$750K OK’d for Ross Glen underground powerlines

By Collin Gallant on January 24, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

The city electric utility plans to spend about $750,000 this year to replace underground powerlines, mostly in Ross Glen, where aluminum lines were installed close to 40 years ago when the community was built.

The work was specifically discussed Monday when financing for the project came before council as one of five budget items from the 2018 maintenance plan.

First reading of borrowing bylaws totalling about $3 million to fund the work passed. A final vote is expected in early February.

Removing and replacing the underground cable is a matter of general “life-cycle replacement,” said the division’s general manager Grayson Mauch.

“It’s part of our general asset management program. Aluminum has reached the end of life, so we’re replacing it before there is a failure concern.

“There’s no immediate public safety concern, but it will be replaced with copper.”

Using the material as an alternative to more expensive copper wire was common during the 1960s and 1970s.

Since then however, homeowners have been cautioned to be aware of its deficiencies compared to copper wire.

It corrodes differently and, if damaged, can more easily overheat. It also expands more than copper would when charged, leading to a loosening effect on connection points over time.

Mauch said there has been no particular trouble with the cable in the neighbourhood, but considering when aluminum fails it tends to be a larger failure, it’s important to replace it soon.

But the impact of breakdown is only greater for aluminum in underground situations, said Mauch.

“It’s actually the opposite for the overhead (lines), where we’re replacing copper for aluminum (wire),” said Mauch.

With 6.5 kilometres of such line, total replacement could take several years, said Mauch, and the $750,000 covers several project areas.

Department officials state that borrowing bylaws introduced Monday mainly involve regularly scheduled replacements.

Other spending items are:

— $765,000 for overhead line replacements;

— $455,000 to install line connections in new residential and commercial developments;

— $440,000 for pole testing and replacement throughout the city;

— $621,000 for substation upgrades and replacement of equipment.

Also on Monday, council passed third reading of an amended bylaw to finance construction of substation No. 9 at the Medicine Hat power plant. The $3-million station will replace the Alta-Link tie-in to the Alberta grid. The bylaw was amended to correct a typographical mistake at first reading and reflect a shorter 25-year term of borrowing.

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