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Show Page 9 THE GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER BE READY UTAH JULY 26 & 27 - GARKANE POWER OUTAGE In an effort to provide further infor- cause outages to consumers fed by the mation concerning Garkane's long line. You may ask why doesn't Garkane power outage on July 26 & 27,1 hope the information provided herein helps the construct another source transmission consumers understand the situation a line? We have looked at this possibility manylittle better. On the afternoon of Wednesday, July times. To construct a transmission tie 26 at approximately 5:15 p.m. Utah time, from our Northern Transmission System the U.S. Weather Service reported high would cost between $7-10 million dolwinds with some tornadic activity near . lars, if a right-of-way could be secured, Wahweap and the surrounding area. . and raise rates significantly. To construct Garkane's 138 kilovolt transmission line a tie line to Southwestern Utah would which originates at Glen Canyon Dam require approximately the same costs. received severe wind damage on Struc-, At the present time, Southwestern Utah ture#21 west of the dam. This is a large has power capacity problems, and a two-pole structure. One pole was ripped source is not available there. right out of the ground and the other was Garkane has a Maintenance Crew broken off at ground level. This line that spends a great deal of time patrolserves all the Garkane customer's in ling and making repairs to our transmisGarfield and Kane Counties and two sion system, because it is radial in nacounties in Northern Arizona, Mohave ture. and Coconino. Approximately 8,000 ac- We will continue to.invest dollars into counts were without power. Normal our system to make it more reliable and practice when the power goes off is to to provide for new growth. When we check our SCADA System (Supervisory purchased the Kanab City System, we Control & Data Acquisition). Our relays promised investment to improve an anindicated a fault on our line between tiquated system. We continue to do that Glen Canyon Dam and the Buckskin on a yearly capital improvement basis. Substation. We immediately got a heli- We have provided an additional feed into copter in the air to pinpoint the exact lo- Kanab City to. split the loads and procation. Garkane personnel assessed the vide better voltage and more reliability, damages* andcrews, equipment and ma- as well as installed sectionalizing equipterial was dispatched from all Garkane ment at different locations to minimize service areas. outage time and numbers of customers Because of the deep sand and affected. washes in the area (Glen Canyon NaWe must also realize that in the sumtional Recreation Area), a caterpillar was mer months, we will have lightning, and dispatched to the area to plow an ac- we have had our share this summer cess road for equipment and personnel which has caused thousands of dollars to reach the site. The cat had to blade in damage and caused outages. We access for three miles. don't like outages and consumers being As it got dark the cat continued to without power. That is not our goal. work. It was 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, July One of the complaints we received 27 when equipment and personnel were was customers not being able to get actually able to access the problem area through on the telephones during the outand start making repairs. age. Crews worked very hard in the dark We did have personnel at each ofto accomplish major repairs to a large fice in Kanab, Hatch and Loa to receive transmission line structure, and we com- calls. We found out later that the tollpliment them. They are true profession- free lines were not working. We also als. recently installed new telephone systems Since this line was energized in the in each area and admittedly our learnmid-1960's, this is the first time a struc- ing curve on those systems is still proture has actually been taken down by gressing. We apologize for that. weather. Garkane's average outage time If the Board of Directors were to per consumer per year is less than l/z of approve a loop-feed system, rights-of1%. way would have to be secured and the The reliability on our transmission members would see dramatic rate insystem has been excellent, but we are creases. Rights-of-way are hard to vulnerable and that will always be the come by in our service area and very case. Since 1992, this transmission line costly. has been only off a total of 28.7 hours. Garkane serves four national parks, two As was mentioned in our news re- national monuments, three national forlease, the electric service to these areas ests, and considerable BLM lands and is radial (no loop feeds), meaning what- state lands. Our transmission facilities ever interruptions there are on the line traverse all of these. will be $een by the customers and may Our rates are very reasonable when SEPTEMBER 14,2006 compared to other utilities.in the state, region and nationally. We need to count our blessings when it comes to the weather we experience in our areas. Yes, we may get some strong winds occasionally, a heavy snow periodically, or a summer flood, but we do not experience the hurricanes, tornados and blizzards which have devastated electric utilities across the country where consumers have been off for weeks and months. Even the more recent problems experienced in Salt Lake City and Provo by Rocky Mountain Power and Provo City Power, help us realize our situation could have been much worse. We will experience outages in the future. There are no guarantees when it comes to Mother Nature. People need to be prepared for emergencies, and tak& personal responsibility in making preparations for them. Rest assured, Garkane's Board of Directors, Management and Employees will continue to address the many complex issues we are faced with in an environmentally sensitive area. Our goal is to provide electricity at a competitive price, consistent with prudent utility practices. Respectfully, Carl R. Albrecht, CEO, Garkane Energy Cooperative, Inc. Boulder Mountain Realty, Inc. 245 East Main P.O. Box 9, Torrey 425-3200 www.bouldermountainrealty.com Cathy Bagley, principal broker Dean Gledhffl - Sales Agent Escalante. 826-4378 ALFALFA FIELD. 12.33 acres with irrigation .water and a city water meter. South of Escalante with nice views and good access. .$193,960..-;.v>as&' : - ONE Or" THE BETTER FARMS IN THE - VALLEY. Good fences and corrals.61 acres mostly in alfalfa. 25 shares of irrigation water. City water. South of Escalante, $300,000. ESCALANTE POST OFFICE BUILDING. Good business opportunity. Leased to the post - office. All utilities paid by postal service. .39/ j. acre.230 West Main. $ 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 ^ ' ; ^ ; ' ONE BEDROOM CABIN ON 13.62 ACRES - ON HIGHWAY 12 IN BOULDER. Well elec-. iricity & phone. Adjacent to Forest Service! '$215,000. K , . ; r t ^ ; ; - : . ' :- : : ' The Be Ready Utah campaign is in full swing with education materials and web site information. Go to www. BeReadyUtah.org tofindout more about Emergency and Disaster preparedness. One suggestion they have made for those who have their 72 hour kits ready is the Camp On a Kit idea where a family takes their kit and goes camping overnight or if your real brave, live off of it for three days and see what it is like. Of course, many organizations that encourage participation, such as large businesses, churches or clubs have planned gettogethers where they share ideas or get experts to examine everyones kits. Other activities include bringing supplies to sell for kits and making things to go in kits. The camping idea is a good one because most of us have camping gear stuffed away somewhere. We need to imagine our family in a shelter or oeven outside away from home for a short time, most of us have the things needed to get along, but we need to organize it for quick departures. Hopefully we never need to leave our homes, but we should be prepared. Don't forget survival kits for cars. Every car should have blankets and water inthem, in addition to basic first aid. kits. Some of the hazards we face a a product of modern technological America. Hazardous materials in the big rigs that go up and down our highways, extended power outages, and man caused fires. Of course, there is a a threat of the big earthquake, or a really severe winter storm that isolates us for a time. The threat of terrorism is normally not something we worry about out.here in the backcountry, but we are in what the experts call a soft targe zone. Meaning our water supplies are normally not secure and we don't guard areas that might be vulnerable to terrorist manipulation. Whatever the future holds for Garfield County and surrounding areas, every family needs to be prepared to take care of themselves without help for a time, either sheltered at home or leaving home for a short period. Everyone has different needs, but the basics of 72 hour kits have been published be several organizations and shared ideas from friends and neighbors are helpful. Don't forget to have an emergency plan that includes phone contacts if family members are separated during the day. Out of State contacts' make good sense, a place everyone can call to relay information as to where family members are and what their condition is. We should be ready for any disaster and men pray we never need to use our plans and supplies. Computer people.... check out www.fema.org under family disaster supply kits-and other related topics. BE READY GARFIELD COUNTY. |
