Empire District completes Bolivar substation renovations

Joplin-based Empire District Electric Co. has scheduled a Dec. 10 ribbon-cutting ceremony for a recently renovated Bolivar electric substation.

The facility - which was built as an oil-fired power plant to serve the Bolivar community, purchased by Empire District in the 1940s and later went out of service - remained as a substation to distribute power to Bolivar-area customers, Empire District spokeswoman Emily Stanley said.

Empire District began renovating the substation in April to double its transformer capacity, Stanley said. Crews also added two new circuits to better prevent power outages. Renovations were completed at the beginning of this month, she said.

“The improvements to (the substation) allow for increased capacity with more reliability. The technology utilized provides our Bolivar-area customers protection from the effects of outages. The changes implemented were both cost-effective and beneficial to our customers,” said Martin Penning, Empire District vice president of commercial operations, in a news release.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday at the substation, 212 N. Oakland Drive in Bolivar.

Publicly traded Empire District (NYSE: EDE) posted third-quarter earnings of $25.5 million, roughly flat from profits of $25.2 million in the same quarter of 2011.

The company's shares were trading at $19.94 as of 10:47 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $19.51 to $22.04.