Sierra Pacific Power Company
Contact: Karl Walquist, (775) 834-3891;
Gary Aldax, (775) 834-3067
Phone: see above

For Immediate Release

A new $5.2 million power line and substation built to improve Elko's electric service will be energized on Sept. 27. The Last Chance Substation and the electric transmission line that connects the substation to Elko's existing electric system will provide the community with more reliable electric service as well as the additional capacity required to serve economic growth, said Frank Gonzales, eastern Nevada district manager for Sierra Pacific Power Company.

Local community leaders, Gonzales and Sierra Pacific Power President Jeff Ceccarelli are among those who will be on hand when the switches are thrown to energize the facilities Thursday morning. The substation is located on a 4-acre site between Last Chance Road and the Humboldt River in southeast Elko. It is linked to the existing Eight Mile Creek Substation in northwest Elko by a new 120,000-volt electric transmission line that's about nine miles long. The line is supported mostly by wooden poles and by steel structures near the Eight Mile Substation and where it crosses Interstate 80.

"As a result of this project, Elko residents will have more reliable electric service," Gonzales explained."Previously, power to Elko was supplied solely by the Adobe Substation. Now we have a second source of electrical power into the area. With the addition of these new facilities, it will be much easier for us to reroute power supplies when outages occur."

The new installation will nearly double Sierra Pacific's electrical capacity in the Elko - Spring Creek area."With this additional capacity, Sierra Pacific now has the ability to deliver electrical service to large commercial, manufacturing or industrial customers who may be attracted to our area," Gonzales said.

Project construction began in May.

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