Monday, February 20, 2017

The Electrification of Ocracoke

Visitors to Ocracoke often wonder how we get electricity to the island. Power first came to Ocracoke in 1936 when Stanley Wahab housed a salvaged generator in his hotel. The island continued to rely on locally produced generator power until 1966, when electric cables were attached to the Oregon Inlet bridge and laid under Hatteras Inlet.

Ocracoke Power & Light, 1937













Today we rely on power generated in Virginia for normal usage, and we also have a four million dollar generator on site for use in emergencies. We also have a newly installed microgrid of solar panels and Tesla batteries.

To read more about the electrification of Ocracoke Island follow this link to our latest Ocracoke Newsletter: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news022117.htm.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:31 AM

    Is there not an effort to embrace Solar panels or Wind turbines. Is The county or the state against alternative sources of energy? I understand electric cars that look like the vehicles one finds ferrying duffers on the links are popular. For a small isolated resort visited by people of means and decisions makers in their fields is it sad that OI is not a standard bearer of Innovative ideas. Does OI have a brand? What does OI bring to the table?

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    1. As mentioned above, "We also have a newly installed microgrid of solar panels and Tesla batteries." You can read more here: https://ocracokeobserver.com/2016/12/12/ocracoke-is-first-in-the-state-for-a-microgrid/

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  2. Anonymous5:41 PM

    here we go again with the 'visitors often ask...or visitors often wonder' what kind of empty headed visitors do you get there? i'm on vacation for a few days but I wonder what kind of electrical grid they have here. dah, i'm on vacation myself, I wonder where they get their fresh water...I wonder..

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    1. People who come to Ocracoke are often curious about what it is like to live on an island. Curiosity and creativity go hand-in-hand. We are fortunate to have many such visitors to Ocracoke.

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    2. Anonymous3:15 PM

      I am one of those visitors and I came to this site because I was asking myself "Hmm...I wonder where Ocracoke gets its power." Thank you, OIJ, for satisfactorily sating my curiosity.

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  3. Anonymous7:38 AM

    This comment above explains why we need to Make America Great Again. It also explains why we need to allow the smart industrious immigrant into this country. Even Louis Armstong knew it was a wonder-full world.

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  4. Anonymous5:24 PM

    I was anon 5:41. ok that all makes sense...Thanks

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