Project will provide more reliable service
Twin Valleys Public Power District is beginning a major project—rebuilding a 55 year old 69kV line. The line has been in the planning process since 2004 to bring more reliable electric service to the communities of Arapahoe, Beaver City, Edison, Oxford, Stamford and a large rural area in Furnas and Harlan Counties. The timing has been perfect with the new bio-diesel plant coming in Arapahoe. More capacity is needed to serve the new plant.
The new line, which will be 9.5 miles long, begins at the substation 1½ miles northwest of Orleans and ends 2 ½ miles north of the Southern Valley Schools, along Hwy 46. Currently most of this line runs through private right-of-way, some of it very rugged terrain. The new line will follow a different route, with most of it following public right-of-way which will make it easier to maintain.
This new line is being designed to provide the best reliability available to prevent future problems. The line will be shielded to prevent outages from lightning and it will also be a larger conductor that is rated at 256% capacity of the existing line. The conductor is a T2 type that will prevent galloping of the lines during icing conditions and is designed to exceed code requirements for strength.
Twin Valleys Public Power District was very pleased to have competitive bidding for this project with 7 companies giving bids. The construction contract was awarded to Kayton Electric of Holdrege who was the low bidder. Kayton has rented a building just west of Orleans that will serve as their headquarters for this project.
The 1st phase of the project from HWY 136 to along Driftwood Road is to be completed by April 18th. The new line completed to that point will tie into the existing line temporarily while the next phase is completed. The 2nd phase is to be completed by July 25th. A portion of the existing line that is being replaced will not be removed until this fall after the crops are out of the fields.
This project is being financed by a $1,705,000, 20 year bond issue with an interest rate of 4.515%. Twin Valleys Public Power District cash reserves will be used to pay any costs over the amount of the bond issue.
“We really appreciate the excellent cooperation we are receiving with land owners and farmers along the route” said James Dietz, Twin Valleys PPD General Manager. “This project is, literally, going to benefit thousands of people.”
For more information regarding this project please call Twin Valleys Public Power District offices at 800-658-4266.
Please click on the links below for Twin Valleys Public Power District's current news and information:
Many reasons why rates increase 12/20/2007
New Director at TVPPD
Production Cost Adjustment from NPPD 04/16/07
2006-2007 Ice Storm Pictures
Storm Progress Continues 04/16/07
Ice Storm Update 02/26/ 07
Twin Valleys PPD Makes Good Progress On Storm Reconstruction 02/02/07
Ice Storm, Beautiful but Devastating 01/08/07
Two Weeks, Two Storms 01/02/07
Unusual December Ice Storm Causes Problems 12/26/06
