Can we give our friendly utility a break? by Tony Green

Image of transformer at a substation

During one my visits to a substation to perform an incoming transformer inspection as part my sales engineering job I was struck by hearing how the people who work for the utilities always get a hard time  in the neighborhoods who their substations provide power to.  The scenario is more often than not the same; the sun has just come up, and as the newly arrived transformer is being loaded into place and the engineer/ manager in charge on site is catches an earful from an interested member of the community who are aggravated heavy machinery is at work.  

I sarcastically mentioned to one of the workers that the populace living in the community at large will not appreciate the jobs these guys keeping everyone lights on until the power stays off for a significant period of time. Anyone who has traveled overseas can testify to the modern miracle the Electric Grid is.

The fact is cranes are noisy in the morning but one should keep in mind why transformers are being installed and due to their large weight which in many cases is in excess of 100,000 pounds a crane is the only way any object its size was getting inside substation. Most transformers are in due to an increase in load growth or the replacement of an older transformer near the end of its useful life.

A minor inconvenience can be painful at times but please try to keep the big picture in mind. The hard working guys do not need the abuse they routinely endure for trying to do their jobs. If there is anyone who should get mistreated perhaps the people who waste our precious electricity which is the topic for another blog posting.