Published: June 25, 2009 12:12 pm      

Thunder: Electrical experts help keep the juice flowing

It takes a lot of power to power up Thunder in the Valley.

Since the motorcycle rally’s inception, Dave Alvares Electric has been providing a majority of the electrical needs and making sure the vendors have enough juice to keep everything running smoothly during the four-day event.

“We’ve got everything down to a science,” said owner Dave Alvares.

He and a co-worker, John Hines, started putting up the 16 electrical panel boxes – ranging from 100 to 200 amps

– last week in the Train Station and Biker Mall sites. They also installed additional boxes in front of the Point Stadium and Cambria County War Memorial Arena. On Friday, they will provide the power source to the children’s area in the Cambria County Library parking lot off Main Street.

The city furnishes the electricity to the vendors in Central Park.

“We got a nice jump start this year, which is good because this keeps us busy,” he said. “We do bust our hump, but once it’s all up and running, everything is OK.”

When Thunder officially opens, both men are at various sites to ward off problems. They make sure someone is there each day.

“We’ve never had any major problems or accidents, mostly just a breaker kicking here and there,” Alvares said. “We’ve been lucky over the years and try to be as safe as we can.”

A power outage is a concern, but Alvares said vendors cooperate to help avoid such a disruption.

“The vendors work with us if we need them to cut back on power to keep everything balanced,” Alvares said.

Today, Alvares and Hines will be busy helping vendors set up by getting them plugged in to panel boxes, instructing them on how to avoid electrical problems and what to do should one occur.

“We’ll be in good shape come Thursday,” Alvares said.

Even with the all the work and long hours, Alvares said he enjoys being a part of the festivities.

“We’ve met a lot of nice people, and everyone just does a tremendous job,” he said.