Success Stories for Georgia
What's
up, Dock? Youngsters with disabilities will be able to enjoy fishing on
a quiet Georgia pond, thanks in part to Southern Rivers Energy (GA-075).
The Barnesville, Georgia-based co-op donated and set the poles for the wheelchair-accessible
dock for Global Pediatrics, which provides physical therapy for children with
disabilities. After the pond, located at the firm's outdoor center, was drained
and cleaned last fall, a Southern Rivers Energy crew of Gary "Red" Ogletree,
Shane Wilson, Daniel Jones and Donald Youngblood set the supports - 6 by 6 treated
poles purchased specifically for the project - for the dock. Other parties donated
the material and labor for building the wheelchair-accessible ramp and the dock
itself. Upon its recent completion, the dock was dedicated to Brandon Sanders,
who receives physical therapy at the center. The sixth-grader, who has been
diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, "loves to fish and has been quite an inspiration
to the center," said owner and physical therapist Cathy Wisdom. "We were proud
to be a part of such a worthwhile project and wish Cathy success with all the
visions she has for the therapy center," said Raleigh Henry, Southern Rivers
Energy President/CEO.
Compliments of NRECA's "Electric Co-op TODAY", March
17, 2006 edition, Volume 12, Number 11.
March 2006
Site Lines: A New Approach of Power -- Transmission
co-op part of major study that could change power line siting: There's a
lot more involved in siting transmission lines that simply finding a convenient
location, erecting poles and stringing wire.
Local government and neighborhood associations want to
have their say. So do environmental groups. Legal challenges to construction
abound, and costs are important for utilities seeking to place lines to meet
growing demand.
Now, though, a Georgia transmission co-op has helped to
account for those and other factors in a study that could change the way utilities
site power line projects, and save them money in the process.
Georgia Transmission Corporation (GA-110), based
in Tucker, teamed with the Electric Power Research Institute to develop an improved
approach to transmission line siting, defined in a novel, 200-page report released
Feb. 7.
The document and new siting approach capped a two-year
process that included input from more than 200 representatives of governmental
agencies, utilities, neighborhood groups and other parties.
Those deliberations took the unusual step of reaching
consensus with external stakeholders over the relative importance of siting
criteria.
"As we build more transmission lines to keep up with demand,
our decisions are exposed to legal and public scrutiny," said Mike Smith, president
and CEO of Georgia Transmission, which has built 134 miles of new lines in the
last two years.
"This effort gives us more confidence, knowing our decisions
are based on solid, standard rationale," he said.
Key elements of the report include:
Rigorous, step-by-step procedures for documenting and
applying planning assumptions, evaluation criteria and decisions;
- A new software program that automatically defines large study areas, alternative
corridors and a final route from multiple sets of data for roads, terrain,
utility corridors, wetlands and other features, and
- Research techniques for reaching consensus on the relative importance of
features, such as wetlands and housing density, and the ranking of environmental,
man-made and engineering conditions.
- Officials said the new process results in improved productivity and more
consistent siting decisions-and that saves money. Data collection and analysis
cost savings at the transmission co-op ranged from $10,000 to $100,000 per
project, according to Jesse Glasgow of Photo Science, Inc., a Georgia Transmission
contractor that developed the siting software tool.
Already, the joint venture between Georgia Transmission
and EPRI is winning praise from utilities. Kentucky Utilities Co., an IOU that
serves customers in Kentucky and Virginia, said it is amending its siting practices,
based on the new model.
"Seldom does the electric industry see a study with such
potential to change the way we site power lines," said Nate Mullins, manager
of transmission lines for Kentucky Utilities.
John Goodrich-Mahoney, EPRI program manager, said siting
of power lines always will require a human component to review possible routes
and address community concerns.
"But this is the closest anyone has come yet to turning
human siting decisions into data-assisted human decision-making."
Copies of the report are available at the Electric
Power Research Institute Web site at www.epri.com.
Copies are available free to EPRI members and for a fee for non-members.
Compliments of NRECA's "Electric Co-op TODAY", Volume
12, No. 7, February 17, 2006 edition.
February 2006
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