September 2007

Color Not the Only Thing Green

New transformer mounting method saves waste, labor, time

Our green underground transformers that sit alongside streets and highways just got a little greener.

We use transformers to reduce the electrical pressure, called voltage, on primary lines so it matches the voltage needed for wiring and electrical devices found in your home or business.

The black pad under this underground transformer saves trees and money. It's made from a light, tough plastic that eliminates the need for wooden shipping pallets.

Transformers designed to work with buried wire can’t rest directly on the ground. They require a pad to keep the metal case out of direct contact with the soil, preventing corrosion. The pad also keeps the heavy transformer from sinking into the ground.

The old method was to lay down a separate, pre-cast concrete pad for the transformer. Of course, the concrete pads are heavy. That also meant the underground transformers came to our warehouse strapped to wooden pallets.

A new double-duty pad in use by your co-op has changed all that.

The Pad/Pallet™ from Howard Industries, a Mississippi transformer manufacturer, functions as both a shipping pallet and permanent mounting pad. The pad is made of high-density polyethylene, both light and strong. It’s attached at the factory and becomes a permanent part of the transformer.

“The new configuration has several advantages,” says Jere Rowe, WEMC warehouse supervisor. “There are no wooden pallets to throw away, saving trees and landfill space. And we can now use forklifts to load both the pad and transformer. Before we had to use another derrick truck to load them separately.”

Labor costs go down in the field, too. Now there’s no heavy concrete pad to haul around and put into place at the construction site. The transformer is sited in one operation.

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