Storm Repair Efforts Recapped at LUB Meeting

Rick Beard assumed the duties of the interim chairman of the Lamar Utilities Board during the regular meeting held on Tuesday, August 25. Beard moved into that position when former chairman, Michael Bryant, said he would not serve another four year term due to time constraints. Beard will act as interim chairman until a new board member is approved and a vote is taken for the various positions. Other board members are Leo Hernandez, Howard Hobbs, Doug Thrall and Roger Stagner who serves as the liaison to the Lamar City Council.

Light Plant Superintendent, Houssin Hourieh detailed the power outages that occurred in Prowers County last weekend due to several storms and wind damage. His report indicated that at about 8pm on Sunday, August 16^th, the east end 24.9KV recloser tripped off-line and high winds broke several poles by Sandy Creek and Highway 196, as well as three more poles near CR 31 and GG, located near Holly. Power was restored at about 11:37am the following day after repair crews worked overnight replacing the broken poles. Power was restored to Bristol, Hartman and surrounding areas. Power was restored to Holly at 4:45pm as the community used their generator during the outage.

More damage was sustained the very next day as another storm hit the area around 7:30pm on Monday and winds broke six more poles north of CR3 and Highway 50. The Colorado Beef recloser tripped off-line due to the downed poles. The line crew was called for another overnight repair job, bringing power back to Colorado Beef at about 4:45am on Tuesday, August 18. Scattered outages were reported in Lamar and surrounding areas and the total count of damaged poles is up to 21. The utility board will usually approve purchase orders for replacement poles from 20 to 40 at a time.

Hourieh explained that the outages are located from downed poles as indicated from the power plant’s grid. “It’s not exact, but we know the route one particular grid will follow and the line crew starts there and traces the problem, either broken poles or downed lines,” he told the board. He added that phone calls from area residents who have lost power are another obvious means but crews still need to find the specific problem for repairs.

The financial report for July showed that cash is down $200,628 from June and accounts receivable increased by $473,758. Operating revenue for the month is $1,439,193 and total operating costs are $1,169,497 for a gross operating profit of $269,696. When the non-operating revenues and expenses are viewed, there is a net income for the month of $65,338.

When compared to 2014 revenues from retail sales are up approximately $44,367 or 1%, comparing July 2014 to 2015 and overall operating expenses are down approximately $181,947 or 3% for a new profit for the year of $130,676.

By Russ Baldwin