I had advocated for years this switchyard was dangerously obsolete and degraded...the last ditch supply of electricity for Vermont Yankee came from this switchyard. I advocated they dump this switchyard and the dam...purchase a diesel generator for this job. They eventually took my advice.
I can't believe all these engineers visiting the Vernon site could walk past the rusted switchyard towers holding all the high voltage wires. I wonder when those towers were built? It is a accident waiting to happen.
I can't believe you wouldn't clear out the rot of them towers...put a brand new switchyard in there.
And that was always the deal, the dam was owned by Transcanada, the switchyard was owned by National Grid and the Vermont Yankee was owned by Entergy. That was three foreign ownerships there...how about buy American:) But electricity would have to go through components owned by three corporations in a very short distance.
I think National Grid is unsafe!!!
Vernon Switchyard Project Plant
Kayla Rice/Reformer The hydroelectric dam off of Governor Hunt Rd. in Vernon.
Posted: 11/06/2014 03:00:00 AM EST
VERNON -- Though it is termed "a fairly routine type of work," an equipment upgrade near the Vernon Hydroelectric Station is expected to have a big impact.
For one thing, the planned switchyard project will remove an aging circuit breaker and the 765 gallons of oil it contains. And Steve Hall, a project manager with National Grid, said the work also will result in a better electrical-transmission system.
"This is really about reliability, and improving reliability for customers," Hall said.
Hall and Nancy Malmquist, an attorney with Downs Rachlin Martin, this week detailed the project during a presentation in Vernon. Malmquist explained that National Grid, also known as New England Power, is a "company that has transmission and switchyard facilities throughout New England, including in Vernon. And at this time, some older equipment in the Vernon switchyard is set to be switched out. The company will soon be presenting a petition to the Vermont Public Service Board."
If all goes well and the state board approves the Vernon project, construction is expected sometime next year -- most likely in the late summer or fall, Hall said.
The work mainly involves replacement of an important circuit breaker at the switchyard outside the hydroelectric dam. Hall said the breaker was installed in 1961 on a power line that runs between Vernon and Bellows Falls.
"There is concern about these types of breakers, and of course the age of them as well," Hall said. "So there's a program in place now to replace 24 of these types of circuit breakers around New England Power's area.
This happens to be one of them."Hall told Vernon Selectboard that the circuit breaker's role "is to be able to interrupt load if there's a fault somewhere -- it interrupts the flow of electricity to protect the equipment." That happens via 765 gallons of oil stored in three tanks.
"Particularly with these breakers, when they get to this kind of an age, there's potential for the bushings to start leaking a little bit of oil, which we obviously do not want," Hall said.
The plan is to pump out the oil, clean the tanks and remove the old breaker, Hall said. Crews also will remove a concrete foundation, which has tested negative for contaminants, he added.
"The new breaker that will be installed is called a vacuum breaker. There's no oil in it," Hall said. "It's eight times more efficient than the oil breaker in terms of extinguishing the arc, so it's a much better, more-reliable piece of equipment. Part of the issue with the older breaker, too ... is parts and replacement parts."
Additionally, National Grid will upgrade some ancillary equipment at the site. The overall idea, administrators wrote in a presentation distributed in Vernon, is "a reduction in the likelihood of outages caused by either the failure to operate or the catastrophic failure of poor-condition circuit breakers or disconnect switches."
Hall's presentation elicited no concerns from Vernon officials or residents. The project involves a small amount of excavation, and "we really don't see any negative impacts in terms of aesthetics or environmental conditions or that sort of thing," he said.
"We've been talking with TransCanada, the owner of the (hydroelectric) plant," Hall said. "We have biweekly phone calls with them and keep them apprised of the project, as well as Green Mountain Power. So all of the utilities are familiar with what's going on. There won't be an outage, as far as customer outages."
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