When I heard about the power situation two weeks ago after the tornado outbreak, I was beginning to prepare for at least a week without power.
To get prepared, I went to the store and bought a lot of non-perishable food items and other food items that didn’t require refrigeration. I even bought a lot of candles and had a lantern to help me see at night.
I was ready for life in a blackout, and then the power came back on.
I don’t know about you, but I was shocked that it came back on so quickly.
We have Jonathan “Just One More Time” Hampton to thank about it.
Ferrell Vest, general manager of Hartselle Utilities said Hampton was the reason why Hartselle got power back quicker than most places in North Alabama.
One thing that helped is that our electrical grid was undamaged. We were ready to accept power, but TVA didn’t have any power to give us. Our normal feed from the Trinity substation wasn’t operational, so TVA gave us back feed from its Guntersville power plant.
At first, TVA said we could only get one of our 12 circuits power, which turned out to be the one that was feeding the hospital.
As Vest put it, Hampton talked to TVA and asked if they could do it “just one more time.” A few hours later, nearly half of Hartselle had power even though TVA said we couldn’t get it.
A couple of days later, the rest of the city had its power restored. That’s truly a remarkable feat.
What might even be more remarkable is how TVA got the rest of the Tennessee Valley power without any power generation from Browns Ferry, which won’t be operational until August when its transmission lines will be replaced.
In the meantime, we need to do our part to conserve energy. TVA’s power grid is unstable right now and cannot handle a huge load.
As the temperature begins to increase, please try to cut back on your air conditioner use especially during peak hours. That will help TVA be able to meet our energy demand.
But truly, one of the unsung heroes of this situaion is Jonathan Hampton. If you see him, please give him a big pat on the back for his work during our emergency situation.
Brent Maze is the managing editor of the Hartselle Enquirer.