6.1f ERMUSR 05-13-2025______________________________________________________________________________
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UTILITIES COMMISSION MEETING
TO:
ERMU Commission
FROM:
Chris Sumstad – Electric Superintendent
MEETING DATE:
May 13, 2025
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER:
6.1f
SUBJECT:
Staff Update
ACTION REQUESTED:
None
DISCUSSION:
• Installed 17 new residential services, which involves the connection of a secondary line
once the customer requests service.
• Joe Schmidt, safety instructor from Minnesota Municipal Utilities Association, was here
on April 24, and held a safety meeting for field staff on chainsaw operations.
• Crews finished tree trimming on April 15.
• The bore crew along with a line crew are currently working on replacing older open
concentric wire in the Deerfield Addition in Elk River.
• Crews replaced 500 MCM underground wire at West substation, Feeder 71, from the
sub out to the first pole. This was older wire due for replacement. A ganged switch was
also installed at the pole replacing single blades.
• The second phase of the overhead rebuild on Feeder 65, north of our North substation
was recently started.
• Crews along with the substation technician are in the process of changing out the
controllers at our switched capacitor banks located at various locations on our overhead
feeders. They are also confirming operations and performing any maintenance needed
at each location.
• Crews are working on maintenance items we have identified through our equipment
checks over the winter on both the overhead and underground system. We are also
replacing fault indicators. These instruments are placed on the line, and blink if the fault
has passed through, helping to pinpoint the location of the problem and reduce outage
time. These instruments have a battery life of 15-20 years.
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