Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1924-04-16
SERVICE OUTAGES

III The EDI1Oh.
Probably every consumer of cleo
trical energy in the territory served
by the Interstate Power Company
sensed the amount of damage the re-
cent sleet storm created This storm
was by no means concentrated III any
particular district served by the Pow
er Company but extended from one
end of it to the other. Transmission
lines constructed in accordance with
the best modern practice and main
tanned with the proper degree of
efficiency were broken in many sec
tions. The lines all carried an enor-
nous amount of ice and in the heavy
gale of such long duration, wires
were broken, poles splintered, trees
felled across the line, to say nothing
of numerous insulator, cross-arm,
and minor equipment breakage.
We might ask the customer to Wis
ualize the condition confronting
Power Company in such times as
these from the angle of renewing ser
vice at the earliest possible hour.
Picture for yourself approximately
$50 miles of transmission line along
country highways with roads prac-
tically impossible and numerous wire
breaks scattered throughout the en-
tire system, poles down, ETC., and ad-
ded to this no method of commun1ca-
ton between the various sections. The
first move, of course, is to get mater
iaI and men into each OF these dist
riots and the next is to work these
various crews without aid OF tele-
phone dispatching and to do it safely
so that men are not caught on lines
suddenly becoming energized through
lack of communication or the mlsun-
derstanding of orders. The risk is
big one. Men and crews such as these
become fatigued, both physically and
mentally due to long hours and eX-
posture and the risk of mlsunder-
standings is a likely occurrence and
especially so since each crew is
working to renew service as quickly
as possible.
The Interstate Power Company car
ries in it's store rooms vast amount
of line and plant material to meet
lust such emergencies as these
Thousands of dollars worth of mater
ial is necessary on short order after
a storm such as this and If 1t were
necessary to order material from sup
plv houses, it would be days before
any would be received. The Power
Company had in their store rooms
enough material to temporarily re-
pair all broken equipment but 1t mas
been necessary to order thousands OF
dollars worth of additional material
in order to make the repairs perma-
nent and restore the system to It's
original condition The transporting
of heavy material, such as poles ana
wire. was an arduous task and IN one
instance where it was otherwise I'M
POSSIBLE, the Company chartered
snecial train on the Milwaukee r. X.
from McGregor to Boscobel IN order
to facilitate the movement OF men ana
material. Distribution systems suffer-
ed in the same proportion with the
storm but in those instances the prop
ertv is concentrated over a smaller
area and therefore more quickly re-
built. For the next 80 days, all lines
will be undergoing the work OF max
ing previous repairs permanent ana
it is possible that certain sections
might be visited with some slight IN
convenience from time to time Whlle
the work is being carried on although
good deal of it will be done at
time when a short interruption Will
Inconvenience customers the least.
Losses as heavy as these are unus-
ual, of course, still whenever they do
occur they must be met and are part
of the operating costs of any Utility
On smaller companies or with COM
panies operating under constrained
finance, such storms are sometimes
severe enough to seriously hamper
the further healthy condition of the
Utility company
Yours very truly,