Transformer Project to Ensure Reliable Electricity

Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Public Relations, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383, Ext. 3213; or E-mail: Renee Whitener

West Jefferson, N.C., (October 30, 2009) – A project just completed by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation will help ensure even more reliable electricity to members served by the cooperative in Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties.

Cooperative personnel moved a bank of transformers from the cooperative’s Horse Gap 230 kV (kilovolts) substation to its new West Jefferson 230 kV substation in order to fully utilize the transformer capacity at both sites. At these two sites transformers step down the 230 kV voltage to a network of 100 kV transmission lines. The network of 100 kV transmission lines feed the distribution substations in the three mountain districts.

During the last four weeks Bill Donaldson, lead substation technician, and Todd Smith, test and maintenance technician, have installed over 2,000 feet of new control wiring in order to make the changes needed in the control system to safely operate the new bank of transformers at the West Jefferson Substation. Specialized training is necessary for the technicians working on the electric plant systems and Donaldson and Smith have both completed various training and certifications necessary to perform the substation work.

As part of its priority of delivering the most reliable power to its members, Blue Ridge Electric is continuously reviewing and making improvements in areas that ensure reliable electricity. The cooperative regularly achieves annual reliability levels of 99.97 percent — a level which puts Blue Ridge Electric among the best performing utilities in the country in reliability — among both cooperatives and investor-owned utilities.

Blue Ridge Electric is a member-owned electric cooperative serving some 73,000 consumers in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.