6.1h ERMUSR 03-09-2021UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:FROM:
ERMU Commission Chris Sumstad– Electric Superintendent
MEETING DATE: AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
March 9, 2021 6.1h
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
Installed eight new residential services, which involves the connection of a secondary
line once the customer requests service.
Continue checking electrical infrastructure to make sure the mapping system matches
what is in the field. We are also checking for any equipment defects, using an infrared
camera to make sure the transformer connections are not overheating, and ensuring
thatwarning stickers are in place and legible.
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Avenue being the focus
Tree trimming continues with County Roads 35 and 33 and 218
the past month.
The overhead rebuild along County Road 35 has been going well and the crews will be
stringing new wire on the new poles soon.
The cold snap we had in February allowed the crews to get a majority of the annual
hotstick and ground testing and repair finished. Also, much of the repairs and general
maintenance of our construction equipment (cable plows, trenchers, excavators, digger
derricks, and boom trucks) was completed.
The City’s Fleet Maintenance Division started performing DOT inspections on our trucks
and trailers. These are completed February through April every year.
Josh Shoutz and Alex Bernier attended the MMUA Meter School held February 6-8 in
Marshall, MN.
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A streetlightwas struckby a vehiclein the Miske Meadows 6 addition and a secondary
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pedestal was destroyed by construction equipment in the Miske Meadows 5 addition.
Both have been replaced.
A secondary line was impacted during trenching performedby gas contractors in the
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Hillside 12 addition. This was repaired with splices and approximately ten feet of new
wire.
We had a squirrel cause two feeders to trip offline Saturday, February 27 around 8:45
am. This affected approximately 850 customers. The outage was traced to a pole just
outside of the plant where the squirrel caused considerable damage to equipment.
Repairs were completed and both feeders were reenergized in two hours.
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Projects continue to line up for the upcoming construction season. Some of the new
three phase projects are the Elk River High School Stadium, Elk RiverLodge apartment
building, Fire station 3, field services building, and a lift station on County Road 33 for
Windsor Park. On the residential side, 4-5 new subdivisions are slated to start
construction as well.
We are finishing up an underground line extension in the Aggregate Industries gravel
pit. We added one new transformer and moved another so they can continue to mine
farther south.
Blain Snyder started as our new Apprentice Lineworker on February 8.
Lead Lineworker Darren Weber’s last day was February 19.
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