Nearly 3,000 line sensors and over 100
automatic transfer reclosers will be installed this year
JACKSON,
Mich., May 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers
Energy will invest nearly $24 million
in smart technology this year to prevent power outages and keep the
lights on for customers. Nearly 3,000 line sensors – the most that
Consumers Energy has ever installed in a year – and over 100
automatic transfer reclosers (ATRs) are being deployed throughout
Michigan.
"Consumers Energy has made a commitment with our Reliability
Roadmap to ultimately restore power in 24 hours or less. New
technology like this is an important tool as we make the grid more
reliable for all our customers," said Chris Laird, Consumers Energy's vice president
of electric operations. "We're excited and know these devices
will continue keeping us on track to serve close to 2 million
Michigan homes and businesses more
reliably every hour of every day."
ATRs and line sensors are cutting-edge reliability
technologies. ATRs isolate outages by detecting power loss
and, like a traffic cop, automatically re-routing power in another
direction. Line sensors predict problems on the grid and alert
crews in real time with exact locations, preventing outages before
they happen. Together, these technologies enable crews to identify
problems quickly and precisely, and reduce the size and length of
power outages.
Consumers Energy estimates ATRs have helped to prevent hundreds
of thousands of outages over the past few years. In 2023 alone,
ATRs prevented outages for nearly 70,000 customers by
isolating outages to the smallest area possible.
"ATRs and line sensors are both instrumental when storms strike
and cause outages," said Greg
Salisbury, vice president of electric engineering "They
will be a big part of our reliability future and keeping the power
on for our customers."
Smart technology is a key component of the Reliability
Roadmap, Consumers Energy's plan for a smarter and stronger
electric grid. The plan also includes investments in forestry work
and infrastructure upgrades, with tactics like installing iron
poles to withstand Michigan's
severe weather, and burying overhead powerlines. It is a blueprint
for serving Michigan today while
investing and innovating to meet the challenges of
tomorrow.
Consumers Energy is Michigan's
largest energy provider, providing natural gas and/or electricity
to 6.8 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower
Peninsula counties. Consumers Energy knows job No. 1 is to keep the
lights on for customers. We are committed to delivering reliable,
clean, and affordable energy to our customers 24/7.
For more information about Consumers Energy, go to
ConsumersEnergy.com.
Check out Consumers Energy on Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consumersenergymichigan
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SOURCE Consumers Energy