May 1st, 2011
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Author: HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Huntsville Utilities is using the initial trickle of electricity into the city to restore power in critical areas and commercial corridors that offer food and other necessities.
The utility had 3 percent of its power system online Sunday morning, utility General Manager Bill Pippin said at a news conference early Sunday. The utility expected to have 5 percent of power restored before the day ended.
“It’s taking a lot longer than we anticipated because we’re getting a little power at a time,” Pippin said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority hopes to begin supplying power incrementally to Huntsville tonight (Monday night), said Kevin Chandler, a customer service senior manager with TVA.
“Late Monday, we expect to get a good chunk of power,” Pippin said.
Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children, Crestwood Medical Center, the utility’s operations center in Chase Industrial Park and the water treatment plant on South Memorial Parkway were the first vital areas to get power.
Between 10 p.m. and midnight Saturday, power was restored in the areas of the Municipal Justice and Public Safety Center on Wheeler Avenue, the southwest water treatment plant in Triana, and several commercial corridors.
“It took all day long for TVA to get those circuits cleared,” Pippin said.
The commercial areas are U.S. 431 and Old U.S. 431 in Hampton Cove, University Drive between Pulaski Pike and Jordan Lane to Putnam Drive, Madison Boulevard from Zierdt Road to near Celtic Drive, and the west side of Memorial Parkway between Mastin Lake Road and Sparkman Drive.
Power was restored for a few blocks around the Madison County Courthouse square and at Huntsville City Hall shortly before noon Sunday morning. Madison City Hall, Huntsville Utilities headquarters and the Von Braun Center also had power restored Sunday.
“We’re picking up (power in) pieces,” utilities spokesman Bill Yell said.
Other small areas were expected to come online during the day Sunday, he said.
Power was also coming on in the city of Madison, with several residents coming online around 5 p.m. Sunday.
Commercial areas in Madison County were targeted for power so businesses could open to provide places to buy food, gasoline and emergency items, and to eat in restaurants, Pippin said.
The next areas to be targeted for power will include places such as doctor’s offices and nursing homes, he said.
Huntsville Utilities crews, with the help of utility workers from other cities, have replaced more than 200 power poles, and checked all of the streets and about half of the system’s substations to be ready when TVA is able to deliver full power to the system, Pippin said.
Huntsville Utilities won’t know until power is restored how many of its transformers were damaged from Wednesday’s deadly storms.
Meanwhile, TVA continues slowly rebuilding a network of transmission lines that was virtually destroyed.
Chandler said TVA has restored service to 85 of the damaged 128 electrical delivery points to distribution systems such as Huntsville Utilities and that 474,000 customers remained without power in storm-damaged TVA service areas.
“That number has been coming down the last few days,” Chandler said.
The numbers were changing so fast that the Saturday night figures Chandler provided at the news conference had increased to 96 of 128 delivery points restored and 465,000 customers without power when he checked the Sunday morning status after the news conference.
Browns Ferry nuclear plant is “completely safe” and is off-line until TVA has repaired the transmission lines to deliver power from the plant, Chandler said.
Huntsville Utilities continues to ask residents to turn off such things as air conditioners and water heaters to prevent a surge that could overload and crash the system when power returns. The utilities also advises customers to unplug TVs and computers to protect them from power surges when electricity is restored.
Although Huntsville Utilities’ second water treatment plant now has power, Yell asked customers to continue conserving water. He said the utility is using generators to power booster pumps that push water to reservoir tanks at higher elevations such as Green Mountain.
Complete coverage from The Huntsville Times
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