BLYN — Roughly half a million dollars’ worth of power line replacement is complete near Blyn in what Clallam County Public Utility District officials said will bring greater electricity reliability to customers in the area.
PUD commissioners voted unanimously Monday afternoon to accept as complete a $548,000 contract with Alaska-based City Pacific Services to rebuild overhead transmission and distribution lines stretching from the Blyn substation west to Johnson Creek.
1976 equipment
The new lines, about 16,000 feet in total, replaced equipment that had been in place since 1976, which means it was reaching the end of its effective service life, PUD spokesman Mike Howe said.
The money for the project came from the PUD’s operating budget, Howe explained, so no rate increases were needed.
“It was part of our budgeted maintenance program,” Howe said.
The transmission line serves 1,530 customers and could provide electrical service for many more if other substations go offline, according to Howe.
The Blyn power line rebuild is part of an ongoing series of proposed projects planned to replace other lines nearing the end of their lifespan, Howe explained.
The new lines will increase the reliability of electrical service in the area, but Howe cautioned that even the newest lines are not immune to outages.
“Electricity’s a funny thing,” Howe said.
“You really don’t know it’s there until you flip the switch and there’s an outage.”
PUD commissioners awarded the contract in June of last year.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
