Northeast utility installing smart switches to address outages, develop smart grid
Investor-owned utility Eversource on Oct. 13 said that it is installing 200 smart switches on its system throughout Connecticut in order to make the state’s electric grid smarter and restore power outages more quickly.
With these devices, outages can be restored with computer-assisted technology from the company’s operations center, without having to deploy a crew to inspect and make repairs, Eversource said in a news release.
The utility said that customers will benefit from the nearly $13 million investment as the smart switches are designed to decrease outages by 30 to 50 percent.
Eversource said that this latest upgrade project is another significant step toward developing a smart grid in Connecticut.
The automatic switching devices identify the location of power outages as they occur, isolate problem areas on the system and re-route power to customers. The smart switches “ensure there is more than one way the electricity can reach customers, which reduces the duration of outages and the number of customers affected,” the company said.
Over the past two years, Eversource has installed approximately 50 of these automated smart switches in communities around the state. This year, more than 60 devices are being added to the electric system and close to 90 more will be installed in 2017.
