ALLIANCE, Ohio, Feb. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio Edison, a
FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) electric company, has completed
upgrades to its power system in Alliance, Stark
County, to help prevent or minimize the length of service
disruptions, particularly during severe weather. The work includes
installation of new, automated equipment and technology in a
substation and along power lines serving nearly 5,000 customers in
Alliance.
"Every project is customized and designed to address the
particular reliability needs of each community where work is being
done," said Ed Shuttleworth,
president of FirstEnergy's Ohio
operations. "These upgrades will allow us to restore service to our
customers faster following severe weather events and reduce many
power interruptions to just a brief or momentary outage."
Utility personnel upgraded electrical equipment in an
Alliance substation as well as
modernized the power lines that deliver electric service to
customers from the facility. Hundreds of homes and businesses in
the area will benefit from the installation of 13 new automated
reclosing devices in the substation and along power lines to help
limit the frequency, duration and scope of service
interruptions.
These electrical devices work like a circuit breaker in a home
that shuts off power when trouble occurs, with the added benefit of
automatically reenergizing a substation or power line within
seconds for certain types of outages to keep power safely flowing
to customers. This technology is safer and more efficient because
it often allows utility personnel to automatically restore service
to customers in lieu of sending a crew to investigate.
If the device senses a more serious issue, like a fallen tree on
electrical equipment, it will isolate the outage to that area to
limit the total number of affected customers. The device's smart
technology will quickly pinpoint the location of the fault and help
utility personnel better understand the cause of the outage to help
speed restoration.
To determine the best locations for these automated devices,
utility personnel, in conjunction with the Public Utilities
Commission of Ohio, reviewed
outage patterns across Stark
County and identified areas that would benefit from new
technology.
Nearly 18 miles of additional power lines that tie together
existing circuits were also constructed to provide more flexibility
in restoring service following outages caused by events such as
storms and vehicle accidents. The new power lines – designed to
better withstand tree debris and severe weather – will help reduce
the length and overall number of customers impacted during an
outage by switching them to a backup line for faster service
restoration.
Lastly, seven capacitor banks and four voltage regulators were
installed to help ensure all customers served by a single power
line receive the same flow of safe, reliable power by evenly
distributing electricity down the line. These devices are expected
to reduce energy usage for customers served near the beginning of a
power line because they will benefit from lower power voltages
being fed into their homes or businesses.
The work builds upon power system upgrades completed across
northeast Ohio over the past two
years. The upgrades have improved average restoration times in some
areas by nearly an hour in more complex outage scenarios, such as
equipment damage from severe weather or a vehicle accident.
Additional work is planned across the region as part of the
company's three-year portfolio of grid modernization work that
began in 2020.
Ohio Edison serves more than
one million customers across 34 Ohio counties. Follow Ohio Edison on
Twitter @OhioEdison and on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/OhioEdison.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form
one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems,
serving customers in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West
Virginia, Maryland and
New York. The company's
transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy online
at www.firstenergycorp.com and on
Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.