Lamar Utilities Board meets July 23, 2024 – power outages on July 15 explained by Superintendent

Ronny Farmer, CPA with RFarmer, LLC, presented to the Board the Audited Financial Report for 2023.

Minutes from the July 9, 2024 meeting were approved unanimously.  Also approved were purchase orders 630111 through 630147 in the amount of $55,800.77.   Payment of bills totaling $1,131,166.10 was approved.  Per usual, the largest bill presented was to ARPA in the amount of $1,026,749.92.  GW Vernova International Holdings, PERA of Colorado and the City of Lamar also constituted large amounts of the bills paid.

The June 2024 Financial Report was also presented.  The balance sheet shows no significant changes.  Cash is down $44,949 from May and accounts receivable increased by $324,036.  Total operating revenue for the month is $1,412,793 with operating costs of $1,367,146, resulting in a gross operating income of $45,647.  When non-operating revenues and expenses are taken into consideration, there is a net loss for the month of $70,043.  The YTD income statement shows revenues for the year are $6,974,900 with total operating costs of $6,523,004, resulting in a gross operating income of $451,896.  When non-operating revenues and expenses are taken into account, there is a net loss of $501,134 year-to-date.  In comparison to last year, revenues from retail sales are up approximately $373,030 or 6% comparing June 2024 to June 2023 and overall operating expenses are up approximately $739,948 or 13%, resulting in a net loss of $501,134 for the year.

Superintendent Hourieh’s System Operating Report reports that with GE Wind on site, a borescope inspection to T-2’s gearbox was completed.  Previously, T-2 had been taken offline due to excessive gearbox vibration.  A complete inspection report will be proved by GE, and if the damage is in the high speed shaft area, GE could do the repairs without the need of a crane.  Line crews replaced wooden poles which had failed testing with a 40 ft Class II wooden pole in the 100 block of N. 12^th St. on the north 4 KV circuit, a 40 ft. Class II ductile iron pole at Highway 196 and Rd. 11 and a 40 ft. Class II wooden pole at Rd. MM and Rd. 17 on the east end 25 kv circuit.

On July 15^th at approximately 3:27 p.m., Tri-State G&T opened Breaker 752 in the Willow Creek Substation which feeds the northern section of Lamar, all of Holly, Wiley, McClave, Bristol and Hartman in an attempt to shed loads in S.E. Colorado.  The load shedding was without any advanced warning or notifications due to a line fault on the 230 KV line between Boone and Lamar, when the entire load was switched to the 115 KV line.  This line has limited capacity and could not handle the high hot summer load.  Concerned about starting a wildfire, Excel Energy refused to close the 230 KV line until it was patrolled by their crews, which can take a few hours.  We immediately contacted Tri-States dispatch, asking them to close our 752 Willow Creek substation breaker.  We requested Holly to start their generator and energized our capacitor banks to lessen the load on the 115 KV line.  With the load reduced, we were able to restore power to our customers.  At about 7:30 p.m., the 230 KV line was re-energized and we were back to normal feed.

NERC’s contractual requirement with Tri-State and Excel Energy, the balancing authority, confirms that they can shed load without warning due to any voltage collapse caused by a fault or overload conditions.  This scenario could reoccur anytime without warning until the commissioning of the new 230 KV line from Burlington to Lamar.

By Barbara Crimond