Power-pole plant in high gear so utilities can restore juice
Published in: Seattle Times
Date: 12/23/2006
By: Benjamin J. Romano
CORRECTION: Information in this article, originally published December 23, 2006, was corrected December 26, 2006. A transformer converts electricity to lower voltages, not lower wattages as reported in a previous version of this story.
Dec. 23–The long-tenured workers at J.H. Baxter’s utility-pole plant in Arlington saw the storm coming last week, and got to work before it hit. The plant is the primary supplier for Puget Sound Energy (PSE), so the Arlington workers turned their attention to producing poles for the utility, which has replaced at least 1,250 in its effort to restore power to about 700,000 customers. “We have crews coming in this weekend and working through the holidays to make sure that the supply is continuous,” said Todd Kunzman, director of operations for J.H. Baxter, which has owned the plant for about 40 years. “They did it willingly. These guys have all been without power, too, and they know exactly what it’s like.” In the past week, Baxter has shipped some 510 poles to PSE — about seven times its usual volume, he said. A PSE spokeswoman said all but about 14,000 customers were expected to have power as of Friday night. Baxter is one of several companies that scrambled to help Northwest utilities provide replacement poles, wire, transformers, insulators, fuses and other equipment to line crews in the aftermath of the worst windstorm in at least a decade. Sue McLain, PSE’s senior vice president of operations, said the utility stockpiles equipment in anticipation of damage from nasty weather. But this storm drew down PSE’s reserves, forcing it to rely on suppliers. “It takes a lot of partnerships to tackle one of these things,” McLain said. That included a logistics operation that had trucks running 24/7 and chartered a Boeing 737 to bring needed materials such as transformers directly to the utility, she said.
Kevin Comerford, national sales manager for the wood-pole division of McFarland Cascade in Tacoma, said the bottleneck in restoring power after a major storm isn’t usually the supply of utility poles. “We can get poles stacked up like cord wood out in front of the crews,” he said. Power poles, usually made from Douglas fir or Western red cedar, are a bit more complicated than cord wood, though. They come in 130 sizes, Comerford said, with strength and height requirements specific to different uses. They have to be customized with holes to match each utility’s hardware requirements. Finally, they are kiln-dried and coated with sealants. Comerford said the price for a typical, 40-foot pole used in a neighborhood can range from $350 to $450.
Other utility equipment can be harder to come by. “Right now transformers are really hard to get replaced quickly,” Comerford said.
PSE has replaced about 750 of the can-shaped transformers, which convert electricity in overhead lines into lower voltages that can be used in homes. McLain said the utility was able to meet its needs with the help of suppliers and logistics companies. Higher demand and rising costs for raw materials are increasing wait times for transformers, especially large ones installed in substations. One major U.S. supplier increased its prices 15 percent this fall. “Big transformers do have a lead time of 18 months or so, and there certainly is more overseas production of those pieces of equipment than we saw even a decade ago,” said Scott Simms, a spokesman for the Bonneville Power Administration.
BPA provides about 75 percent of the region’s high-voltage transmission and provides power to public utilities such as Seattle City Light.
A City Light spokeswoman said the utility experienced no shortage of power poles or other equipment. Benjamin J. Romano: 206-464-2149 or bromano@seattletimes.com