Ashland to seek $2.2 million bond to repair electric substation; residents press for timeline and costs

The Board of Selectmen moved forward on a warrant article to raise and appropriate $2,200,000 to repair the Ashland Electric Substation and to authorize issuance of bonds or notes, with repayment expected through user fees. The board adopted a legally advised amendment to the article and restricted reconsideration of the article before it goes to ballot on Tuesday, May 6.

"We can do it in stages," said Chad Streeter, a representative of I.C. Reed & Sons, the utility contractor that submitted the town's proposal. Streeter described emergency work already completed after an outage — testing four new cables and bringing a substation back online — and said the lead time for new switchgear could be up to six months. "The proposal doesn't include replacing the transformers, but just maintaining the transformers," he said.

Town officials and residents repeatedly raised safety and cost questions. Harry Galyon, the electric superintendent, told the meeting the substation contains antiquated equipment and said upgrades would include greater capacity. "With the new breakers and new wiring, there's enough capacity in that substation to handle much more than what we're handling now," Galyon said. He later warned workers face a safety hazard inside the existing switchgear: "There is no safe distance for my guys to switch those gear."

Board members and attendees discussed whether to rebuild the substation all at once or in phases. Contractors and staff said the primary cost driver is the internal 15,000‑volt switchgear; Streeter estimated the gear alone would cost more than $800,000 to ship. He said a staged approach would begin by installing external, manually operated switches on distribution lines to reduce outage risk while major equipment is procured.

Multiple bids for a complete rebuild were cited during the meeting: roughly $6.2 million, $5.8 million and $5.7 million. The proposal favored at the meeting aimed to lower immediate cost and allow phased work. Officials said the town could reduce the bond amount if federal, state or other aid becomes available.

Residents asked how the proposed work would affect electric rates and staffing. Officials said the figures presented do not include the results of an ongoing rate study. Galyon said money already exists to send utility staff to certification training and estimated $12,000 to train staff and about $3,200 to certify a breaker as part of inspection work. He also noted the department would follow national electrical safety standards (NFPA 70E).

Several residents raised the option of joining a cooperative rather than funding a municipal rebuild. Officials said a cooperative would likely need to replace the same equipment and could add a surcharge; one participant quoted a potential surcharge of about 8 cents per kilowatt‑hour as an example. Supporters of municipal ownership emphasized that Ashland Electric's single‑customer focus means town outages get priority for repairs.

Procedurally, the board adopted the amendment to the bond language after a motion and subsequent vote. Sue Harbel, a resident, moved to restrict reconsideration of the article pursuant to RSA 40:10; the chair called voters to show their voter cards and declared the restriction carried. Later in the meeting a motion to accept the warrant article as amended was made and put to a vote; the transcript ends as the chair called for hands and asked for opposed votes, so a final tally on acceptance is not recorded in the available transcript.

The article will appear on the ballot for a three‑fifths approval vote on Tuesday, May 6. If approved, select board members are authorized under the Municipal Finance Act (RSA 33) to issue and negotiate the bonds and to accept and expend any applicable grants or aid to reduce the town's borrowing.