Line Crews Restore Power with Auto Transformers

For the past five years, field crews at Colorado Springs Utilities have used a device to restore service in minutes, rather than days, to residential customers experiencing partial power failure. Since the utility repairs about 150 services per year, the technology has helped field crews to minimize...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transmission & Distribution World 2009-06, Vol.61 (6), p.64F-64I
Main Authors: Hitchison, Tom, Dornick, Mike
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Brownouts
Corporate profiles
Cost reduction
Customer relations
Customer services
Electric current regulators
Electric utilities
Electrical equipment
Employees
Overtime
Renovation & restoration
Repair & maintenance
Schedules
Services
Technology application
Trucks
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:For the past five years, field crews at Colorado Springs Utilities have used a device to restore service in minutes, rather than days, to residential customers experiencing partial power failure. Since the utility repairs about 150 services per year, the technology has helped field crews to minimize overtime and increase efficiency in the field. While the power-restoring technology has been available for several years, Springs Utilities first purchased five units in August 2004. Since then, the utility has purchased eight more customized units. When a customer experiences an outage, field crews can choose between two types of tools -- a service restorer or a dead-leg adapter -- to temporarily provide power. Troublemen and cable techs often work by themselves in the field. For that reason, Springs Utilities ensured that the device could be loaded and unloaded off of a line truck by one person.
ISSN:1087-0849