Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1922-05-12
NERVE CENTER OF
POWER SYSTEM
How Electricity and Water Are
despatched
Vernon Station Important Plant--Dcs-
patchers Study Conditions Of Water
Fall Throughout New England.


II is perhaps not generally understood
how important is the despatching system
of hydro-electric company. AT Mill
bury. Mass, is located the brain or nerve
center transmission line system OF the
largest hydro-electric company in New
England. The despatchers try to use
every drop of water. Two men work on
a shift both night and day. They have
n battery of telephones at their disposal
and their whole business is to study the
conditions of water fall throughout New
England. They estimate when this
water will reach the power plants and
distribute the load to the various plants
in time to meet this water. There are
IA stations located from Millbury to the
Connecticut Lakes. Rain gauges at
these stations record the amount of fall.
If rain fall is under onc-half inch the
reports are sent in by postal if over one
half inch the reports are sent in by tele-
graph The operators are expert in fore
casting these conditions accurately and
allow for the condition of the ground
which has good deal to do with deter
mining low much of the rain fall will
get into the rivers.
At the Vernon station of the Connect
cut River Power company, which is an
important plant in the system, a graph
zeal chart is projected two days ahead
both as to the electrical load and as to
the estimates for water. For instance. if
weather forecasts and reports show that
there is to be big rain fall Saturday
night, they would draw down the pond at
Vernon to meet the big Saturday load
and then let the rain fill up the reservoir
on Sunday. 1t is remarkable how accu-
rately the despatchers learn to make the
most of weather conditions.
Another interesting point is the fact
A1nt t1,.,x IS
and the Deerfield river are different in
geographical characteristics. The val
leys are of entirely different shape. The
banks of the Connecticut river slope
back gradually wereas the banks of the
Deerfield river rise precipitously. In the
Deerfed valley, rain gets to the plants
in one and one-half hours. The same
rain does not get in the reservoir of the
Vernon plant for "a hours. The diver
sity is very valuable to the system. 1t is
possible to get more out of 12-honr to
15-hours rain than if the valleys were
the same.
The New England company power sys-
TEN in addition to generating hydro-elec-
trio power acts as n sort of clearing house
for power throughout New England. For
instance, big manufacturing company
in Nashua recently had n strike. This
company manufactures its own electricity
and during such a strike it would nor
mally lose the value of all its electricity.
However, it sold its entire output to the
New England company power system at
low rate which meant great saving
to the manufacturing company There
are many other Instances similar to this.
The New England company power system
buys electricity fron 10 to 20 companies
at different times during the year. 1t is
Shitched up with most of the steam plants
of New England and co-operates with
them. Instead of competing against
plants which generate electricity by coal
it works with these plants and thus
makes two blades of grass grow where
ono grew, before. The power companies
of the power system have really averted
catastrophies by carrying the load tenn
pOrarily for several big city plants in
New England where they have had Sc
rious breakdowns. This makes friends
for the New England company and q
profit to itself
About year ago the French govern
ment sent a hydro-electric commission to
this country to visit and investigate
water power companies on this continent
The French engineers called at the Bos
ton office of the power companies and
were given passes to visit all the plants
They disappeared and were not seen fol
four and half months. Suddenly they
appeared one day at the Boston office and
one of the French engineers said:
I'VE have visited every water power
plant in this country. We have investi
gated the plants on the Pacific coast, il
canada, and every plant in this country
we came back to tell you that we hay,
seen no despatching system like that OF
the New England Power company during
our travels. Your despatching system al
y urah a