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by BETTER FARMING STAFF
A consultant who measures stray voltage on farm properties says the Ontario Energy Board’s proposed solution doesn’t go far enough.
Lorne Lantz, one of about 12 who responded to proposed amendments to the Distribution System Code, says he hopes the Board “doesn’t stop at lowering the neutral to earth voltages.”
Farmers at a meeting he attended last year in Toronto had experienced problems even after introducing strategies to mitigate stray voltage. He’s also witnessed the problem on six farms. It’s a clear indication that something else is going on, he says. “What they’ve done should have helped them.”
Lantz, an electronics technician who lives near Wellesley, suspects currents returning through ground to substations are causing the problem.
If so, he fears one common strategy of lowering voltage levels - adding rods to direct currents to ground - will simply generate more problems for farmers.
The Plante family, who milk 70 cows on a farm near New Liskeard, wonders if “earth currents” might be the source of problems in their barn.
“We’re losing about $150,000 a year,” says Raymond Plante. “We never fill our quota and we lose cows.”
Plante says his hydro company checked the problem in 2000 and didn’t find any stray voltage.
Lantz tested the property last summer and found evidence of stray voltage. The family persuaded Hydro One to introduce mitigation.
But problems persisted. Animals lost weight and had poor appetites. Calves died. Raymond says doctors haven’t been able to find causes for ailments that he and his wife, Germaine, have experienced.
Raymond’s son Gilles says Lantz wants him to set up some more tests. They’ll have to wait because the snow is too deep.
Released Oct. 31, the Board’s proposal calls for amendments to the Distribution System Code requiring electrical distributors to use professionally qualified people when investigating a complaint and follow a specified investigation procedure; take steps to reduce to an established safe level any stray voltage attributable to the distribution system; and develop and make available its process for responding to farm stray voltage inquiries and customer complaints.
The comment period closed Dec. 5.
Paul Crawford, a spokesman for the Board, says next steps involve reviewing the comments and deciding whether the proposal needs to be changed.
The Board is also preparing to issue another proposed amendment that deals with the method of investigation. “It’s a detailed technical procedure,” says Crawford.
It too requires public feedback.
Crawford couldn’t predict how long it would take to complete the amendments.
“We’re coming to the end but it will still take a bit of time,” he says. BF
Comments
I have not read a whole lot about all the talk that has been going on about stray voltage. I do know that it has been and is a big problem. Now with the windmills operating in our area it has become worse. Besides problems in the barn we had light bulbs 'blowing' hours after they were installed and our neighbor had the radio making loud noises in the middle of the night.In the barn we have been having problems for years with sows not being pregnant, prolapses and weak piglets that die. Not one doctor could come up with a reason why. Early this summer it got a lot worse. That coincides with the start up of a lot of windmills in this area. Hydro One came to check for stray voltage but they said there was none. We called in an acquaintance who is an electrical engineer and has equipment worth $20,000 to test for stray voltage. He showed us on his meters just how bad it was here. We now have a filter on it and will see huge improvements over the next while. We are not alone. Many people have lost their whole farm because of stray voltage, lost production and livestock and some people have had to move out of their home and now live in a motel because of this problem. I know that Hydro One knows about it but will not do anything about it. An article in the Ontario Farm Paper of Dec. 16, 2008 addressed some of the issues but (I quote), "the Ontario Energy Board has decided to wash its hands on the remediation side of the problem." It also states that, "Hydro One has no formally certified personnel" to check for stray voltage. We as farmers have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because of this. When is it going to stop? When will those responsible be accountable? Corrie
Earth currents are the result of primary neutral current entering the earth at ground rods,well casings,farm bonded grounding systems ect.These current then make thier way back to the sub station from which they came from.The path they take may inclode your farm or residental lot . A simple test to detect earth currents is to place two rods 3 ft in the earth 250 ft apart .You will need a pice of wire 250 ft long. Connect one end of this wire to one of the rods .Connect a set of headphones to the remaining wire and rod. You can hear clearly the ac hum created by these currents in the earth .This test should be done in a south-north direction and in a east-west direction to determine the path of the current by a stronger signal. A
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