Our team provided planning and consulting services for a five-year, $132 million distribution automation program focused on improving service reliability of the electric distribution grid and on enhancing system performance for the utility’s 439,000 customers in the region.
The distribution automation initiative uses fault location, isolation and service restoration (FLISR) capabilities — otherwise known as self-healing, smart grid technology — to help reduce the duration of power outages, reduce storm impacts, and restore service faster when outages happen.
Through system intelligence, remote control devices and an advanced communications network, FLISR technology and advanced smart grid devices allow MLGW to identify the location of a fault and then isolate the faulted area so that the impact and frequency of the power outage is minimized. It’s projected the upgraded system will reduce outages in the area by 30%, and when outages do occur, customer minutes interrupted will be significantly lower.