By Staff
Tracy B. Cieniewicz, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle Utilities has a permanent solution to preventing city-wide blackouts with a new transformer.
The $450,000 transformer arrived last week by rail and was wheeled into place Tuesday at HU's substation on Barkley Bridge Road.
It will permanently replace a temporary transformer rented from the Tennessee Valley Authority and installed in August.
"The new transformer will be available as a backup and the rented one will be sent back to TVA in two weeks," Hartselle Utilities General Manager George Adair said.
The temporary transformer replaced a 40-year-old transformer that was struck by lightening last summer. The incident left more than 8,000 homes without electricity for several hours.