Hollister
– Pacific Gas and Electric has begun work on the installation of
a new circuit in Hollister, which the company says will result in
more reliable service for local customers as well as help prepare
for growth in the community over the course of the next several
years.
Hollister – Pacific Gas and Electric has begun work on the installation of a new circuit in Hollister, which the company says will result in more reliable service for local customers as well as help prepare for growth in the community over the course of the next several years.
“As you know we’ve seen considerable growth over the past few years, as the housing market is becoming more expensive in the Silicon Valley and people are looking towards moving a little bit south,” PG&E Spokesperson Jeff Smith said. “We’re always trying to stay a little ahead of the curve so we have the capacity to serve new customers when we do see all that growth.”
Last week PG&E began installing the 2,000 amp circuit into a substation located just off Highway 25 behind a car dealership. When the project is completed in mid-May, the circuit will increase capacity by 21 Megawatts, enough to power 210,000 standard 100-watt lightbulbs at once. The project is costing the company $300,000.
“The key thing here is flexibility,” said Smith. “When there’s an outage, this extra capacity will help us make sure that our customers can get their power back that much sooner.”
Smith used the analogy of a traffic jam as an example of what happens when one’s power is disrupted – it’s the power company’s job to re-route the power using other circuits during an outage, much the same way somebody stuck in a freeway traffic jam has to use the backroads to get to work.
“If all the other freeways are already clogged with traffic, it doesn’t do you much good,” said Smith. “This will help us clear up some of that traffic so the customer gets their lights back while we fix the problem.”
The new equipment will be especially useful to downtown businesses and residents, who may have been impacted by power outages in the past.
After the project is completed, PG&E will start a much larger project in the fall, called “reconductoring,” which entails making repairs and replacing equipment on an entire power line.
“You’re going to see us all over town for several months,” said Smith.
The project will take place in the fall and winter months, weather permitting, to avoid peak power use times in the summer when residents often have their air conditioning on at full blast.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
.
