In a recent Q&A with Public Power Current, Scott Hughes, Power Director for Hurricane City, Utah, detailed why the city pursued construction of a new substation, which was completed last month, and detailed the steps taken by the city’s public power utility to earn a Reliable Public Power Provider designation from APPA.
Hughes Details His Role as Power Director
In the Q&A, Hughes noted that as Power Director of a municipal-owned public power utility, “there are many facets to my role and responsibilities. Our public utility is overseen by both an appointed advisory Power Board as well as an elected City Council. I deal with the day-to-day operations of the department including oversight over transmission and distribution planning and operations, internal generation, fleet, resource procurement, budget management, project management, safety, and our staff.”
He is also on the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems Board of Directors and works “with many colleagues in addressing and meeting the ever-changing challenges we all face in our industry.”
Reliability
Hurricane City Power has earned a Reliable Public Power Provider designation from APPA for providing reliable and safe electric service.
Hughes detailed the steps the utility has taken to earn this achievement.
“A lot of credit needs to be given to Dave Imlay, our former Power Director, for the beginning of our efforts toward this achievement. He instilled emphasis on both reliability and safety within our organization.”
This has become “our culture and atmosphere and is just the way we operate. Our crews are led by dedicated employees who uphold and teach this culture to those they oversee. We hold the safety of our team and public as one of our most important responsibilities. We continue to look for ways to improve both infrastructure and methods to continue to be a leader in reliability and are proud to hold our RP3 designation from APPA.”
Substation
The Three Falls substation in Hurricane City became operational in June.
Hughes was asked to detail the reasons why the new substation is needed and discuss whether there were any challenges related to the construction of the substation.
Like many other cities in Southern Utah, Hurricane City has experienced rapid growth in a short period of time, he noted.
“Loads are increasing natively with the push to electrification; however, this has been surging upward due to the rapid growth that appears to be here for the foreseeable future. “
Critical infrastructure is needed to keep up with this growth, he noted.
“One of the challenges unique to the Three Falls Substation dealt specifically with the time frame in which it was built. It was started just prior to the dramatic market pricing volatility that occurred during 2021-22.”
In conjunction with the market pricing volatility, ”many construction and electrical components needed for the substation also experienced large increases in both price and lead times. The combination of market and construction price increases was difficult to manage, however it was necessary to push forward to completion to facilitate the growth. There was political, financial, and project management pressure that had to be handled to successfully navigate this project becoming operational.”
Other Projects
Hughes also discussed other projects being pursued by the utility.
“Many infrastructure projects will be needed to manage the growth that is coming. We recently completed a large phase of reconstruction with an upgrade to our main feed 69-kV transmission line,” he said. “We still have phases left of that upgrade, but the largest phases are now complete.”
Another project it continues to work toward for Hurricane City Power is the installation of AMI metering.
“We keep budgeting for portions of the project each year and will continue to work toward this goal that we feel is necessary for the changing landscape of electricity in our city. We also have more substations as well as transmission and distribution lines that are in various phases of planning. There is an exciting and challenging future ahead in store for Hurricane City Power.”
