Iola will generate its own power for about seven hours starting at 8 p.m. Wednesday to accommodate connection to an upgraded 69,000 kilowatt line carrying electricity from Westar. The line is Iola’s electrical umbilical cord.
Connection will be at a substation on the old Lehigh Cement Co. grounds south of Elm Creek.
Iola Electric Department line crews will stand by there and at substations in town during the process and be poised to intervene if a glitch occurs with local generation, said Corey Schinstock, assistant city administrator.
Construction on the line south and west of town has been going on for several weeks.
If all works as planned, said Carl Slaugh, city administrator, “the transfer will be seamless. No one will ever know it is happening.”
To provide up to 22 megawatts of power, the two gas-fired Wartsila engines at the power plant, each capable of five megawatts, will be used, as well as diesel units producing another 12 megawatts, Slaugh said.
Starting and using the Wartsilas will entail refilling their cooling systems, which are drained each winter rather than having to put in antifreeze.
Consumer demand recently has been running about 15 megawatts a day, Slaugh said, which means the city’s available generation will be more than sufficient. That could increase if colder weather were to occur, but Wednesday’s forecast is for a high of 55 and a low of 29, or temperatures comparable to what Iola has experienced of late. The historic average low for Feb. 1 is 24 degrees.
Iola will be asked to produce power again the night of Feb. 9 for about two hours just after midnight during another adjustment between city and Westar lines.
City to produce own power briefly
