Show Page 4 IPP Special Section Millard County Chronicle Progress GROUNDBREAKING October 9 before the crew of tent erectors were struggling to pitch the hundreds of yards of canmud vas in 75 mph winds and Rain was obviously going to continue and the contingency plan was not going to work The Intermountain Power Project Groundbreaking was held in the Gymnasium of the Delta High School It poured rain during the ceremony But after the speeches were the sky over and the luncheon began cleared A group of Intermountain Power Agency Board members President Gordon B Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a few stalwarts from the community braved the mud and journeyed to the site to break the ground The sky was brilliant blue and the air smelled of fresh sage as the dignitaries threw the first shovels full of earth for a Project that would conclude successfully five and one half years later 1981 It started in the rain Plans for the Intermountain Power Probegan weeks before it ject Groundbreaking was scheduled to occur in October 1981 is generally in October Utah weather in the fall the risk late but that beautiful of rain is high So Project officials had a tent had contingency plan A huge been rented and a crew of men put on standby to erect the tent on the evening before the event if the weather forecast was for rain The Project had attracted considerable attention in the state because of its size and because its planning had occurred concurrently with news of the MX missile site selection that would also impact Millard County The public was aware of the Project and a large crowd was expected at the Groundbreaking The Relief Societies in local wards were preparing the luncheon The Governor Scott would be the keynote speaker Matheson had shipped and the major contractors models of the equipment that would be part of the large endeavor about to be launched People began arriving on the day before the event Bankers from New York contractor’s representatives engineers lawyers and representatives from the participating utilities came to Salt Lake City and Delta in order to be ready for the activities on the following morning Long after they had retired the night GOVERNOR SCOTT MATHESON speaks at groundbreaking ceremony IPP participants vary in size and need in the Intermountain The participants Power Project are as diverse a group of utilities as one could imagine They range from the largest municipal utility in the country The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power with 1243000 customers to the town of Meadow Utah There are cities serving 10 square miles and Rural Electric Coopertives serving 16000 square miles There are utilities with hundreds of miles of transmission lines and some with less than 50 miles Even the blend of kinds of utilities is diverse There are consumer owned municipal utilities and the Rural Electric Utah Power and Light corCooperatives are set up as but are also consumer owned porations The needs vary depending on location as much as size Industrial and manufacturing needs are focused on the metropolitan areas and rural areas need energy for agricultural purposes the parRegardless of the diversity ticipants found the mechanisms to make the cooperative effort work Each utility has voting power proportionate to its entitlement share on the IPP Coordinating Committee Also the protection of the Power Sales Agreements extends to all utilities In addition the smaller Utah utilities whose power needs were in the future were able to sign Excess Power Sales Agreements with some of the larger California utilities and take their power later lltawaitiani CONTINENTAL CRICKET LIME INC iFieldOlhc Quicklime and Limestone We look forward to serving their THE ENERGY Bo 880 INDUSTRY Della Utah 84614 864 assignments for erection modification of permanent future requirements Lime Inc PUNT DON WAKIN PLANT MANAGER Phone (801) RFD been to provide the project with numerous support functions such as receiving warehousing vehicle and equipment maintenance and repair as well as expansion and maintenance of site water systems construction power system roadways railroads etc In addition we have been given many has been proud to supply IPP with CRICKET MOUNTAIN DIVISION As the Site Service Contractor on Units 1 and 2 at the Intermountain Power Project since June 1982 our role has Continental Lime Inc Continental ELCO TOWNSEND AND BOTTUM INC CONSTRUCTORS FOR MOUNTAIN PLANT BOX 266 UTAH 84624 PO DELTA 1 Telex and civil structural mechanical and electrical facilities We are pleased and grateful for having had the opportunity to participate in this unique project |