light plant wmlp type public industry electrical transmission and supply founded 1892 headquarters wellesley massachusetts key people richard f. joyce director debra j. healy business manager donald h. newell superintendent francisco frias supervisory electrical engineer james verner line supervisor peter bracken line supervisor revenue us 21 649 000 2005 net income us 3 993 475 2006 number of employees 37 2007 website http www.wellesleyma.gov the town of wellesley municipal light plant wmlp is a town department responsible for the transmission and supply of electricity to the residents and businesses in the town of wellesley massachusetts . the headquarters of the wmlp is located at 455 worcester street wellesley massachusetts and shares its grounds with the wellesley fire department headquarters and town of wellesley department of public works . the wmlp serves 9 954 customers of whom 8 812 are residential 1 138 are commercial and 4 are industrial . the largest customers by electric demand are wellesley college babson college harvard pilgrim sun life financial and wellesley office park . the wmlp holds membership in northeast public power association neppa american public power association appa and the municipal electric association of massachusetts meam mass . the wmlp has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions . it has received the neppa commitment to safety award of 1986 1987 an american public power association appa award and a gold award as a reliable public power provider in 2007 2008 to name a few . a municipal light plant does not produce electricity on its own . power reaches the town through substations and transforms high voltage to working home and commercial distribution within a sector . the wmlp has historically had attractive rates compared to other suppliers in the region and has had long term contracts with major generators . today the wmlp works on the national grid purchasing blocks of power under contracts over time . current power is produced from niagara power of canada and transferred to the us grid . about 80 % to 90 % of this power is produced via a hydro electric dams from the great lakes and is among the least expensive and cleanest in the us . subsequently the electric rates in wellesley are very cost effective and residents have attractive rates compared to other parts of the region on a per mil watt cost per household . contents 1 history of the wmlp 2 facts about the wmlp 2.1 devens 3 organization of the wmlp 4 safety at the wmlp 5 miscellaneous facts 6 photos 7 references 8 external links history of the wmlp edit the wellesley municipal light plant was founded on december 13 1892 as the wellesley electric light division of the town of wellesley department of public works . unlike most municipal light plants at the time the town of wellesley built an entirely new plant for its new electric division instead of buying existing facilities . in 1892 wellesley recorded a permanent population of 5 072 citizens . wellesley electric light however serviced none of these people . in the beginning wellesley electric light purchased all of its current from the natick gas & electric company in neighboring natick massachusetts and devoted its capabilities exclusively to street lighting . a report from the massachusetts commission gives the first record of service to private customers in wellesley on july 1 1904 almost twelve years after the foundation of wellesley electric light . the edison electric illuminating company of boston or boston edison beco ; now nstar operated in wellesley alongside the wellesley electric light division . from 1904 until 1906 beco rendered commercial lighting services in the town . in 1906 wellesley electric light took control of the commercial lighting in the town and has distributed and managed the current for commercial lighting ever since . wellesley s proximity to boston and its strictly suburban feel instigated a population growth that gained intensity after world war ii akin to most other suburbs throughout the united states . as wellesley s population increased and wealthier people moved into the town wellesley s infrastructure and commerce grew rapidly . these changes provided wellesley electric light with more customers and greater revenue . substation 378 before 2005 reconstruction with the large amounts of money wellesley electric light was accumulating the department upgraded and built more of its electrical system with new substations overhead powerlines and underground electric lines to support the increasing electric use . in 1959 the substation on weston road station 378 was completed . this substation was modified in 1970 and completely reconstructed in 2005 . in 1967 the substation on cedar street station 453 was built and in 1968 a new substation station 41 was completed and began distributing power to wellesley hills effectively halting the original substation s use . today the wmlp has a total of 33 distribution lines throughout wellesley and owns nine supply lines six from the nstar substation in newton massachusetts and three from the nstar substation in needham massachusetts . the voltage supplied from the aforementioned substations in newton and needham enter wellesley at 13 800 kv and are either distributed through the town at 13.8 kv or through the substations and stepdown transformers distributed at 4 kv . facts about the wmlp edit the wellesley municipal light plant utilizes state of the art equipment and maintains a large facility for its machinery and stock . the wmlp buildings are composed of a garage which includes an outside transformer and cable yard stockroom and linemen s room a utilities building a new substation station 41 and an old substation . as of june 2007 the current wmlp garage is scheduled for demolition and a brand new state of the art garage is planned for construction . the old substation which is an historical building dating back to the 1920s is primarily used for storage while the new substation built in 1968 serves its respective purpose . aside from the substation on the grounds of the wmlp it owns two other main substations throughout wellesley . one of these substations station 378 was rebuilt and renovated with new equipment from 2005 to 2006 . some of the wmlp fleet the wmlp fleet consists of 23 vehicles . these vehicles are two diggers a forklift two cable trucks for underground electric lines five bucket trucks an electrician truck a dump truck a fire alarm street light van a meter reading van four pickup trucks and five management vehicles . the wmlp holds a unique position within the municipality . for more than 100 years the wmlp was officially a dpw department and known as the wellesley electric light division . however in the year of 1994 the wmlp acquired independent town department status within the municipality and is a separate entity from the dpw . the wmlp answers to the municipal light plant board while the dpw answers to the board of public works . devens edit the wmlp services the recently established town of devens massachusetts located in the montachusett region in middlesex county . a large area of the fort devens army base was converted into a planned community in the late 1990s . the wmlp is responsible for the electrical supply of the approximately 120 residences and 180 commercial enterprises . the wmlp also maintains supply lines which provide electricity to the remaining fort devens military establishment . this contract however is complex due to security concerns . the military takes control of the supply lines at a certain point along the system and maintains and operates its own electrical infrastructure within the base . organization of the wmlp edit the wmlp is a town department composed of 37 employees working in management customer service and electric line work positions . the wmlp management consists of a director business manager superintendent supervisory electrical engineer and two line supervisors one of whom is responsible for devens . the wmlp also employs an accountant construction engineer office assistant and six customer service representatives . the director of the wmlp is richard f. joyce the business manager is debra j. healy and the superintendent is donald h. newell . the wmlp employs 14 electric line workers . these include three crew leaders six first class linemen three second class linemen one lead cable splicer and one apprentice lineman . in addition to the line workers the wmlp employs a lead meter reader two substation operators a full time stockkeeper a part time stockkeeper an engineering technician a fire alarm traffic signal specialist and a class a electrician . this information is correct as of july 1 2007 . safety at the wmlp edit the wmlp retains a good safety record with streaks of 568 days and 998 days without a work related injury . the current record of the wmlp is 633 days as of june 26 2007 . this is a notable feat as electric line work is rated 8 in the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the united states . 1 the wmlp makes it mandatory that all of its employees attend frequent safety presentations and that they practice real world safety operations both planned and unplanned . in addition to the various safety presentations and demonstrations the wmlp has a safety committee that meets monthly . miscellaneous facts edit the net worth of the wmlp is 74 701 176 as of july 2007 . the wmlp provides broadband services . in 2005 kwh sales were 235 275 937 . the station transformer capacity is 78 megawatts . the wmlp s peak demand is 65.076 megawatts . on august 2 2006 the wmlp hit an all time electric consumption high of 65 076 kw around 4 00pm as temperatures soared to 102 f. photos edit wmlp crews pulling cable into a manhole . new transformer being delivered to a wmlp substation . lineman entering a manhole . reconstruction of substation 378 in the winter . wellesley s wonderful weekend may 2007 . linemen with american flags . references edit christie les 2005 09 23 . america s most dangerous jobs . money.cnn.com . retrieved 2008 12 29 . adams alton d. municipal gas and electric plants in massachusetts the journal of political economy vol . 10 no. 2 . mar. 1902 pp. 214 229 . dorau herbert b. municipal ownership in the electric light and power industry of massachusetts the journal of land & public utility economics vol . 3 no. 3 . aug. 1927 pp. 298 307 . municipal electric lighting publications of the american statistical association vol . 5 no. 40 dec. 1897 pp. 381 382 . porter charles h. a comparison of public and private electric utilities in massachusetts the journal of land & public utility economics vol . 7 no. 4 nov. 1931 pp. 394 438 . external links edit reliable public power provider recognition article town of wellesley retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wellesley municipal light plant & oldid 732687604 categories energy in massachusettsnorfolk county 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