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When a sudden summer thunderstorm crashed a giant tree through a transmission line, Kyle Allwine, the public relations manager at Northern Neck Electric Cooperative, jumped into emergency response mode.
But when Allwine asked the duty supervisor how long it would take to restore power to the 500 meters on the outage map, he got a blank stare.
“They’re like, ‘Well, they’re not actually out. We have a DA switch. Those people have power,’” said Allwine. “In less than three minutes, we can have 1,000 members back on. This is a game-changer.”
The DA switch—a distribution automation device with sensors and communication—keeps power flowing through smart automatic transfers to a working substation when power lines or equipment at another electricity source fails.
The June storm was the first real-world trial of NNEC’s DA device built by the engineers, technicians and lineworkers at the Warsaw, Virginia-based co-op and installed late last year along a right of way.
NNEC serves a 60-mile-long peninsula bound by the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers and the Chesapeake Bay with a transmission line coursing through mature forests to feed the co-op’s substations.
Driven to perfect its territory’s reliability, the co-op began exploring DA solutions and gained tools and knowledge from NRECA’s webinars and conferences, said Allwine.
“Distribution automation is key to building smarter, more reliable and resilient grids,” said Ravindra Singh, NRECA’s senior principal of distribution automation. “NNEC has shown how co-ops can lead by deploying smart transfer switches supported by SCADA systems, and with resources like NRECA’s DA Toolkit and roadmap, co-ops can plan, justify and implement similar projects with confidence and peer-backed support.”
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Another major benefit of DA is safety for line crews making repairs during dicey weather. Without the pressure of having members in the dark, lineworkers, especially at co-ops where staff is stretched, can be more deliberate in the restoration process, said Allwine.
“This is their community, so they have great pride in their work, and they want to get that power back on quick,” he said. “When the power's already back on, it becomes a question of just getting the repair done right and getting it done safe.”
Having passed its first test, NNEC expects DA to shine in future power catastrophes that might involve a lengthier restoration process, like having to set poles or wait for transformer parts in a still-unpredictable supply chain.
“You don't really have much control over when that outage is going to happen. That's what's great about this technology—it works,” said Allwine. “The benefits of DA are only going to increase.”
