The new Jefferson County substation’s dedication

A new Jefferson County substation is ready to go online Thursday morning. It is said that the Jim Westwood Substation will help lighten the Goshen substation’s load a little bit. KIFI/KIDK was at Wednesday’s celebration of the new power source, where Rocky Mountain Power also dedicated it to a worker who was killed on the job in 2011.

Rocky Mountain Power built this substation over the last several months. It starts serving customer loads tomorrow once it officially goes online. This will take a little pressure off of the Goshen substation in Bingham County.

“It does in a way — it actually will enable us to service additional loading in the area, but it transfer loads from sub-lines to others and it does help the Goshen substation,” Paul Radakovich, Rocky Mountain Power’s vice president of operations said.

The substation will help the utility meet the needs of new customers and the demand of existing upper valley customers.

Jim Westwood was a Rocky Mountain Power lineman for 33 years. On November 25, 2011, Westwood stopped to help a stranded motorist. While doing that, he was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle. Some of Westwood’s family members were on hand as the substation was named in his memory Wednesday.

“The name really came from a grass roots request from Jim’s co-workers that still are thinking about him and thought it’d be a great way to memorialize Jim long-term,” Radakovich said.

The new substation is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of 65 East and County Line Road in Jefferson County.