SaskPower has completed construction of a new $8.5 million substation project to support the growing demand for electricity in the Weyburn area. Construction began in the summer of 2009 to relocate the substation to an existing SaskPower facility located about five-kilometres southwest of Weyburn. The original substation was built in the 1950s and had reached the end of its useful life.
"The completion of this substation meets the growing demand for electricity," said Mike Marsh, SaskPower vice-president, Transmission and Distribution. "This is a major upgrade for the community around Weyburn and ultimately makes our system more reliable for our customers."
The old 72-kilovolt line and substation is expected to be dismantled later this year, with the material being reused or sold as salvage.
Electricity supply will be transferred to the new substation over the summer months. As these transfers take place there will be planned outages affecting some customers in the area. Advance notice will be given to the public through local media.
SaskPower is meeting the electrical needs of a growing province while maintaining and operating 157,000 km of poles and lines. With a rapidly developing resource economy and the second largest service area in Canada, renewing and replacing transmission and distribution infrastructure is a corporate priority.
