Re: Power to Mount Washington

[Ben Gore <ben@hrdent.com>]

Roy Lawrence wrote:

>I had heard originally that New Hampshire Coopertive
>Electric did not want to sell power to the summit,
>because they didn't want to be responsible for the
>service cable leading to the summit. Has anyone heard
>anything new about this?
>

According to what I have heard a few years ago from people familiar with 
electrical engineering, the reason a power line up the mountain has not 
been successfully built is because of problems with the significant 
difference in electrical potential between the top and bottom of the 
mountain. It would be possible, but very expensive to build a line that 
would withstand the normal use, not to mention other problems like 
lightning. According to the theory, the electrical potential induced on 
the line would be well more than enough to be lethal without the line 
even being connected to the grid at the base of the mountain.

Perhaps some new technology is available now that might make this 
easier. Other signals like voice and data paths could be carried easily 
over fiber optic cables, which of course are not prone to the problems 
of metallic cables.

-Ben