Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-01-01
SOURCE
Of ELECTRICITY FOR
THE CITY OF SALEM
New $4,000 Volt transmits
sion Line From Estacada
On the CIackamas

The Portland Railway, Light &
| Power Company during the early part
of this year completed the construc-
I ton Of a new 10000 volt electric pow
er transmission line to Salem from
what is known as their River Mill
hydro-electric power plant on tfp
Clackamas River, near Estacada. 1t
took about two months to complete the
installation of this line it being con-
structed by way of Beaver Creek and
Mt. Angel on the Willamette Valley
Southern Railway. Since completion
it gives Salem Ia source of supply abb
solutely independent of its present
principal source, which is the hydro
electric plant of the same Company on
the Willamette River at Oregon City.
The power from the last plant is con-
Quoted to Salem over a 10000 volt
transmission line located mostly on the
right-of-way of the Oregon Electric
Railway Company, the substations Of
which latter company are also supplied
with electricity from this line
Furnishes Power for s. P.
The installation of this new line
necessitated an addition to the sub
station at Mill and Liberty streets, to
contain the high voltage transformers
which change the voltage from 10000
down to 2300 volts, which is the pres
sure used in distributing the electricity
throughout the city. This new trans
mission line and the transformers have
a capacity of 2500 kilowatts, which is
equivalent to the amount of electricity
required to operate 10000 20-candle
power( 25-watt incandescent lamps,
| such as are ordinarily used in the
home.
Four Sources of Supply
In addition to supplying power to
piled to the Southern Pacific Company
at the power house at Mill and Liberty
streets, and transmitted by a 10000
volt transmission line north to Union
street, across the Union Street bridge,
and to the substations Of the S. p.
Co. on the west side of the valley
where it is transferred into electricity
! of a proper voltage for use in the
operation of the electric railway lines
of the S. P, Co. in this section of the
Willamette Valley.
The introduction of this new power
line gives Salem and vicinity four
sources of supply-two from the two
plants above mentioned, one from TIE
steam plant in Salem, and one from
the small water power plant at Silver
ton. Either of the first two sources
are of ample capacity to supply the en-
tire requirements of Salem and vicin-
ity, so that either line will serve as a
relay or auxiliary source to the other,
so that in Case of trouble on one line
or at one power plant, electricity can
be supplied from the other in few
minutes.
Helps State Institutions
The introduction of this line is of
considerable benefit to the customers
of the company in this vicinity, as it
insures almost continuous service,
which is of considerable Importance to
electric power users in particular, and
also to the State Institutions, such as
the Asylum and Penitentiary. IF the
lights in the Pehitentiary are sudden
ly extinguished for more than very
few minutes, due to failure of the
source of supply at certain times, there
is always danger of an outbreak of
some kind, and the increased reliabil-
ity of service made possible by this
new line win benefit this institution
in particular, probably more than any
other.
The total expense involved in bring
ing this new line into Salem was ap-
100000. All of the ma
terial that could be supplied locally
was purchased, as well as labor.
This puts Salem in the strictly up-to-
date metropolitan class of cities with
respect to its electric light and power
service