— from Suzanne Olson for OPALCO —
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OPALCO is relocating a line of transmission poles along Orcas Road as part of the County’s road re-alignment project. The new poles will be strung with larger transmission wire which follows current standards and will increase efficiency and load carrying capacity. OPALCO’s contractor crews will be in the area through mid-October. Most of the work is taking place hot (with the power on), but once the crew is ready to connect the new poles to the grid, there will be some limited power and fiber outages in the vicinity. Stay tuned for planned outage information in early October.
Contract crews are brought in for long-term projects like this one in order to maintain critical utility operations in parallel with major construction efforts.
The County road re-alignment project work will pick up again in the Spring. The project will increase the safety for the high-traffic road and ferry route – and it corrects some legacy easements locations for the County and private land owners. For information about the new road alignment and County project timeline, go to: www.sanjuanco.com/278/Current-Projects.
For the latest information about OPALCO, go to: www.opalco.com; sign up for our email newsletter (www.opalco.com/about/email-signup/); and follow us on Facebook (Orcas Power & Light Cooperative) and Twitter (@orcaspower). OPALCO is our member-owned cooperative, powering about 11,000 members on 20 islands in San Juan County since 1937.
Thanks for the info, Suzanne,
Might I ask why the lines can’t be re-positioned underground, as so many of your other main lines are
Are the requests for more connecting bike trail/paths being considered? Now is the time to allow for a bike path along that stretch of road; it can connect to more later.
I was told that they are high voltage lines and that those cannot be underground.
Peg’s right – the high-voltage transmission lines are kept overheard for safety and cost considerations.
I wonder who is paying for these poles and transmission lines to be moved? Is it the County since it is their road project? Is it OPALCO electric customers? Is OPALCO somehow responsible for moving transmission lines for County work?
If an private individual does something to cause OPALCO to move its equipment, who pays for that?
Just asking.
OPALCO is paying for this project as part of our construction work plan. It is part of our easement agreements with the County and is included in our capital project budget.
Members pay the cost in aid of construction for projects that serve their individual properties and if members damage equipment they pay for it.