Energizing Yellowstone National Park

By Jo Dee Black

Jack Altimus, left, works alongside Paul Griffis and Gabe Webster in Yellowstone National Park.

 Old Faithful Lodge is illuminated at night.

 Jack leans against a backup diesel generator at Old Faithful in 2006.

Three-plus-decade career includes close wildlife encounters and lasting friendships

Jack Altimus spent more than three decades energizing Yellowstone National Park, an accomplishment NorthWestern recognized and celebrated as Jack prepared to begin his first summer off since the 1980s.

“The millions of visitors who come from all over the world each year (to Yellowstone National Park) couldn’t have that experience without the service our employees help provide,” NorthWestern Energy Chief Executive Officer Bob Rowe said. “It is a privilege to serve the park, and Jack sets the tone for the interactions we have with the visitors and people who work here. He loves this place.”

It’s a love story that began when a young Jack visited his father, a lineman in Yellowstone National Park, at work in the winter.

“I decided then this is where I wanted to work, and it was made possible by my 35-year career with this company,” said Jack, who spent 33 of those years as a lineman and the town manager for Yellowstone National Park. He retired from NorthWestern Energy in June.

 NorthWestern Energy employees gathered to celebrate Jack’s retirement.

 Yellowstone National Park Deputy Superintendent Mike Tranel presents Jack Altimus with the Superintendent’s Challenge Coin.

 The Superintendent’s Challenge Coin depicts 23 bison at the Roosevelt Arch, representing the 23 bison present when Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872.

Yellowstone National Park contracts with NorthWestern Energy for electric service. Our system in the park is uniquely designed to minimize the footprint of our infrastructure. Repairs tackled with bucket trucks elsewhere require linemen in Yellowstone to climb a lot of poles, said NorthWestern Energy Division Manager Pat Patterson. The work also requires unique equipment, such as a four-wheeler with a bear cage.

Keeping an eye out for wildlife is just part of the job, Jack said. So are strong relationships.

“My people in Yellowstone National Park, they are like family,” he said. “I could not ask for a better career.”

Yellowstone National Park Deputy Superintendent Mike Tranel presented Jack with the Superintendent’s Challenge Coin, which recognizes exemplary service and support of the park. The coin features 23 bison at the Roosevelt Arch. “It represents the 23 bison present when the park was established in 1872,” Mike said. Today there are more than 5,000 bison living in the park.

“We couldn’t have done that without partners,” he said. For more than three decades, Jack’s dedication was key in a very successful partnership with NorthWestern Energy. Retirement means summers off and nights, weekends and family time without the interruption of calls about power outages. “I am looking forward to spending a lot of time with our grandson,” Jack said.

Although not unexpected or unplanned, Jack’s final day on the job was a surreal experience for all.

“People always ask me ‘Do you know Jack?’ when they find out where I work,” said NorthWestern Energy Foreman Jeremy Peterson. “Everyone in the park knows Jack.”

“They might not look like it, but these shoes are a lot bigger than they look,” said NorthWestern Energy Journeyman Lineman Josh Edwards, pointing at Jack. “They will be hard to fill.”

The West Thumb Microgrid is completely isolated from the power grid. A solar array charges supercapacitors that supply power to the area.

In remote areas of Yellowstone National Park, microgrid technology is helping us keep the lights on

West Thumb has worked as expected, and we have learned things that will be helpful for us when we deploy more microgrid systems in the future. “

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As the electric provider for Yellowstone National Park, NorthWestern Energy once had a substation to serve West Thumb, which was the site of a large campground, cabins, a photo shop, a cafeteria and a gas station.

“This used to be a pretty big place,” said Jack Altimus, who worked as a lineman in Yellowstone for 33 years.

In the 1980s, the National Park Service removed most of the services at West Thumb, including the substation, in an effort to protect the geyser basin. A small bookstore, housed in a historic ranger cabin, remains. Until last year, it was powered by a small generator.

In late May 2020, we installed a microgrid in West Thumb. The microgrid is completely isolated from the power grid. A solar array charges supercapacitors that supply power to the bookstore.

West Thumb was a perfect spot to pilot our new microgrid technology – it’s an easily accessible location, and the electric load of the bookstore is relatively small. With the success of the West Thumb Microgrid, we recently installed a second microgrid to power the Bechler Ranger Station in the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park.

“West Thumb has worked as expected, and we have learned things that will be helpful for us when we deploy more microgrid systems,” said Pat Patterson, manager of the NorthWestern Energy Bozeman Division.

At the Bechler Microgrid, solar panels charge lithium iron phosphate batteries, which store energy to be used at night or when it’s cloudy. The Bechler Microgrid has a 39.6 kilowatt solar array and 192 kilowatt hours of battery storage.

The Bechler Microgrid powers four historic Park Service buildings and three new employee homes.

The microgrid at West Thumb is a similar design, but uses supercapacitors, which store electrical energy in the form of an electrical charge, instead of lithium batteries. It has about 200 kilowatt hours of storage capacity. The bookstore needs about 30 kilowatt hours per day, so the microgrid could run for four to six days without the sun shining. Since the store is only open spring through fall, the storage should be more than adequate.

Yellowstone does present some unique challenges for installing microgrids. Crews had to be extra careful when boring holes that they didn’t run into thermal features. The solar panels had to be high enough that elk couldn’t rub against them, and the wiring was installed in a way that would prevent elk from snagging their antlers on it.