but could not say specifically if customers might expect to see any of the cost reflected in future bills.
“It’s a $1 million substation, with two positive elements – upgrading voltage and mitigating PCBs – reliability and environmental concerns combined,” said Joles.
Customers in the affected areas can expect periodic power outages as work continues through early summer.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
MAINE PUBLIC SERVICE crews have been taking turns with plow trucks this winter, as they park their vehicles along streets to the west of the Presque Isle Stream, performing upgrades to electrical service in that area of the city. Signs advise traffic of work being done ahead, as crews in buckets work high above the roadway, as pictured here recently on Parsons St.
