Sidney electric master plan closer to completion

After nearly a year of study and discussion, an electric master plan for Sidney is nearer to completion.

At the city council meeting this week, councilors heard possible options for expanding electrical capacity near Interstate 80 and the eastern part of the city, as well as increasing redundancy systemwide.

In an interview, City Manager Gary Person explained the need for a master plan.

“Anytime we do major utility upgrades, we try to master plan it to where we’re not making intermediary types of decisions that might adversely affect us long term,” he said. “It’s like building a roadmap: where’s your vision for the future, what do you know as the known variables that are on our plate right now, what are the things that are going to potentially happen that are most likely to happen?”

Currently, two substation transformers power the entire city. According to Sidney Electric Superintendent Mike Palmer, the system is nearly 50 percent loaded, meaning if one transformer goes down, the other one can still provide full coverage. However, once demand exceeds 50 percent – which is expected to happen in the near future with ongoing construction and development – one transformer will be unable to sustain complete coverage.

Olsson and Associates, a Lincoln-based engineering and design firm that helped construct some of Sidney’s electric system in the 1970s, the last time a major overhaul took place, is again working with the city to add a transformer to the network.

On Tuesday night, Olsson engineer Mike Jones joined the town council meeting via speakerphone to ask council members which possible transformer locations they wanted him to study.

Two options were presented. One would add a transformer to the existing Fort Sydney Rd. substation, which was constructed to hold two transformers. Feeder lines would then be extended to the I-80 area of the city to transfer the electricity to where it’s needed.

The other option would be to construct a new substation, where the transformer would be located, on Link 17J near I-80 to reduce the length of the feeder lines.

Palmer explained the major benefit of adding a transformer to the existing substation is short-term cost savings.

“The substation has been there for 30 years, it’s planned and we own the property,” he said in an interview. “I think aesthetically, too. People are used to it being there.”

Placing the transformer on a new site would require obtaining property and constructing another substation, adding additional costs.

“One way or the other, we have to get more power out to the interstate area as well as the east side of town,” Palmer said.

While discussing the options, councilors said they wanted to make a decision that was financially sound in the long term.

Palmer explained that all transmission lines have power loss. The amount of loss is increased with the length of the line. Although constructing a new substation would incur more costs up front than adding a transformer to the existing facility, it would also require a shorter transmission line because it’s closer to where the electricity is needed – limiting power loss.

Over time, the power loss savings could offset the price tag of building a new substation.

Mayor Mark Nienhauser asked Palmer for specific numbers.

“From a dollars and cents standpoint, what potential cost savings are there on a yearly basis for putting a substation on 17J versus Fort Sydney Road?” he asked.

Jones said that information wasn’t readily available and would require a model to calculate.

“I think we need that,” council member Wendall Gaston said.

Ultimately, the council unanimously passed a motion to allow Olsson and Associates to create a model to provide accurate numbers on the potential power loss savings.

After the meeting, Person said the numbers will help the council further define what the most cost effective route is.

“Growth is a very wonderful thing that most rural communities don’t have, it’s just sometimes painful getting to the end result,” he said. “Sidney has become an envy of a lot of rural communities because we have a lot going on and a wonderful, bright future ahead of us.”