HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Water Company has nearly completed — a few minor finishing touches are needed — a $2.75 million electrical project that began in 2010.
“The purpose of the project was to upgrade the voltage in parts of Houlton, Hodgdon, New Limerick and Linneus,” said John Clark, Houlton Water Company general manager.
Houlton Water Company borrowed the funding for the project through the Maine Municipal Bond Bank. Bonds were issued by the bond bank and are to be paid back over a 30-year period.
The project was split into four phases, using several contractors, as the work required specialized skills.
The first phase of the project was to design and build a new substation in Carys Mills. The design was completed by Consulting Engineering Group of Hopedale, Mass., and Stewart Engineering of Houlton. The construction of the substation was done by Underwood Electric of Mapleton; and Hogan Construction and Brown Development, both of Houlton. The work began in 2010 and was completed in 2011.
During 2010-11, the Houlton Water Company electric department rebuilt and upgraded the Nickerson Lake road circuit, Clark said, which affects Houlton and New Limerick.
“The rebuild and upgrade accommodates higher voltage output from the new substation,” Clark explained.
The third phase was initiated in 2012-13 with the Houlton Water Company’s electricians rebuilding and upgrading the Hodgdon circuit to accommodate higher voltage from the new substation.
And finally, starting in May this year, the Houlton Water Company hired Coutts Brothers Inc. of Randolph to rebuild and upgrade the Linneus circuit to accommodate higher voltage output from new substation.
“On Friday, Nov. 15, the circuit rebuild was complete and the old Carys Mills substation was taken out of service and new substation is now carrying load for all circuits,” said Clark.
