Transformer Delivered to East Cookeville Substation

One of two new transformers was recently delivered to the East Cookeville Substation.

Carl Haney is the Operations Superintendent for the Cookeville Electric Department. He said the 72-ton units will help replace an older transformer that went down last year.

“These are considered a high-voltage transformer,” Haney said. “Our East Cookeville Substation is fed by 69,000 volts. These transformers take that and step it down to the 13,000 volts that actually runs and feeds into the residential customers and commercial customers.”

Haney said the previous transformer had been in service for nearly 50 years before it failed.

“As age comes on them, they get more carbon built up in them [and] the insulation in them weakens over that many years,” Haney said. “All we know right now is that it did have an internal fault. We’re really not sure whether that was caused by carbon in that or the breakdown of the insulation in it.”

Haney said the new transformers will allow the department to return some power to the East Cookeville Substation after having some redistributed to other substations.

“They have more capacity. They can actually serve more customers and, of course being new, they are more reliable than the other ones,” Haney said. “They also have voltage regulation on them, so customers should see that voltage runs a little bit more consistent with these. You don’t get any kind of fluctuation or anything because they are built for that.”

Haney said the substation serves approximately one-third of the department’s 18,000 customers. Cookeville City Council approved the $1.5 million purchase of the two transformers last October. The second transformer is expected to be delivered in August.