Big Creek hydroelectric powerplant

[Ported&Polished]

I wanted to talk about a place I had the opertunity to work at when I got out of school. It was called Big Creek Hydroelectric powerplant, and is located in the Sierra Navada mountains just south of Yosemity. I was lucky enough to land a job as an electricians helper, and went to work on the electrical sub station at powerhouse number 5. The place was built in the 1920's and our job there was to update the substation with new electrical disconects and insulators. I'm talking disconects 20 feet tall and 10 feet long, and insulators made of ceramic that weighed several hundred pounds a peice. It was by far the greatest job I ever had, and I enjoyed working with a really fun group of guys for many months. What this place is, is a building that uses water to generate electricity. The powerhouse is a giant cement building that has 3 enormouse turbines that spin from the force of water that shoots down 3, 300 foot long and 12 feet diameter pipes from a hollowed out granite mountain. There are nine of these buildings, and they generate alot of the electricity that powers California's cities. I had a lot of fun crawling around in tunnels, driving the "million dollar mile" and living in the Sierras on a perdium plus hourly wages. Goggle Big Creek and you will find pictures of the place that SCE has used for many years to create California's electricity, without burning any coal, or fossil fuel. There is a great history to the Big Creek project, and I have a link to a nice read about it. http://www.sierrapacktrip.com/bigcreek.htm