Welcome to the Belmont Municipal Light Department!
Please Note: There will be an open public forum regarding the 115 kV Electric Transmission & Substation site. The meeting will be held on February 11, 2010 at the Town Hall Auditorium from 7-9 PM. Everyone is welcome to attend and ask questions after a brief presentation. For more info and sites to be discussed, click here!
During the month of February, BMLD will be conducting, by mail survey, an Appliance Saturation Study among BMLD customers. The purpose of this survey is to learn about the appliances used by our customers in order to direct funds to the best benefit of the community.
The survey itself will be conducted by The Center for Research, a professional research firm that also conducts our regular customer satisfaction study by telephone. A random sample of 2,000 customers will be mailed the survey and asked to complete and send back responses prior to February 20th. As a token of appreciation for their time and effort, those returning the survey by the deadline will receive a $5.00 credit towards their electric bill. Please know the research firm will not have any personal information related to your account.
As required by the Code of Ethics of the National Council on Public Polls and the United States Privacy Act of 1974, The Center for Research maintains the anonymity of respondents to surveys the firm conducts. No information will be released that might, in any way, reveal the identity of the respondent. Thank you for your cooperation. For any questions, please contact Kristina at 617-993-2808.
BMLD is a municipal electric utility that provides power to the Town of Belmont since 1898. Presently serving over 10,900 customers, BMLD strives to provide quality customer service and reliable power to all of our residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
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Future office closings: BMLD will be closed on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President’s Day, Patriot’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. In case of outage or emergency, please dial 617-993-2800 for assistance.
Important message to BMLD customers:
On January 6, 2010 there was a single phase cable failure on the NSTAR system (on the 828-1379 circuit, which is not physically connected to BMLD). Because of the interconnection between BMLD and NSTAR's 13.8 kV supply, this voltage sag was seen by customers in Belmont. In 2009, BMLD upgraded our station relay equipment in response to these issues. This upgrade has allowed BMLD to capture the disturbances for analysis and to prevent mis-operation of substation equipment. The relays did not capture an overvoltage event on January 6.
What is BMLD doing about it?
1. We are preparing to replace the distribution transformers connection to utilize a phase to phase connection. This would reduce the effects seen from single phase faults.
2. We have installed meter based surge arresters as an interim test solution. At various locations on the system, we will be performing ground resistance testing to ensure proper arrester operation. This will be accomplished by licensed electricians who will look for grounding irregularities at each location. A solid ground is essential for the proper operation of arresters.
3. We are modifying the relay event capture settings to increase the sensitivity and to capture all voltage excursions.
4. We are working with NSTAR to identify system changes that may have altered the system's grounding connections.
Ultimately, our best solution would be to isolate ourselves from this system, which is one additional benefit of the 115 kV proposal. If you have further questions on this issue, please contact BMLD’s Engineer Mario Etedali at 617-993-2804.
BMLD is proud to be your community-owned utility.
Come by BMLD and pick up your own CFL bulb for free! Bring it back to BMLD for recycling. To find out more about other mercury sources in your home, click here.
