“Kool” Substations Wanted

Before I discuss what makes substations cool, it is paramount to understand that substations represent the most important piece of land that house power transformers and other critical equipment that makes us able to utilize all of our daily electric gadgets. It is getting harder and sometimes close to impossible to find properly zoned property that the town will approve and the nearby residents won’t pull the “not in my backyard” flag to accommodate a new substation.

We need to build more substations whether to meet load growth or to replace aged poor performing substations. As a result, the critical path is to make substations more appealing for the public to allow or even request in their neighborhood (think about new airport construction/new high-rise, where the new design/buildings are more appealing to look at; imagine a substation that increases your real estate value). Below are some of the cool substation traits:

• For starters, they do not look like traditional substations.
• Chameleons: they fit in with the surrounding architecture (rendering).
• Transformers, breakers, insulators, insulators, etc. are not visible.

They have large screens mounted on the outside wall showing:

• Local news/ traffic
• Stock market info
• Local events, i.e. garage sale, flea market, high school football games, etc.
• Bus/train schedule
• Energy efficiency tips
• Taken it a step further: live games, i.e. Super bowl, NBA final, Olympics opening, etc.
• Built-in speakers: local radio/music
• Art work: Kids work/graffiti/local town art work

Light show:

• LED lights, this is a game changer.
• For traditional AIS (air-insulated substations - not in a building) – a glow in the dark setup, where transformer fans, etc. will be glow at night. For traditional substations, LEDs are a must.

Public service:

• Post it board
• Meeting room
• Chairs outside
• Selfie spot
• Vending machine/coffee machine

If you have been to a substation prior, you will know that this article is asking for too much; however, several utilities already have very interesting substation designs that are pleasant to their neighbors. Some utilities have even transformed their traditional old (visible) substations by simply installing LED lights and some artwork, i.e. minimal dollars.

In summary, substations are meant to last for decades (50+ years), thus we should attempt to make them appealing to nearby residents. The sky's the limit to how artistic we can be.