Mesa, Ariz., area's power worries finally cool off
The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz. --Aug. 10
Aug. 10--A 400,000-pound replacement transformer that took a rough-and-tumble trip to its new home was put into service, ending the threat of rolling summer blackouts and voluntary power conservation by electric customers.
The Valley's power grid woes began Independence Day, when a fire broke out at
the Westwing substation in the West Valley. About 20 percent of the
electricity that comes to the Valley and is sent to APS and Salt River Project
customers moves through the station.
The added energy came on the same day the National Weather Service issued a
heat advisory with temperatures that climbed well above normal. Valley residents
had been asked to curb power consumption, particularly in the late afternoon.
The maximum amount of energy that could be delivered in the Valley as a
result of the fire was a range of 10,000 to 10,200 megawatts, APS said. With the
new transformer in service, the system capacity is increased to about 10,800
megawatts. The Valley's forecasted summer peak is 10,300 megawatts. A megawatt
is enough energy for about 250 average-size homes.
Gross said the transformer wasn't expected to be in operation until
mid-August, but several factors sped up a normal three-week installation into
just nine days.
"We were able to prepare for the arrival of the transformer, meaning all
the equipment that gets assembled to it, we had staged there exactly in order so
that was expedited," he said. "We also had representatives from the
company that manufactured the transformer in Japan, as well as interpreters to
help with the language barrier, and we had representatives of the company from
where we procured the transformer in the Pacific Northwest . . . and
of course our people were out there working around the clock, too."
A bank of three transformers also destroyed by the fire will not be restored
until next summer, but Gross said power transmission will be sufficient without
them.
"We don't have some of the redundancy we're accustomed to having,"
he said, adding that the substation, one of four of its kind in the Valley, is
at 70 percent of normal capacity. Three of the four transformer bays
damaged in the fire are operating. SRP spokesman Scott Harelson said the company
is pleased the new transformer is working, but the company remains cautious.
"We don't have any aggressive message out there to tell somebody to
conserve energy now, but at the same time we want to make it clear we're not in
the situation we would typically be in," he said. "Even with the
return of that one transformer, we're still not as comfortable as we would
prefer."
APS and SRP are the two major electricity providers in the Valley. They
divide the region into separate service territories, but share the costs and
benefits from major generators, transformers and transmission lines. SRP is a
part owner of the Westwing substation. APS' Gross credited customers with
keeping the lights on.
"The real story here is what everyone in the community did, and for such
a long time, too," he said.
The transformer arrived July 31 at Westwing, 20 days after leaving Covington,
Wash., for Tacoma, Wash. The transformer went by barge to Long Beach, Calif.,
then overland to the Valley.
The trip was delayed two days in late July when the transformer slid off a
142-wheel trailer in Victorville, Calif. Aboard a 282-foot trailer, the
transformer and its entourage traveled at speeds of less than 10 mph. Residents
of rural Arizona lined highways to watch go it by.
The transformer cost between $2 million and $3 million, including
its transport, Gross said, but the company has yet to calculate how much the
fire cost.
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