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Trinity Valley EC News

Substation Upgrades Underway For Growth and Reliability

Trinity Valley EC prepares for the future with upgrades to transformers and equipment

Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative crews dedicate themselves to keeping the lights on, so planning an outage can seem like strange territory. From time to time however, turning the power off is necessary.

With planned infrastructure upgrades taking place in TVEC’s Mabank Substation, two planned outages have been required as old transformers and other gear are replaced. On June 5, crews energized lines with the first of two new transformers that should serve the growing population north of Mabank for decades to come.

Lineworkers take part in a pre-work safety meeting before a coordinated effort to energize a new transformer at TVEC’s Mabank substation.

Don Johnson

“Both power transformers are being upgraded as well as six regulators and two relay panels that protect the transformers,” said Gary Sherrard, TVEC manager of substations and transmission. “The retired transformers were getting close to overload in peak conditions. These upgrades are part of our current work plan and are necessary to ensure reliability of the flow of electricity to TVEC members.”

TVEC operates 23 substations to energize more than 8,000 miles of line, meaning each one is critical for a large area, and turning off the power is a serious undertaking.

In this case, the linemen each had a role, and the entire operation had members out for only around seven minutes. It should be the last outage required for this area as upgrades progress.

Please follow TVEC on social media and watch tvec.net for any updates or announcements regarding planned outages, important news or upcoming work in your area.