Capacitors will improve or help eliminate recurring power surges in the area. They are phase one of the expansion project set to help with community expansion.
photo by Lisa Morton
By Lisa Morton
El Paso Electric crews and subcontractors began Phase One of the local expansion project here the beginning of June. On Tuesday morning, I joined the group at the substation south of Van Horn where I was quickly garnished from head to toe with safety equipment and clothing and signed-up for the company safety meeting. Substation Construction Coordinator, Roel Garcia, was on hand to offer the orientation to EPE employees and new arrival contractors to the site. Safety information was given along with workers being provided with a map to the Culberson Hospital and contacts for first response.
“This is phase one of the expansion project here and these new capacitor banks are the latest and greatest of its kind which allows the substation to boost and maintain voltage and reliability”, said Mr. Garcia. EPE will replace over 100 of the traditional wood poles between Tornillo and Van Horn with the metal version at a projected completion time of two and a half years. Last year about this time, Van Horn experienced a power outage that lasted three days. The replacement of poles blown over by tornado force winds, took more time than usual as they implemented the use of the new metal poles. Mr. Garcia said, “There is many miles of rough terrain between here and Tornillo with some locations requiring us to hand carry some equipment”. “El Paso Electric will continue to work diligently to provide the best service to all our customers”, he added.
