Because of the unprecedented demand for power connections to supply the boom in new homes, Utah Power is lagging behind in providing power to 77 street lights installed in the Dixie Valley subdivision nearly a month ago.
Dave Eskelsen, spokesman for Utah Power, says the company apologizes for the delay. It has hired independent contractors and reassigned some of the power company's Salt Lake crews to help keep up with the demand in West Jordan."We're working on the Dixie Valley situation right now. We want to move promptly to satisfy those living in that area, but it's always a balancing act. We have limited resources, and the demand for new housing and street lights is relentless," said Eskelsen.
Dixie Valley, an established neighborhood, is located between 6200 South and 7000 South between the Bangerter Highway and 4000 West.
The street lights have been funded by the city. "In public meetings, citizens have indicated that street lights should be a priority of West Jordan to help deter crime," said Penny Atkinson, assistant city manager. "Instead of installing lights 20 at a time, the city has decided to bite the bullet and install 880 street lights in existing neighborhoods by September 1995."
To prevent neighborhoods having to wait for power for street lights in the future, the city is now requiring contractors of new housing developments to install street lights as homes are built.
"It's not that Utah Power has been uncooperative in working with the city; it's that they are as busy as we are in keeping up with the housing market," said Atkinson.
Some confusion between the contractors installing the lights and the city delayed the Dixie Valley project because wiring didn't meet codes, but the problems have been corrected.
To handle the demand of new housing in the Draper, Sandy, South Jordan and West Jordan, the power company has hired additional crews, said Eskelsen. The company is reluctant to hire a lot of new full-time employees because there are indications the housing market is beginning to slow down with increasing interest rates.
"We understand that when street lights go up in a neighborhood where people have been waiting years for them or when people move into their new homes, that they want to have power. Our challenge as a company is to meet the demand as best as we can within our resources."