Electric Upgrade Information

This web page has been set up to hopefully alleviate some of the overwhelming task for the Ranch Office, Jim our Manager, the Board of Trustees and the Electric Committee in answering Member questions regarding the major project that the electric upgrade has proven to be. Every attempt has been made to answer as many questions and give as much information for you as possible. Please understand that every entity involved in the project is striving to ensure that individual Member interests as well as the Membership as a whole are served well. There are aspects of the upgrade that make significant changes to the Ranch and to campsites which are unavoidable considering the magnitude of the project and in satisfying State Electric Code. The electric system is being installed at an economical rate and in such fashion as to best serve the Membership efficiently for the maximum time span in the future. Please understand that the digging for this upgrade alone is a major disruption and will change some campsites more than others, but this change will heal in a relatively short time. Member pride in how they keep their campsite is highly valued and appreciated, but the fact is that the electric codes demand the level of intrusion to the campsites. In a major construction project such as this, things get messy before they get better. For most of us, there is far more detail to such a project than what we are able to imagine. Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.

Under NO circumstances are Members to approach, communicate with or direct Contractor's or their employees on the Ranch. Questions about electricity can be addressed to Valley Plumbing and Electric (see contact information below).

910 West Front Street, Sumas, WA 98295
Phone: (360) 988-9631 Fax: (360) 988-8666
Email

Shut down Schedule for Wooded 1 campsite area now available. Important Update for Campsites Skagit 3 – 26, Lopez 1 – 11, Rushmore 1 – 21, and Pilchuk 18,19 - Your closure date has been changed to January 15th rather than the 18th. This is due to Puget Sound Power Companies schedule.

Shut down Schedule for Wooded 2 campsite area now available. Please be aware that this schedule is a guideline only. All scheduled shut downs are subject to weather conditions and PSE's schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) regarding the Electric Upgrade.

Project Details

The Electric upgrade was initiated by vote of the Membership that attended a Special General Meeting on July 26, 2009. A record-breaking attendance of 429 voting Memberships attended this meeting and voted very nearly unanimously to assess the Membership to fund the project and proceed with the work. The majority of the Membership has already paid the Assessment in full.

At this point with well over 350 campsites upgraded and power restored, the upgrade work is on schedule and on budget.

Through the first portion of the upgrade work, some kinks have been worked out and the project is now progressing fairly well. The Contractors do come up against extenuating circumstances from time to time. When this occurs, Management, staff, the Electric Committee, Contractor's and Engineer work together to come up with the best way to proceed. This many parties communicating makes for some interesting coordination and is a challenge in itself.

Part of what happens as we work through the kinks is how to better communicate with the Members what to expect and what they can do to make things go smoother. Therefore, the following information may vary in small ways from what has previously been distributed. We are still giving at least two weeks notice to Members before their campsite will be shut off from electric power. Each Campsite will be without electricity about two weeks. We have found that sometimes both sides of a campsite may need to be dug in order to install the rear outlet for trailer power to be placed on each site. Any unnecessary items stored at your site should either be moved to the rear or disposed of in the dumpsters. For the time being, the $25 dump fee is suspended for this purpose.

Prior to or upon being notified of your campsite being powered down you will need to make preparations at your site and trailer. Steps to take include winterizing your trailer, unplugging your trailer (tuck the cord into the storage compartment or under your trailer inside the skirting out of the way of all digging) and any other electric appliances you have at your campsite. Leave your standpipe plugged in, the Ranch crew will unplug it when necessary and plug it back in. Generator's or other insulating measures will be used if needed during any freezing weather to keep these unplugged standpipes from freezing; the Ranch will supply these and look after this.

Further information involving preparing your site for powering down or back up will be given on the Frequently Asked Questions Page (link below).

Visuals - explanations with links to photos

To help your understanding of the extent of work this project entails from the construction point of view some links to photos have been posted below:

• The first step of the work involves digging into the right hand side of each campsite. Since in most cases, campsites share side boundaries, this means that both sides of your site will be disturbed to some extent. Lateral line digging. Look at the photo and imagine if there were large trees in the way and how this would affect the pathway of digging to get to fifteen feet from the rear of the trailer where the 50 amp outlet for the trailer to plug into is required to be.
• Once these lateral lines have been installed, then the area is powered down so the Contractors can dig the trenches necessary to install and connect the main lines and the lateral lines from there to the new primary service pedestal at the front of the site. Digging photos one, two, three, four and five.
• The equipment that the Contractors use to do all of this digging includes backhoes, ditchdiggers, shovels, etc. Equipment photos and backhoe.
• The service pedestals to be installed at each site includes the main service pedestal at the front of the site. This pedestal includes two duplex 20 amp plug in outlets and breaker switch as well as a low wattage LED lamp that faces the road. Front service pedestal and closeup open.
  • The rear 50 amp service pedestal will be set within 15 feet of the rear of your trailer and is to serve electric power to your trailer only. Rear Pedestal and open view.
• If you wish to have 20 amp receptacles available at the rear of your site, this will need to be purchased and installed by Valley Electric. To contract Valley to do this for you use this form.

Shut down Schedule for Wooded 1 campsite area now available.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) regarding the Electric Upgrade.

If your question(s) and concern(s) are not answered in the content of this web page or the FAQ's page, you can email your specific situation here.

Black Mountain Ranch is a private campground in Deming, Washington, USA.
All Data copyright Black Mountain Ranch, 2009.