kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
Yes I must be in a higher population density. 13 miles between subs is a long way. The longest main feeder is maybe 3 miles of 795 AL in the urban area. As we get out in the less populated area that distance increases. What is the name of your utility?
I was part of the Southern Company.
All electrical providers in state of Nebraska are publicly owned. Most are smaller companies serving relatively small areas compared to some of the big companies in other states that may serve an entire continental region. The systems serving cities will have shorter runs of line but the rural systems will serve pretty large areas at times. Electric irrigation wells is one of the bigger loads in the area in the summer - but rates are somewhat cheap in the winter because all the infrastructure is there to serve that irrigation load and it is not loaded anywhere near capacity in winter. This makes electric heating favorable for both the power supplier as well as the customer. The supplier needs extra load at that time of year because it costs to operate a system even when there is not much load on it, so lower rates encourages use of electric heating and it has been competetive cost wise with gas, or oil in the past.