Perkasie Borough Electric Department Today

The Perkasie Electrical Department is 100 years old. Perkasie is one of 34 municipalities in the state that maintain their own electric department in the year 2000. The department today has four locations including the main building on Seventh Street, a utility pole yard on Eighth Street, a transformer yard at Ninth & Vine streets, and a substation off Park Avenue in East Rockhill Township.

The department has been upgrading transformers and conductors and has also installed some underground facilities.

The electric department has switched over from manual read meters to meters that can be read with a hand held device.

In addition to electric services the electric department assists with displaying Christmas decorations each winter and plowing snow when the weather is extreme. They also have assisted with projects at local parks and playgrounds.

Workers include six line men and one secretary. The electric department operates a $4 million annual budget. During 1999, the electric department had net profits of approximately $1 million. This money is used ,by the Borough of Perkasie for a variety of projects in the municipality.

Perkasie Electric Department main building on Seventh Street in Perkasie.		Substation off Park Avenue in East Rockhill Township
Mr. Phil Ivans has been the superintendent of the electric department since 1988.		Transformer yard at Ninth & Vine Streets
A brick wall in the Seventh street electric building shows where openings used to allow coal to enter directly from a railroad car on the railroad line as the source of energy for the power plant. The coal was used in steamers to produce coal in combines.		Linemen are running lines in the spring of 2000 using 2  bucket trucks on Walnut Street in South Perkasie. In the past linemen climbed the poles with spikes strapped to their feet along with a safety strap.