Despite placing squirrel guards around the town’s electrical substations, two power outages were caused by the determined pests in the past couple of weeks, said Electrical Superintendent Mike Taylor to the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC) at the August 5 meeting.
Squirrels that got much too close to transformers caused both of these outages, said Taylor. Both squirrels went out with a bang.
Line crews got the power restored within 20 to 30 minutes, he said, noting the crews had to replace a blown fuse in each instance.
So how do you stop a squirrel?
“Towns and cities everywhere have problems with squirrels causing this kind of damage,” said Taylor. “I don’t know if you ever can really stop them.”
Moving on from the squirrel problem, Taylor told the board he had been busy working with Cook County North Shore Hospital to get quotes for a new 750K transformer that will cost approximately $10,000 to $15,000. The hospital needs to upgrade its power because of the $24.5 million renovation/ addition in progress.
PUC Board Member George Wilkes said the Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) was holding a meeting at the First Congregational Church in Grand Marais on Tuesday, August 11 at 7 p.m. to discuss climate change issues, “in a non-partisan way.”
“They are looking at creating a carbon tax at a pretty reasonable rate to help reduce the reliance on fossil fuels,” explained Wilkes.
Wilkes said 35 people attended the recent Cook County Local Energy Project’s solar power workshop. He said the city of Grand Marais might soon have its first solar powered customer. Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux has installed solar receptors at his bed and breakfast and he should be online by as early as next month, said Taylor.
“Will he be selling power back to the city?” PUC Board Member Tim Kennedy asked Taylor.
“No. I don’t think he will produce enough power to sell back to the city,” Taylor replied.
Grand Marais City Administrator Mike Roth said he would have to work with the PUC to address how to handle customers within the city who move to solar power. Will they receive separate bills/ receipts from their current PUC bill? That question will have to be answered and a policy established for the city and customer in the near future.
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