(September 27, 2023)
Planned Outage During Mobile Substation Switch Out
On Monday, October 9, 2023, Lake City and surrounding areas will experience a power outage lasting from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. MDT while Tri-State Generation & Transmission and GCEA crews permanently transfer power from a mobile substation to the Lake City substation. The mobile substation was delivered by Tri-State to Lake City in February after a major power outage knocked out electricity to nearly 1900 GCEA members for 28 hours.
Since the February power outage, Tri-State and GCEA have been working to secure the necessary parts and contract the labor to pour a concrete base for a new circuit switcher. In early September, the concrete pour was successfully completed, and the circuit switcher was installed, followed by a series of equipment tests. Further installation and testing will continue through the week of September 25, 2023. Upon successful completion of all testing, GCEA will transfer electric load from approximately 711 members north of mile marker 75 near Valley View on Highway 149 to the Iola Boat Ramp onto the Skito substation in Gunnison on Friday, October 6, 2023. There will be a brief 30-minute outage at 10:00 a.m. for the load transfer.
Unless unforeseen circumstances arise, on October 9, 2023, the entire GCEA line crew plus Tri-State crew members will assist in de-energizing the mobile substation and then restore power to the Lake City substation. Due to the scope of the work performed, a planned outage is required and will last from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Monitoring and testing of the newly energized equipment will continue throughout mid-October, and once Tri-State and GCEA are satisfied with equipment performance the mobile substation will return to Montrose.
The February 6, 2023, outage was caused by failed equipment both in the field and at the substation. Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association, which jointly owns and maintains the substation with GCEA, contacted GCEA immediately when the equipment failed and GCEA crews were dispatched shortly after. Efforts to energize the circuit switcher failed, and Tri-State organized a plan to move a mobile substation from Montrose to Lake City while simultaneously looking for parts to repair the damaged equipment.
By mid-morning on February 6, 2023, GCEA was able to restore power to the three-phase line through Lake City to Henson Creek, providing power to critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, Tri-State worked with CDOT to expedite the clearance to move the mobile substation along Highway 50 in difficult snow conditions. The mobile substation arrived in Lake City just after 4 p.m. and power was completely restored by 4:55 a.m. the next morning.
Safety and reliability are top priorities for GCEA and Tri-State and both cooperatives express continued appreciation for the patience and support of the Lake City members. GCEA also wishes to thank Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association for its help and support, as well as the GCEA crews and the support of their families.