Failing power line threatens Summit County (CO) radio, TV stations

[lazierfan]

The ultimate in commissioners' mis-appropriation of funds, in the county responsible for more than 70% of Colorado's tourist income:



BRECKENRIDGE — Many of the FM radio stations and all over-the-air TV stations available in Summit County are in jeopardy.

An aging power line that services a Bald Mountain-based site where channels are rebroadcast is reaching the end of its life.

The price tag to replace the line is an estimated $250,000, well outside the budget of the $50,000-per-year nonprofit Summit Public Radio and TV (SPRTV) that manages the site.

“It's just a fact, either the power line gets replaced before it fails, or we go out of business,” SPRTV board president Suzanne Greene told the Summit County Board of County Commissioners at a recent meeting. “If we go out of business, so go the radio stations and the TV stations.”


Failing power line threatens Summit County radio, TV stations | SummitDaily.com

[com501]

Unless the power is free, its on the power company for maintenance.

[n5ims]

Originally Posted by com501

Unless the power is free, its on the power company for maintenance.

Could be that the stations agreed to install and maintain the lines to the mountain since the power company didn't originally cover the mountain location and didn't want to do so due to the expense of running and maintaning the lines. This isn't as rare as you might think for remote locations.

[lazierfan]

Originally Posted by n5ims

Could be that the stations agreed to install and maintain the lines to the mountain since the power company didn't originally cover the mountain location and didn't want to do so due to the expense of running and maintaning the lines. This isn't as rare as you might think for remote locations.

Yes, in certain parts of our country, it seems almost ridiculous to think power could be so expensive; however, the very real decision of living off the grid with $10-20 thousand dollars worth of green technology versus running a power line to your location can often sway to the off-the-grid solution.

[com501]

We have a site out here that gets fed with a diesel delivery once a week. The mine won't allow power lines to cross their property....

[zz0468]

Originally Posted by com501

We have a site out here that gets fed with a diesel delivery once a week. The mine won't allow power lines to cross their property....

I've dealt with sites that get their diesel deliveries twice a year... once in spring, the other in fall. I was always impressed at how those drivers got those big tank trucks up the hills. We're talking 5000 gallon deliveries.

Full time diesel power is a pain in the neck, but sometimes it's less of a pain than commercial power. It's probably not an option for SPRTV. Every fill up would be a budget crisis.