Cummins Inc. has put out the word that it will play an important role for Sunday’s Super Bowl 52. U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis — site of the NFL championship game — has two Cummins 60-liter diesel generators to provide emergency power in case of an outage, said Blair Claflin, director of sustainability communications for Columbus-based Cummins. Here are 5 Things to Know about Cummins’ game plan for Sunday, outlined by Claflin.
1. OUR POSITION
The Cummins generators are permanent fixtures, painted to match the stadium’s dark-gray exterior. You might not even notice them walking by. But together they can generate some 4,000 kilowatts (kW) of power — enough to light up 200 houses — to keep players and fans safe, said Dan Biro, General Sales Manager — Commercial Power Generation for Cummins Distribution Business based in the Twin Cities.
2. THE GAME PLAN
Stadiums use tremendous amounts of power, especially during spectacles such as Sunday’s game. Biro said the Cummins generators would provide electricity for emergency lighting, the public address system and other functions needed to keep the more than 60,000 people inside the stadium safe during an outage.
They would not power the lights focused on the field, the television-related equipment to broadcast the game or the power required for all the special events surrounding an occasion of this magnitude. Portable generators will bear some of that extra load and utilities design redundancies in their systems to help guard against any problems.
3. THE HOMETOWN TEAM
There will be at least one hometown team at the game. A large part of Cummins Power Systems is based in suburban Minneapolis. Cummins emphasized to officials when plans were being drawn up for U.S. Bank Stadium that its generators and transfer switches were designed by Cummins engineers in Minnesota, built by Minnesota workers at the company and would be serviced by Cummins technicians living in Minnesota.
Given the critical importance of dependability, Cummins’ unique capacity to address almost any issue locally was impossible to match.
4. THE INTANGIBLES
There are other factors, of course, that make Cummins a fan favorite.
They include things such as the generators’ Smart Start feature, producing less smoke, which is especially important in an urban area like Minneapolis.
The generators’ relatively compact design also scored points with officials given the stadium’s limited footprint, so close to downtown.
5. THE POWER SWEEP
Is it any wonder that Cummins generators also provide standby power to the recently built Target Field, home to the Minnesota Twins baseball team, and TCF Bank Stadium, home to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team?
You learn a move or two when you’ve been in business for nearly 100 years.
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NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles vs. AFC champion New England Patriots
When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
Where to watch: NBC
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