Behind the Lines: Bartow's Electric Divisions Power City with 336 Miles of Infrastructure

Bartow's Electric Service maintains 259 miles of overhead and 77 miles of underground electric lines, ensuring power delivery across its 115-square-mile territory. The city's electrical infrastructure relies on three key divisions: Line, Substation, and Metering, each playing a critical role in keeping the lights on and ensuring safety.

The Line Division operates 24/7, responding to emergencies from downed wires to power outages. Their work involves resetting broken poles and restoring power to homes and businesses, often in challenging weather conditions. This division builds and maintains the extensive network of electric lines that crisscross the city.

Six electric distribution substations connect Bartow to Florida's transmission grid, with Duke Energy providing the transmission lines. The Substation Division maintains the vital equipment within these substations, including transformers, circuit breakers, and protective relaying. A Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system monitors all substations, allowing for central operation and faster troubleshooting of issues. These substations reduce the high 69,000 Volts from transmission lines to a safer 7,200 Volts for distribution throughout the city.

The Metering Division handles the installation and maintenance of over 12,700 electric meters. This ensures accurate billing for customers. The Electric Department maintains meter testing facilities and meticulously records meter tracking and test results. Testing has shown that most meters remain highly accurate even after many years of service, indicating that high electric bills are rarely due to faulty meters.

Residents should exercise caution around electrical infrastructure. Substations carry extremely high voltages, and tampering with electric meters is both dangerous and illegal. For safety, residents should keep out of substations and report any suspicious activity to the Police by calling 534-5034.