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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1960-02-03, Page 7Next wilt J uts been deelailed El- ectrical Week, and to mark the oe-casion the Advance-Times brings the accompanying piehin. feature, pointing un the nervires rendered to the community by the men who make all our electrical conveni- ences possible the Wingham Pub- lic Utilities Commission and Ltd employees. The. Cnnuntethoi, healed by R. H. Lloyd, with Mayor R. E. MeKin- nPy and DeWitt Miller as the other members, (tot/Idols the distribution of electrical energy in this 4.0m- :nullity of nearly 2800 people, and lists somewitid. over 1,000 consum- ers, both Industrial sad residential, on its books. In the early days the town was lighted by power generated in the plant on the Maitland River in Lower Town. The original plant had a capacity of aboot 500 horse- power. As the community grew and the use of electrical energy became more widespread; both in the homes and factories, it became necersary to purchase newer from the Ontario Hydro. Electric 'Power Commission. Some years ago the local Com- mission purchased the sub-station on Minnie Street and, the trans- formers there can deliver 2,700 horsepower at peak load. M the provided by the dam at GOVERNOR—The top picture shows the device which is used to con- CONTROL PANEL—The outfit shown above is the trot the water wheels at the generator plant. If the hydro failed, the control panel for the generator at the Lower Town device shuts off the water to the Wheels. In the lower photo is the power house. The Milt is of ancient vintage but it meter testing mom at the P.V.C. buildin r. WIIEELs-Still running after miniy years above. of use Are the two water wheels. at the generator . Lower station in Lower Town, One of the wheels is shown The water Power is Town, still does the job, saving the town considerable molter every year in Tower hydro rates.—Ativitnee4 Times photos, l sh et( mg'jam 2bliatur Zr WINDHAM, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, ib'EBRUARY $rd, 1900 E ed. Ica Wee l< Points to Top Services Of Vingharn s Public Utilities Commission SERVICE CRIII.V—Ren Simmons, Lorne Archer and Fred Vyse, foreman, /northers of the local P.U.C. maintenance staff, keep Wingham's power services operating. Besides looking after the town's. elec- trical installations they also take care of the town's water system. present Lime the Commission Is 'planning the installation of fur- ther transformers in order to boost the total power output to, the community. It is understood work Wilt 'be done this summer to in- crease the total capacity to well over 3,000 horsepower. Generator Still Used One Interesting feature of the local power system is the fact that one generator is stilt 'used it the old station in Lower ,Town, and can deliver about 200 horsepower to the systern. This generator is cut in at the hours when the peak load is the heaviest, usually just before noon, when the housewives of the community begin to use their electric stoves. This is sup- plemented by an automatic shut- off on the over 300 flat-rate water heaters in use in Wingham when the peak load reaches a certain level. Between the generator and the water heater shut-off some 500 horsepower can be saved at peak periods, which means a sav- ing in dollars and cents to the con- sumers, as the rates are based on the peak load required. The courteous and efficient man- ner in which employees of the Commis§ion, both in the office and plant, scYrvn the residents of Wing- ham, is an indication of the fact that the extensive and growing demands for hydro power are be- ing looked after properly. The portanee of electricity to everyone in the town has .reached a point where hardly a business or factory could exist without dependable ser-. vice, not to mention the comforts in our homes provided by electri- cal energy. r. SUBSTATION—The substation shown above, located oit Minnie Street, changes the 46,009 volt power transmitted to Wingliam by the Ontario Hydro to 2,400 volts for use itt .the conununity. The current is cut to Or, 110 or 220 volts by street transformers before use by the consumers. The substation will be enlarged this summer in order to provide more power to meet the ever-growing demands in the community. CARSON SNOWDEN bookkeeper at the P.U.C. office is pictured above as ale works on elm large ledgers used to recom the business of the Cornmission. DONALD- MeKAY IS ..shown above as he operates the printing calculator which mires up the hydro bills. Over 1,000 consumers are listed, OLD GENERATOR STILL IN USE—As far as is known the generator located at the Lower Town plant, pictured aboveh has been in use since 1912 with no major break downs superintendent, Emerson Shera, who has been with the Commiasion for the past 22 years, looks on as the machine tomes into operation to keep the peak load down at noon hour, Capable of delivering about 200 horsepower, the gen- erator is operated by the waterwheel shown in the lower left corner of this page.