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From YouTube: This Week in Ames
Description
Director of Electric Services, Don Kom, joins Susan to discuss electrical outages and the plants conversion to natural gas.
A
We
always
enjoy
having
you
on
the
show,
there's
always
so
much
happening
with
the
ames
electric
services.
Tell
me
a
little
bit
about
your
job.
B
Well,
within
electric
services,
I
have
several
different
areas
that
that
are
underneath
me
or
that
I
that
I
supervise.
We
have
the
power
plant
naturally
end
of
main
street.
We
have
some
other
generation,
that's
out
on
edison,
so
that's
called
the
the
production
side
of
it.
We
have
an
engineering
staff
that
looks
at
at
housing
developments
and
things
like
that
that
we'll
plan
for
all
of
the
electric
systems
in
and
around
new
housing
developments
existing.
B
We
have
an
administration
area.
The
energy
guy
is
part
of
that.
Everybody
knows
steve
wilson.
We
have
a
distribution
division,
they're,
the
the
men
and
women
that
basically
keep
your
lights
on
24
hours
a
day,
seven
days
a
week,
so
they'll
respond
bad
weather,
good
weather.
When
there's
an
outage,
those
are
the
the
men
and
women
that
are
out
there,
and
then
we
have
our
tech
services
area
and
the
tech
services
they
deal
with
our
relaying
our
metering,
substation
work
and
things
like
that.
A
So
recently
we
had
a
rather
large
outage
and
I
think
it
was
a
good
reminder
for
people
what
to
do
when
the
power's
out
when
the
power's
out
and
you
notice,
maybe
your
neighbors
out
or
the
streets
out
people
will
say.
Oh
my
neighbor
called
it
and
I
don't
need
to
do
that,
but
that
actually
is
kind
of
a
myth.
B
B
How
it
flows
into
their
house
and
as
we
get
more
and
more
phone
calls,
this
software
package
can
say
well
susan,
your
power's
out
my
power's
out.
The
common
element
between
our
houses
may
be
a
transformer
three
blocks
away,
and
so,
if
we
get
10
15
20
phone
calls
that
software
can
narrow
down
the
first
place
that
we'll
send
our
crews
and
they'll
go
check
that
transformer,
for
example,
and
see
if
there's
a
problem
there.
B
If
that's
the
problem,
they'll
focus
on
that
first
get
it
hooked
up
and
both
of
both
of
our
lights
will
be
back
on.
If
you're,
the
only
one
that
calls
the
system
will
say:
okay,
maybe
it's
susan's
house.
Well,
maybe
it's
the
block
that
she's
on
and
so
then
we
would
maybe
look
at
a
poll
or
some
other
piece
of
equipment.
So
long
story
short.
It
is
important
that
if
you
call
in
that
software
can
help
identify
the
other
piece
to
that-
and
this
is
this-
is
really
good.
B
B
B
Correct
everything
that
we
do
this
is
not
like
getting
a
shock
out
of
your
out
of
your
outlet.
So
when
there's
a
power
outage,
we
try
to
identify
where
the
problem
is.
But
at
the
same
time
the
line.
Workers,
the
men
and
women
in
our
in
our
specifically
in
our
distribution
area,
want
to
make
sure
that
they've
identified
the
problem.
So
we
we
are
very
direct,
very
particular
in
how
we
look
at
the
system.
B
B
First,
make
sure
that
all
of
that
is
safe
and
there's
a
lot
of
communication
that
happens
between
our
line
workers
and
then
the
power
plant
so
that
they
can
identify
where
the
people
are
and
then
before
we
re-energize
there's
a
lot
of
radio
traffic
that
happens
to
make
sure
that
anybody
near
any
equipment
is
back
away
so
that
when
they
energize,
if
there's
still
a
problem,
no
one
can
get
hurt.
Both
our
employees
and
and
our
residents
of
ames.
A
Yeah,
you
mentioned
the
five
different
divisions
and
it
seems
like
in
an
outage
situation.
You
have
all
five
of
those
working
together,
communicating
identifying
the
problem
and
then
working
to
resolve
it,
and
I
was
mentioning
you
know:
crews
are
dispatched
immediately,
they're
patrolling
those
lines
when
we
learn
that
people's
power
is
out,
we
react
immediately
absolutely.
B
B
They
have
the
ability
then,
depending
upon
the
the
scale
and
size
of
the
outage,
we
have
the
ability
to
basically
call
in
everyone,
and
if
you
remember
several
years
ago,
we
had
some
pretty
bad
storms
straight
line
winds,
and
we
had,
I,
I
would
say
all
of
our
line.
Crew
was
out.
Our
tech
services
were
out
many
of
our
engineers
and,
and
most
of
our
staff
was
out
working
that
for
several
days.
A
B
Know
we
had
actually
there
were
some
outages,
I
want
to
say
it
was
monday
morning
or
sunday
morning
where
it
was
rather
strange
because
we
had
an
outage
in
one
location
found
it
to
be
a
squirrel
within
a
half
hour.
There
was
outage
in
another
occasion
in
another
location,
so
they're,
obviously
having
meetings
they're
discussing
where
to
hit
us.
B
Has
a
few
friends,
but
no,
we
do
have
a
process
and,
and
it
takes
time
in
it
and
it
there
is
some
cost
associated
with
it,
but
you're
able
on
many
locations
to
put
up
what's
called
animal
guarding,
which
is
basically,
I
don't
say,
like
half
moon
or
disks,
and
things
like
that
that
prevent
an
animal
from
touching
one
live
piece
of
equipment
with
a
different,
live
or
grounded
piece
of
equipment
so
that
they
don't
become
that
short
and
as
we
find
locations
and
and
have
the
money
have
the
time
we
are
animal,
guarding
or
animal
proofing.
A
Like
that,
a
good
investment-
yes,
yes,
it
is
well.
The
thing
I
wanted
to
ask
you
about
was
the
conversion
to
natural
gas.
Many
people
know
that
the
power
plant
at
the
end
of
main
street
has
been
producing
power
for
ames
residents
for
more
than
a
hundred
years,
and
it
has
been
long.
A
coal
generated
power
plant
with
the
supplemental
fuel
of
refuge
derived
fuel
from
the
resource
recovery
plant,
the
refuge
derived
fuel
will
continue,
but
we're
going
to
convert
off
of
coal
to
natural
gas,
correct.
B
We
have
we'll
be
changing
out.
The
burners
that
are
inside
the
power
plant.
The
power
plant
for
the
most
part
from
the
outside
people
won't
even
notice.
When
we
switch
from
coal
to
natural
gas,
we'll
change
out
the
burners.
It
is
requiring
some
new
piping
to
be
put
into
the
power
plant.
We're
currently
engineering
that
right
now
it's
going
to
require
a
new
control
system,
so
that's
being
developed
and
they'll
be
starting
to
do
that.
Work.
B
This
fall
and
because
the
power
plant
uses
a
lot
of
natural
gas,
we're
actually
working
with
alliant
alliant
is
the
gas
provider,
and-
and
they
do
provide
some
electricity
here
in
the
city
where
alliant
will
be
building.
I
don't
want
to
call
it
a
dedicated
line,
but
it'll
be
a
major
line
that
will
come
to
the
power
plant.
That
will
will
bring
that
that
large
volume
of
natural
gas
to
us
when
we
need
it
and.
A
Are
we
still
on
schedule
at
one
point,
we
had
talked
about
january
of
2017.
B
Right
now,
our
requirement
is
to
be
converted
from
coal
to
natural
gas
by
april
of
2016.
we're
looking
at
we're
gonna.
We
we
want
to
make
sure
we
have
both
of
our
large
units
available
for
the
the
heat
of
the
summer,
so
we're
going
to
have
both
of
them
available
once
we
get
through
the
summer,
then
our
larger
unit
unit
eight
will
be
taken
offline
and
we'll
begin
that
conversion
process
and
we
believe
that'll,
probably
last
two
to
three
months.
B
We
want
to
get
that
converted
and
there's
another
piece
to
it.
The
one
thing
that
people
may
see
is
we
have
two
cooling
towers.
They
sit
at
the
end
of
main
street
and
and
when
they're
running,
you
see
usually
see
a
cloud
of
water
vapor
that
that
comes
out
of
one
or
the
other
or
both
if
they're,
both
running
we're
going
to.
Basically,
both
of
those
will
be
turned
torn
down
and
they're
going
to
be
replaced
with
brand
new
fiberglass
cooling
towers,
and
that
work
will
then
also
be
continuing.
B
A
B
B
When
we
start
looking
at
some
of
the
numbers
based
on
today's
fuel
prices,
natural
gas
prices,
we
believe
there
could
be
about
a
five
to
eight
percent
price
or
rate
increase,
and
that
will
be
passed
on
through
what
we
call
as
our
our
eca.
Our
energy
cost
adjustment,
so
we're
not
looking
at
a
rate
increase,
but
people's
bills
at
the
end
of
the
day
will
be
slightly
higher
based
on
natural
gas
generation.
A
B
What
what
and
that's
that's
a
very
good
point,
because
what
we're
planning
on
doing
we
get
through
the
summer
rates
are
typically
higher.
The
demand
for
the
energy
is
higher,
because
air
conditioners
are
running
in
the
fall,
we'll
do
the
conversion
where
price
is
one
element,
but
we
also
want
to
make
sure
that
we
have
the
reliability
to
the
system.
A
B
A
B
A
Right,
if
you
want
more
information
about
any
of
the
ames
electric
services
projects
or
some
of
their
smart
energy,
education
and
rebreak
programs,
you
can
find
that
on
our
website
at
cityofames.org,
smart
energy-
also
some
other
meetings
for
your
calendar.
Remember.
The
indoor
aquatic
center
import
sessions
are
still
going
on.
There
are
two
more
opportunities
to
attend:
one
of
those
we
have
monday
june
1st
at
6,
30
p.m
and
thursday
june
4th
at
9
00
a.m
at
the
ames
public
library.