MEMBER NEWSLETTER
NEWS
May 2017
Manager’s Message
Dear Members:
by Marlene Morss
Mother Nature Wins
G
Inside:
Keith Kerr Retires............. 2
Bob Sell Graduates........... 3
Little Wind River............... 3
Look for coverage of the
April outages in the June
edition of the High Plains
Power Newsletter!
On Friday March 31st, a wet
heavy snow fell in parts of
High Plains Power service
territory. Snow built up on the
lines and were about the size of
the diameter of a soda can. With 4
wires strung on a pole and you get
that much build up on the lines, too
much weight resulted in the wooden
poles to collapse under such
tension. Once one pole snapped, it
was like a domino effect and many
more poles were taken down as well.
System wide, we are approximating
that about 40 poles were down due
to the wrath of Mother Nature.
Another issue we had, was when
the heavy snow that built up on the
lines dropped off, it caused the lines
to start “galloping” or bouncing.
This caused the lines to hit one
another and damaged them enough
to cause an outage.
Parts of the structures that broke
were fairly new; which brings me
to the point that Mother Nature
will always win. It doesn’t matter if
the facilities are new, old, or wellmaintained She will win.
Once the storm passed, we dealt
with muddy conditions. It would
be nice if all our structures were
beside the main highways, but
unfortunately they are not. They are
located in fields, off dirt roads etc.
When we experience a major
outage, we prioritize by making
repairs that will restore power to the
most members at one time.
Here is the sequence of
prioritization:
1.Substations – transmission lines
feed into substations and must be
functioning before any other part
of our system can carry power.
2.Trunk lines – these lines serve
as the backbone of our grid
and carry electric power from
substations throughout our
service territory.
3.Taps – feed off the backbone of
our grid and carries electricity out
to smaller numbers of members.
4.Service wires – this supplies
power to individual locations.
Crews worked continuously since
before 8:00 AM on Friday March
31st until Tuesday April 4th to
restore everyone’s power. A couple
of those nights the crews worked
pass midnight to get the lights on. I
continued on page 2
Page 2
High Plains Power NEWS
Manager’s Message
am overwhelmed with pride for
the employees’ dedication and
hard work – not once did I hear
any complaints.
We know how much of an
inconvenience it is to be without
power, but know that High Plains
Power worked very hard to restore
power as rapidly as possible. We
always must keep safety in mind
for the line crew. One member
said it well, “It definitely stinks
Keith Kerr Retires
K
eith Kerr retired in March after 40 years of
dedicated service to Hot Springs REA first
and later with High Plains Power. Keith
saw many changes in his time with the REAs including the merger between Hot Springs REA and
Riverton Valley Electric Association. Keith’s experience, knowledge and skill can never be replaced.
He will be missed. All of us at HPP wish him the
very best in his retirement.
Page 3
Bob Sell Graduates
continued from page 1
being without power and losing
perishable foods, but it’s so easy
to take every day luxuries for
granted and forget the people
who are working their buns off
around the clock, being away from
their own homes and families to
help ours. We thank you from the
bottom of our hearts for all you
do!”
And we at High Plains Power
thank you from the bottom of
High Plains Power NEWS
our hearts for your support and
patience of this community that
we are proud to serve.
Keith Kerr
Long-time employee, Keith
Kerr retired on March 31st. His
knowledge and his gentle and
quiet demeanor will be missed.
We wish Keith the best. Good luck
and God bless, Keith.
Happy spring!
B
ob Sell recently completed the Tri-State
Substation Apparatus Technician Apprenticeship program. Bob is a veteran journey lineman who began his employment with High
Plains Power in Dubois in the old Riverton Valley
Electric days. Bob’s work ethic and knowledge
make him a great asset to High Plains Power. He
has made many improvements in the substation
maintenance program and he’s an eager and capable instructor to any lineman with a question.
Bob (left) is shown accepting his Journey Substation Technician certificate from Tri-State trainer
Jerry Marrs.
Bob Sell (l) accepting his Journey
Substation Technician Certificate fro
Tri-State Trainer Jerry Marrs (r).
Little Wind River
Bob Sell places grounds on 69 kV
structure prior to working on the
downed structure.
A
s the outage at Jackson
in February was wrapping
up High Plains Power was
struck with a weather related outage of our own. The sudden warm
spell caused the ice to break up on
the Little Wind River sending large
chunks of ice down river to create
ice dams. An ice dam near the
Wind River Casino caused the Little Wind River to burst its banks
and carry the massive ice blocks
into one of HPP’s transmission
lines with enough force to shear
the pole off at ground level. Crews
were able to isolate the section of
line long enough to remove the
smashed pole from the conductor
before restoring power. Ingenuity,
hard work and perseverance on the
part of linemen, JD Watson, Bob
Sell, Bobby LaMar, Matt Good and
Ross Smith got the lights back on.
Page 4
High Plains Power NEWS
Jon Pilatti, Pavillion Rec Center Coordinator
Deni Carrol and Matt Good (l-r).
Jon and Matt inspect their handiwork after
replacing the flag pole rope at the Pavilion Rec
Center. Always happy to help!
Jason Boudreau (front) and Ross Smith manned
the High Plains Power booth at the annual Farm
and Ranch Days held in the Fremont County
Armory Building in Riverton.
High Plains Power
NEWS
is an official publication of
High Plains Power, Inc., PO
Box 713, Riverton, WY 82501.
Phone 307-856-9426
1-800-445-0613
www.highplainspower.org
General Manager
Marlene Morss
This is a monthly publication
made available by High Plains
Power, Inc., with the Wyoming Rural Electric News. Ideas, questions
and comments are welcome.
Board of Directors
Mark Park - President
Bret Gardner - Vice-Pres.
Beckie Darnell - Secretary
Gary Gordon - Asst. Sec.
Jim Miller - Treasurer
Matt Brown
Robert Cooper
Hearley Dockham
Matthew Frericks
Jesse Hankins
Richard Haun
Lee Shaffer