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LINDEN, Ind. and LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 29, 2005 -- Tipmont REMC
announced that all overhead electric transformers it purchases in the
future will be transformers that utilize a soybean-based oil rather than
petroleum oil as a coolant. That's good news for the 28,000 soybean
farmers in Indiana, the nation's third-largest soybean producer.
Tipmont is the first electric utility in the Midwest to make such a
commitment to the environment, safety and the agricultural economy. The
electric cooperative and its transformer supplier, Cooper Power Systems
of Waukesha, Wisc., believe Tipmont is the second utility in the nation,
following Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California, to make
such a system-wide commitment.
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"From here on out, all the overhead transformers we buy will use a
coolant made with soybean oil," said Tipmont general manager Ken
Ritchey. This spring, Tipmont purchased its first 40 transformers using
the soy oil.
The company expects to buy and install about 200 of the new-style
transformers annually, with each transformer generally serving one or
two residences or small businesses. Because of rapid residential growth
and new subdivisions in its service territory, in recent years Tipmont
has added about 1,000 customers annually to its service lines, Ritchey
said.
"One reason for changing to transformers that use soybean-based fluid
is the benefit to the agriculture industry," Ritchey said. "There's long
been an important tie between electric cooperatives and agriculture, so
anything we can do to benefit the agricultural economy comes naturally."
Equally important, Ritchey noted, are other benefits of the soybean
oil-based product. "Soybeans are a renewable source, so this lessens our
country's dependence on foreign oil. It's also biodegradable, making
spills less harmful and inexpensive to clean up. And it's less
hazardous, with a much higher fire point, which is an important safety
factor."
The Cooper Power Systems transformers utilize Envirotemp FR3
transformer fluid as a coolant. Cooper developed the soybean oil-based
dielectric, which means it cannot conduct electricity, in the mid-1990s.
The fluid is now produced for Cooper by Cargill Industrial Oils and
Lubricants in Chicago.
"Cooper Power Systems recognizes Tipmont REMC as one of the leaders
in the utility industry, balancing the needs of environmental
stewardship, support for the agricultural community, fire safety, and
performance in their transformer selection," said Jonathan Piel, product
manager for Cooper's Envirotran Transformers.
"Each acre of soybeans produces enough oil for four overhead
transformers," Piel said. "The U.S. transformer industry requires almost
75 million gallons a year for all new transformer
installations-equivalent to 1.2 million acres of soybean production.
Cooper Power has recently partnered with Cargill Industrial Oils and
Lubricants as we prepare to meet the increased demand by utilities like
Tipmont for this revolutionary fluid."
FR3 fluid is an edible oil and shown to be quickly biodegradable by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Piel noted. "Tipmont
recognizes the FR3 fluid-filled transformer is the best transformer
investment they can make today that will provide longer life for
equipment as well as environmental protection," he said.
The Indiana Soybean Board hailed Tipmont's announcement.
"The Indiana Soybean Board is excited to be part of the
commercialization process of this emerging soy technology," said Michael
Bryja, director of technology commercialization for the
Indianapolis-based nonprofit.
"With partners like Tipmont REMC and Cooper Power Systems, we have a
much stronger message to tell our farmer stakeholders as well as the
entire state," Bryja said. "These technological advances utilizing
soybeans are working, and we're bringing more good things to market."
Soybean utilization researcher Bernard Tao, a Purdue University
professor of biochemical and food process engineering in Agriculture
Food Science, said the use of soybean oil in transformers is an
important step. "This is significant because you are proving you can
replace petroleum products with vegetable oil, and that will lead to
others. That's the major impact," Tao said. "Because most of the
petroleum in the U.S. comes from non-domestic sources, of course it's
beneficial if we can grow material that will replace petroleum products
and do it in a renewable fashion."
Tipmont sits in the heart of soybean country, with a service area
that includes the state's first- and sixth-largest soybean-producing
counties-Montgomery County, which produced 6.5 million bushels in 2004,
and Clinton County, weighing in with 5.5 million bushels. In the
four-county area Tipmont serves, which also includes Fountain and
Tippecanoe counties, some 404,900 acres were planted in soybeans in
2004, yielding 21.8 million bushels.
Adjacent counties to Tipmont's service area rank high in soybean
production, too. White County was second in the state, with 6.4 million
bushels in 2004; Boone was third, with 6.3 million bushels, and Benton
was fifth, with 5.7 million bushels. Indiana itself ranked third in the
nation for soybean production in 2004, with 287 million bushels produced
out of the nation's record 3.14 billion bushels, according to figures
from the Department of Agricultural Statistics at Purdue University.
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