ALLENTOWN, Pa., Aug. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new automated
power restoration system is turning the lights back on for PPL
Electric Utilities customers in minutes, even before a work crew
has made repairs.
The system led to significantly shorter power outages for
thousands of homes and businesses in two recent rounds of
thunderstorms.
The PPL smart grid uses advanced technology that includes
pole-top sensors to detect outages, a central computer that quickly
analyzes the problem, and remote-control switches that reroute
power and restore many affected customers to service.
"Our goal is to provide exceptional service for our customers,
and this new technology is one key way we are doing that," said
David Quier, the utility's
operations director.
During severe thunderstorms the week of July 18, the PPL smart grid restored 9,488 homes
and businesses to service in an average of one minute and 56
seconds. The following week, during another round of severe storms,
the technology restored 5,308 customers automatically in an average
of one minute and 36 seconds.
Automated power restoration is the latest in a series of
reliability improvements made by PPL. Other ways the company is
improving service for customers include making lines and equipment
more stormproof, installing guards to keep squirrels and other
animals from causing outages, and expanded tree trimming, because
trees are the major cause of outages during storms.
The result has been a 30 percent reduction in the number of
power outages since 2007, with another 15 percent fewer outages
expected in the next five years. During 2015, PPL Electric
Utilities reliability programs prevented an estimated 410,000 power
outages for customers.
Here is how the smart grid system works:
A car striking a pole might trip a circuit breaker and knock out
power for all customers in the neighborhood. Smart grid technology
instantly detects the outage, throws switches to isolate the
damaged area from the rest of the circuit, and then reroutes power
to restore service to many of the affected customers. A work crew
then responds to install a new pole, turning the lights back on for
those customers who could not be restored automatically because
they were closest to the damage.
Here are some recent examples of smart grid operations:
- A tree branch fell on a power line in Thompsontown, Juniata County, on April 9, cutting power to 1,800 customers. The
PPL smart grid returned 1,016 of the customers to service in four
minutes.
- A tree fell on a power line in the Macungie area on June
24, cutting power to 1,758 customers. In two minutes, 923 of
the customers were returned to service.
- A storm in the Bloomsburg area
June 28 cut power to 1,694 customers.
In four minutes, smart grid had turned power back on for 1,456
customers.
- An equipment failure in the Whitehall area June
28 cut power to 1,578 customers. In two minutes, 856 of the
customers were back in power.
"In the coming years, we will install another 1,000 smart grid
sensors and automated switches around PPL's service territory,"
Quier said. "This will make the PPL smart grid system even more
effective, further improving the reliability of our service for
customers."
More information on the PPL Electric Utilities smart grid,
including a short video demonstrating how it works, can be found at
www.pplelectric.com/smartgrid.
PPL Electric Utilities provides electric delivery service to
more than 1.4 million homes and businesses in Pennsylvania and ranks among the best utility
companies in the country for customer service and reliability. With
2,300 employees, PPL Electric Utilities is a major employer in the
communities it serves. It is a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE:
PPL). For more information visit www.pplelectric.com.
Visit our media website at
www.pplnewsroom.comfor additional news and
background about PPL Corporation.
Contact:
Paul Wirth, 610-774-5997
PPL Electric Utilities
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SOURCE PPL Electric Utilities