TOWN OF MILLINOCKET
Infrastructure Committee
July 26, 2017
Present: Joe Clark, Frank Boynton, Louis Pelletier, Gilda Stratton
Absent: Michael Jewers
Public: David Norman, PE Emera, Sue Walsh
Joe called the meeting to order at 4 pm. Gilda motioned to accept the 7-11-17 Infrastructure Committee meeting minutes. Frank’s second to the motion passed.
Joe introduced Emera’s Engineering and Assets Manager, David W. Norman. He manages the long term planning and the transmission lines. David shared a power point presentation from his laptop and spoke about the transmission and distribution systems that power our town. ISO New England operates the grid that controls power to Emera. Transmission to Millinocket is fed by line 86 from Chester Substation, and a second line 89 carries thru East Millinocket. Only one line is used at a time and the transfer of power from one to the other has to be manually tripped, taking approximately a seven hour response time for this procedure. Switching to an automatic switch would be too costly for Millinocket. Discussion ensued about 12,500 Kv transformers, it’s large capacity of the town, and the T-2 backup transformer which is good for 5,000 Kv in times of emergency.
Rates and changes are set by the State for residential and commercial accounts. Peak load for Millinocket is at 5,330 Kw and 3,200 Kw is the average. Discussed the MK1 and MK2 distribution circuits and their customers. There are 474 street lights, all which are low sodium lights. LED lights are being discussed in PUC meetings along with how to allow communities to purchase their lights. No response is expected until the end of the year. Joe question our infrastructure issues and David replied that our transformers are in very good shape, with a couple of rebuilds being planned. Joe asked about some poles in Town that appear to lean too much with stretched lines and if they are slated to be repaired. He also brought up the issue of lights that are out and reporting is not getting them turned on. David said he would look into this. Joe mentioned the poles now have new numbering and Gilda questioned about scans of homes, checking for hot spots. David explained how it works. Joe complimented Emera for their response time in the last storms. Louis questioned about the amount of assets located in Millinocket and about their tax bill. They have no offices or stations but the distribution assets are taxed. Emera tax bill account is attached and provided by Joe shows a real estate tax bill of $124K.
Frank mentioned that the school auditorium lights have been changed to LED and have been saving them money. Some discussion ensued about the substations and transmission for power in the State. David showed us some maintenance issues that occur on poles. Biggest maintenance issues are cutting trees and removing squirrel from transformer sites. MK1 line was trimmed in 2015 and MK2 is being done currently. David explained how they prioritized repair jobs. No more questions. Thanks to David Norman for a very comprehensive and enlightening presentation.
Next meeting to be determined by the next economic development issue that comes up and relates to the Town’s Infrastructure. Gilda motioned to adjourn at 4:51, which was seconded by Frank. Passed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Louis Pelletier
Infrastructure Committee Sec.