[MassHistPres] Electrical transformers in historic districts

[Sullivan, Charles M.]

Ralph,

This issue has come up in Cambridge more than once. I would make the following points:


*         Typically, utilities are underground because the legislature in the late 1920s established a five-year window during which municipalities could require utilities to bury their lines and transformers. This was done because of a public outcry against the proliferation of overhead wires. The lines in your area are underground because the Springfield City Council made that decision many years ago. All installations in these areas must be underground unless the city allows an exemption.


*         Transformers are routinely placed in sidewalk vaults in every city, especially in downtown areas. I've never heard that a pad-mounted transformer is more reliable than one in a vault. The main requirements are that the vault be dry and that the utility has overhead clearance to be able to lift out and replace the transformers. Anything above ground has the potential to be hit by a car or a falling tree, so I'm puzzled by the 'reliability' argument.



*         The utility may claim that they are somehow exempt from historic district review. We consider transformers to be structures and subject to the usual historic district procedures. A few years ago preservationists in Rhode Island had to go to the legislature to get this point clarified.



*         A key agency in these matters is your local Pole & Conduit Commission, which has jurisdiction over utility installations in public ways. They will have to have a public hearing on the utility's request; use that opportunity to make your views known, but make clear that you also have jurisdiction in historic districts.


Good luck. Let us know how it works out.

Charles Sullivan

__________________________________
Charles M. Sullivan, Executive Director
Cambridge Historical Commission
831 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, Mass.  02139
617 349-4684 (direct line)
617 349-3116 (fax)

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu [mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of slater at alum.rpi.edu
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 4:08 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Electrical transformers in historic districts

I'm trying to learn more about this issue, I'm hoping someone on this list has some information.

Our local electric company is proposing to install several pad mounted transformers in one of our historic districts. The service in this district is primarily underground, and there are apparently existing transformers currently underground.

The electric company is stating that they want to move some of these devices above ground to improve reliability in the area. One is to be about 2.5 feet tall, and about 4' square. The other is supposedly about 5 feet in height.

I would like to learn about other options so that I am not at the mercy of what the electric company tells me. For example, is it imperative that these devices move above ground, or is this merely the most convenient method for the electric company? Is there any flexibility in siting these devices - for example, could they be moved 1/2 mile so they would be out of the district?

I need to be able to separate true hardship from "it's going to cost the electric company a bit more money" from "it can only be done this way, period". In prior dealings regarding meters being moved from the basement to the outside [front] of houses, the electric company has told us that they will only do it the way they want to, which means that the historical commission's decision prevents the upgrade of electrical service.

We have not had such devices installed in our districts, so we have no precedent in Springfield. Have other communities dealt with this matter?

Thanks,

Ralph Slate
Chair, Springfield Historical Commission
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