Cleveland Utilities names Bart Borden as electric chief

photo Bart Borden, electric division manager for Cleveland Utilities
Arkansas-Ole Miss Live Blog

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Cleveland Utilities has named Bart Borden to the post of electric division manager, replacing Dennis Daniel, who retired earlier this month after nearly 39 years of service.

"We're really glad to have Bart on board," General Manager Tom Wheeler said at the utility board's meeting Tuesday.

Borden, who has worked for Cleveland Utilities since 1978, served as the electric engineering manager for 20 years and held the post of electric operations manager for the last two.

The electric division's leadership transition comes as a number of its long-term projects are reaching fruition: establishing a power supply to the new Whirlpool location on Benton Pike and rolling out increased power factor requirements affecting high-usage customers.

Borden said the new Chatata Creek Substation has completed testing and now powers the Whirlpool site. In time, he said, it will service multiple industrial customers along Benton Pike and U.S. Highway 64.

"Our engineering and operations crews have done an outstanding job to design and build what I would call a state-of-the-art substation," he said. "We incorporated some of the latest relaying and control technology available."

Using the best technology allows Cleveland Utilities and its customers to save on energy expenses, Borden said.

Wheeler said the Chatata Creek project set a new benchmark for Cleveland Utilities, noting that it was completed in just over a year. He said most substation projects take about two years from design to operation.

In February, Cleveland Utilities will require its industrial and commercial customers that use at least 1,000 kilowatts per month to increase their electrical capacities to reduce the amount of unused power that must be kicked back to the utility and the Tennessee Valley Authority or pay penalties. Dealing with that unused power costs the utility money, Wheeler said.

Borden said the utility's engineering department had consulted with the two dozen affected business consumers over nearly seven years, helping them to decide on how best to increase their electrical capacity to meet TVA standards set in 2004.

Only eight or nine customers did not comply with requirements for increased capacity, according to Borden. Their expected penalties range from $6 to $1,600, he said.

Wheeler said those customers had to weigh the cost of improved capacity against the penalties.

"We may hear some complaints about it and we may not," said Wheeler, who said the utility had given adequate notice to its affected customers.

Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.

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