Profile
A midsized cooperative in the Southwest operates more than 7,000 miles of overhead distribution lines and serves roughly 36,000 customers. Despite having reclosers in place, outages on several of their laterals continued to require manual patrols, leading to restoration times that often exceed three hours. These extended outages were driving up SAIDI and generating avoidable operational costs.
Challenge
Although reclosers were doing their job—operating correctly during fault conditions—the utility still lacked the visibility needed to pinpoint the exact fault location. With several non-communicating reclosers installed on laterals, crews had limited information on where to begin patrols. The result: long travel and inspection times, prolonged outages, and an increasingly frustrated membership.
Solution
To close the visibility gap, the cooperative deployed line sensors downstream of its non-communicating reclosers. The sensors were integrated into a network that included:
- Communicating reclosers on the feeder
- Non-communicating reclosers on laterals
- Line sensors staged strategically along the circuit
These sensors monitor real-time electrical, environmental, and physical conditions that feed accurate, proprietary fault-location algorithms. This results in hours of patrol time saved by dispatching crews directly to the faulted section.
During a recent fault event:
- The recloser operated and isolated the faulted section as designed
- The line sensors identified the fault location with high accuracy
- Crews were dispatched immediately
- Customers were restored right away while repairs were made downstream on the isolated section, resulting in SAIDI reduction.
Results
The combination of communicating reclosers and line sensors transformed the cooperative’s outage response process:
- Up to 20% reduction in SAIDI, driven by faster crew dispatch and targeted troubleshooting
- Lower O&M costs due to fewer truck rolls and reduced patrol time
- Improved customer satisfaction with quicker restorations and fewer members impacted by each event
Conclusion
By adding situational awareness where it mattered most—downstream of non-communicating protective devices—the utility achieved a step-change in outage response performance. This deployment shows how targeted sensor installations can unlock meaningful reliability improvements without requiring an overhaul of existing infrastructure.
Bring Visibility to Your Laterals
Learn how EGM helps utilities pinpoint faults faster—without replacing existing infrastructure.
