BERLIN– New electric upgrades should help protect area homes and businesses from widespread blackouts.
Berlin began installing in-line disconnects in 23 locations throughout the town earlier this month.
“The locations will be throughout the entire system in Berlin,” said ElecAtric Utility Director Tim Lawrence. “Basically, what they enable us to do is do sectionalizing block-to-block. Say a car hits a pole in the middle of Jefferson, for example. Halfway down the street we would be able to open on each end and back feed – get customers back online and just have that one little area out.
“Right now we don’t have that capability,” Lawrence continued. “We have that capability in a larger-type atmosphere, but installing these disconnects we can reduce that area to a small, minute area.”
Lawrence oversaw similar systems while working for a utility company in Virginia.
“We also noticed this when we went up during the storm trouble to help Baltimore Gas and Electric,” he said. “They’re doing the same thing – they’re installing it all throughout their system. I just happened to ask the question, ‘why are you guys installing that?’ and they explained to me what the reasoning was behind it. And I said, ‘you know what? That’s pretty good.’”
Berlin has often been the victim of harsh storms and heavy winds.
“When the transmission line broke off at AGH and fell across 113, that was a good example right there,” Lawrence said. “You had five transmission poles that broke; if you had more sectionalizing capability you would be able to open and close and reduce that area to a smaller area, and then back feed to get everybody else back on. That’s what we’re looking at here.”
Delmarva Power uses the technology in Salisbury, but few other towns in Worcester County have in-line disconnects installed.
The upgrades will cost the town $26,235.65 and be completed by October 1.
While Lawrence couldn’t put a value on how much the town stands to save by limiting outages, he did stress the importance of eliminating customer inconvenience.
“If you have a major power outage and, the way we’re set up now where you would have to sectionalize and back feed, if you have a big area you have a large number of people who are inconvenienced,” he said. “And think about the lost revenue too, because the meter is not turning. So, if you can reduce the area you can get a lot more people back on a lot quicker.
“It brings back the revenue side of it, plus it’s very good public relations with your electric customer,” Lawrence continued. “It keeps them happy. The more people I can get back on the sooner, the happier everybody is going to be.”
Power stations in Berlin have survived the sweltering temperatures thus far, and Lawrence expects that trend to continue throughout the summer.
“We’re doing real good,” he said. “The peak hasn’t been that bad yet. Even on days when its 97 degrees here it may be raining on the other side of the Bay Bridge, and that impacts the entire area. So it’s not all based on Berlin’s total load – it’s based on the state. It’s a large area, but we’ll be alright this summer. We always are.”
Berlin began installing in-line disconnects in 23 locations throughout the town earlier this month.
“The locations will be throughout the entire system in Berlin,” said ElecAtric Utility Director Tim Lawrence. “Basically, what they enable us to do is do sectionalizing block-to-block. Say a car hits a pole in the middle of Jefferson, for example. Halfway down the street we would be able to open on each end and back feed – get customers back online and just have that one little area out.
“Right now we don’t have that capability,” Lawrence continued. “We have that capability in a larger-type atmosphere, but installing these disconnects we can reduce that area to a small, minute area.”
Lawrence oversaw similar systems while working for a utility company in Virginia.
“We also noticed this when we went up during the storm trouble to help Baltimore Gas and Electric,” he said. “They’re doing the same thing – they’re installing it all throughout their system. I just happened to ask the question, ‘why are you guys installing that?’ and they explained to me what the reasoning was behind it. And I said, ‘you know what? That’s pretty good.’”
Berlin has often been the victim of harsh storms and heavy winds.
“When the transmission line broke off at AGH and fell across 113, that was a good example right there,” Lawrence said. “You had five transmission poles that broke; if you had more sectionalizing capability you would be able to open and close and reduce that area to a smaller area, and then back feed to get everybody else back on. That’s what we’re looking at here.”
Delmarva Power uses the technology in Salisbury, but few other towns in Worcester County have in-line disconnects installed.
The upgrades will cost the town $26,235.65 and be completed by October 1.
While Lawrence couldn’t put a value on how much the town stands to save by limiting outages, he did stress the importance of eliminating customer inconvenience.
“If you have a major power outage and, the way we’re set up now where you would have to sectionalize and back feed, if you have a big area you have a large number of people who are inconvenienced,” he said. “And think about the lost revenue too, because the meter is not turning. So, if you can reduce the area you can get a lot more people back on a lot quicker.
“It brings back the revenue side of it, plus it’s very good public relations with your electric customer,” Lawrence continued. “It keeps them happy. The more people I can get back on the sooner, the happier everybody is going to be.”
Power stations in Berlin have survived the sweltering temperatures thus far, and Lawrence expects that trend to continue throughout the summer.
“We’re doing real good,” he said. “The peak hasn’t been that bad yet. Even on days when its 97 degrees here it may be raining on the other side of the Bay Bridge, and that impacts the entire area. So it’s not all based on Berlin’s total load – it’s based on the state. It’s a large area, but we’ll be alright this summer. We always are.”