Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project urged Scottsdale and other East Valley customers to shift nonessential electricity consumption away from the peak-use hours late in the afternoon.

The Valley's tight electric situation is the result of a transformer fire at a West Valley substation more than a week ago, which knocked 14 transformers out of operation.

Utility crews restored service to three of the damaged transformers at the Westwing substation on Thursday, but more work will be needed to restore the others.

The transformers "step down" the voltage of electric current brought in by major transmission lines, preparing it for distribution to endusers. Without the Westwing transformers, utilities have had to route more electricity through three other Valley substations.

On Saturday, APS acquired a replacement transformer from the Bonneville Power Administration in Washington state. The 400,000- pound transformer was loaded on a special highway hauler at Covington, Wash., and made the 36-mile trip to the port of Tacoma, Wash., at an average speed of about 2 miles per hour, said APS spokesman Alan Bunnell.

The $2million piece of equipment arrived at Tacoma on Sunday night, he said.

The process of loading the transformer on the barge, along with the hauler, began Monday night, and the barge is expected to leave port in about two days. Because the wheeled hauler is being transported with the transformer, the barge ramp will have to be welded shut to hold the massive cargo in position, Bunnell said.

The barge will carry the transformer to a port in California, which is not being disclosed for security reasons. The weld will then be broken and the transformer unloaded for transport via the hauler to the Westwing substation at Loop 303 and Happy Valley Road.

The average speed between California and Arizona is expected to be about 10 miles per hour, faster than the Washington leg of the 1,500-mile journey because of better roads, Bunnell said.

It is expected to arrive at Westwing during the week of July 25. Installation will require another three weeks. Completion of the task may ease the electricity crisis, but other Westwing transformer replacements are not expected to be completed until next summer. In the meantime, the utilities said they will ask customers to conserve electricity for the rest of this summer, particularly during the peak-use hours of 3 to 6 p.m. daily.

So far there have been no outages related to the Westwing fire, but minor interruptions were reported during the weekend because of problems at smaller substations around the Valley.