It feels like we got an early start to fall this year as August brought cooler weather and more moisture than we usually see in our area at this time of year. A welcome change! As the producers in our area move out of the growing season and prepare for harvest season, it also marks a transition for Midwest Electric. Midwest is an extreme summer-peaking system with irrigation wells accounting for the vast majority of our power usage and load each year. In recent years, our peak usage has been upwards of 150 megawatts in July and August. By contrast, on a nice spring or fall day our load might only be 10 megawatts.
As we move into fall, we are able to do some bigger line rebuild projects that we can’t do during the summer months when we are heavily loaded. We can also do maintenance jobs that require planned outages. And we also begin doing our line inspections for the year. We are actively inspecting line and equipment all around our service territory looking for potential problems that might be developing.
We bring in outside contractors from time to time to help with jobs that require bigger equipment than Midwest has available. We have one of the biggest projects Midwest has undertaken in years on the docket for this winter. We will have a contractor rebuilding the 69,000 Volt transmission line from our Paxton substation towards Wallace. Our 69 kV transmission line loops around much of our project and is the backbone of our system, connecting 11 substations. That line is 50 years old and is beginning to show its age. It will take many years to rebuild the entire loop so getting started on this first section will be a significant step but only the first part of a large and lengthy process.
All part of striving to provide high-quality, reliable and competitively priced electricity to our members!
What Midwest can do for you:
Keep yourself safe and prevent damage to underground utilities by calling Diggers Hotline before beginning any project that requires digging. Simply call 8-1-1 to reach their technicians who will talk you through getting the location information for your project. They then notify all utilities – electric, water, gas and communications – that have facilities in the area so they can be marked. This service is paid for by the utilities – including Midwest Electric – who are part of the system, so it is free to you.
Jayson Bishop
*Midwest Electric is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*