SDMEAHometown Power –Madison

Madison

Madison holds a special place in my heart. Madison was myhomefor9monthsoftheyearduringtheyearswhileI was working on my undergraduate degree. Brad Lawrence,theUtilityDirectorinMadisonhascalledithis home for just over 2 years. When I emailed Brad, we decided to meet at Sporty ’s on Egan. Aplace I remember being the Sportsman’s, I was looking forward to the great food that they had when I was in college. Sporty ’s happened to be closed so we decided to try the Stadium, which was not in town when I graduated from Dakota State University. It was neat to visit Madison again to see all of the changes that had taken place.

As we walked north up Egan Avenue, Brad informed me that there are thirty-six new decorative LED lantern type lights that have lit up the sidewalk and street beautifully since they have been installed. There are still a few street light poles to help illuminate the street, but the decorative lights look great and have been a wonderful improvement to the aesthetics of EganAvenue. Brad seemed excited about the future of Madison Utilities andseemedtobeveryexcitedabouttherecentpurchaseof several buildings and 5 acres of land from East River Electric, which happens to be next to Madison’s Public WorksShop. ThiswillnowgiveMadisonacampusforall of the field service crews to be in the same location.

Brad also informed me that the City of Madison is around 75% underground for all of their electricity. They currently have about 60% of their electrical meters being served by AMR technology and have been looking at the future and the possibility of implementing AMI in the future as well. The street lights have also started improving and Madison has around 1,150 total street lights. They have started replacing with LED and will have around 200 that have been replaced by the end of 2018.

Madison has three substations that are looped on the primary side. One of the substations has a 10MW Diesel Generation plant which was completed in 2005. The City had a demand peak of 18.8 in January of 2017 and so far, it has been down to about 17.8 in 2018. Madison has implemented an energy alert to reduce usage during cold spells. Brad attributes this increased public awareness to reduction in energy usage.

IMadison Generating Plant- Brad Lawrence and Jerry Seitz

L to R: Jayson Limmer, Journeyman Lineman; Rob Brown, Journeyman Lineman; Jeff Wray, Lead Lineman; Skyler Sutten, Apprentice Lineman; Bob Mathison, Journeyman Lineman; Tess Nelson, Utility Services Coordinator

Brad also showed me the mPower GIS system that they have which was very impressive. They have GPS overlay of all of the utilities. Brad clicked on a transformer and it broughtuppicturesoftheinsideofthecabinetandzoomed in on the labels in the cabinet as well.

Madison has eight employees in the electrical department. Four Journeymen, (two of which also have electrical contractor’s licenses), 1 Apprentice, 1 Utilities Service Coordinator, 1 meter reader and 1 Foreman. Madison continues to be progressive and makes decisions thatmakeitagrowingcommunity. Iwasexcitedtoseeall of the changes in Madison and I’m excited to get back soon to explore even more of the City of Madison. Beautiful city with a great core of progressive people to continue to make it such a nice community. I encourage everyone to visit Madison. It will not take long to realize what makes their HOMETOWN great!

Vintage switches in the current Power Plant Substation. These switches are scheduled for retirement in a couple years.

Questions? Comments? Email me at Chris@sdmunicipalleague.org Call Chris: 605-770-6299.