New Cropwell Substation Supports Growing Area
Members in and around Cropwell should experience even better electrical service after Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative energized a new substation in February.
The substation replaces one in the New London community just a few miles to the southwest. Those few miles are significant given the substantial residential and business growth near Logan Martin Lake in Cropwell in recent years.
“We’ve got new load requirements, and the substation had to get a little closer to the load center,” says Spencer Whisenant, CVEC’s manager of engineering. “This improves reliability because the station’s closer to substantial growth in the area."
The project also allowed CVEC to upgrade the equipment delivering the electricity to the area. Several portions of the New London substation were nearing replacement timeframes, which would have been a costly endeavor to undertake on an undersized substation.
Now members in the area can enjoy more reliable service for a substation designed to handle high demand, especially in the peak winter conditions the area experienced in January, Whisenant says.
“This is 1 of our more heavily loaded stations and areas,” he says. “In every weather event, New London was the only station I had to watch for power trips based on load.”
Several years of planning and purchases preceded the day when personnel manually shifted the load from the New London substation to the new facility.
The Cropwell substation first appeared in CVEC’s 4-year work plan at least 5 years ago in response to the population growth and shift in southeastern St. Clair County. Afterward, CVEC’s energy provider — PowerSouth Energy Cooperative — conducted several studies to identify the best locations to construct a new substation.
Another PowerSouth team facilitated the acquisition of the land needed for the substation, and site preparation began.
While all this occurred, CVEC personnel ordered the necessary parts —some of which had wait periods lasting longer than a year.
As the pieces arrived, construction began on the substation. Once all the pieces were installed, crews tested all components to ensure they worked. This included ensuring all meters fed through the Cropwell substation could be read electronically.