On Thursday evening, the Chronicle had the opportunity to speak briefly with James Lincoln, the City of Lodi Lineman Foreman. He gave us a quick rundown of some of the projects the electric utility is working on.
- The refurbishment of Lodi’s lamp posts will continue on a rolling schedule. The first six posts have been completed and will be returned to service early next week. At that time, 6 more will be taken out of service for refurbishment.
- Area transformers are being transitioned from older 2400-watt units to newer 7200-watt units. In addition to being safer, the newer units are more efficient. This efficiency will cut the overhead usage by the local grid, saving the city money.
- Budget proposals are in the works for extensive upgrades to the city’s substations. Older components in the substations have reached their end-of-life. It is the researched opinion of the electric utility that complete upgrades of the stations will result in significantly reduced maintenance costs, improved reliability for customers1a recent hours-long power outage near the high school was a result of old equipment., and improved safety for crews working on the power lines.
- All street lights in the city are being transitioned from HPS (high-pressure sodium) to LEDs. This will happen over time as the current inventory of HPS lamps is exhausted and new LEDs purchased to replace them. The new LED lamps will use about one-tenth the energy of the old HPS lamps, will not have a warm-up time, and are less toxic than HPS2High Pressure Sodium lamps contain small amounts of mercury.
- The Lodi Public Library (the building is owned by the city) has already been transitioned to all LED lighting.
Mr. Lincoln said he’s eager to work with the Chronicle to get the word out about the work being done by the electric utility and their plans for future improvements to equipment and services.
Editor-in-Chief
A Lodi native, Blaze attended the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay where he graduated with a degree in theatre technology & design. He has traveled extensively throughout the United States and the world–including a 6-year stint in China. He has been a teacher, a writer, a designer, and is the founder of the Redleaf Consulting Group.
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