Dim Bulbs in Old North Knoxville?

By: Kim Davis (Old North Knoxville webmaster)

It has recently come to my attention, through an April 21, 2001 article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel (KNS), of the widespread nature of a voltage fluctuation problem that we have been experiencing in our household for the past year or so.  I had just assumed that our problem with flickering lights was isolated to our house, or perhaps to the immediate area served by our transformer, until I read the KNS article, reproduced below (no longer available from the KNS website unless you pay a fee).  If you recognize some of the symptoms described in the article, I recommend that you contact the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) at cservice@kub.org.  We have found that they respond promptly, and will immediately send a representative out to your house to record your voltage for a 24-hour period.  It is important that as many affected households as possible alert KUB to their location, so that the problem may eventually be remedied. 

KUB Ask Experts for Illumination (Stan DeLozier, News-Sentinel business writer)

Last January Bill Brashears got out of bed, put on a pot of coffee, walked into an adjoining room at his Dinwiddie
Avenue home and turned on his computer. 

"That's my routine," he said. "I leaned back in my chair, waiting for the coffee to get ready. Everything was peaceful and quiet. Then, there was a bssssst and a big pop. The light fixture blew up."

Brashears was unable to get to the light switch because of falling sparks and burning pieces of the light. 

"I was pinned and had to call Donna, my wife, to come and turn off the switch," he said. 

Brashears said he had already contacted Knoxville Utilities Board several times to complain of fluctuating power. He is still complaining, but KUB has not been able to give him any relief. 

Kelly Lane, a spokeswoman for KUB, said workers have been to the Brashears' home several times since January, installed a new transformer at his home and made various tests to try to determine why the fluctuations are occurring. Finally, last week they sought the help of Electric Power Research Institute/Power Electrical Applications Center, a consulting firm. 

"We've called in experts to try to help Mr. Brashears," Lane said. "They will be monitoring at his home and in the area to try to locate the problem." 

Brashears is among several in the Lonsdale and Lincoln Park areas* who say over a period of several months they have experienced flickering lights, malfunctioning appliances and television sets that suddenly quit. 

"I called six or seven times over about two months before they changed the transformer up the street," said Sharon Rector, who lives on Johnson Street. "It didn't do a bit of good. My lights still flicker, and the TV goes off and then pops back on. The last time I called was two days ago." 

Bob Day, a member of the North Lonsdale Church of God, said flickering lights have occurred at the church, but "we're only here on Sunday and Thursday and haven't reported it." 

Several residents say they have not complained to KUB because they have no confidence that the utility will help them. Brashears said he thinks a working-class community would not receive the same service as residents in more affluent areas. 

When asked the reason she had not complained of electrical problems at her home, Stephanie Macormack replied with questions of her own: "Why? Do you actually think they'd do something?" 

Bobby Baker said he has not registered a complaint with KUB because "you can't deal with them people." 
Lane said KUB will treat customers equally and pointed out that several attempts were made to solve the problem at the Brashears home and experts were eventually called. She said KUB provides equal service whether it's one customer or 10 and no matter what part of town they are in. 

The power fluctuations have been an irritant in the Lincoln Park area as well as Lonsdale. 

"KUB has been out several times over the situation," said Roger Bellefeuille, operations manager for Eagle
Distributing Co. on Radford Place. "We've been complaining for several months. They don't know what it is." 

He said the flickering lights are especially irritating for office workers. "It'll drive you batty," he said. 

Some residents think the problems are tied to an expansion about a year ago at AmeriSteel, a steel mill on Tennessee Avenue that prides itself on being concerned about area residents. 

Larry Strange, regional human resources manager for the company, said he does not think processes at the mill are contributing to the neighborhood problems, and added that AmeriSteel had electrical trouble of its own last year. 

"Our rolling mill would kick out last September," he said. "They found some tree limbs that were getting into the
lines, and when they cut those it cleared up." 

In addition to the monitor on the line outside the Brashears home, KUB has devices at a substation at AmeriSteel, Coster Shop and other area locations. 

* Note from webmaster: According to Chris Fullerton (KUB engineer), this problem also extends to Old North Knoxville.