The Reclosers are Coming!

This coming Thursday, August 27, the Town of Franklin will hold one of its periodic “Pole Petition” meetings, usually among the least dramatic of the town’s many and varied official gatherings.

This one may not be much different, though there are a total of five utility poles for which petitions have been filed. Of interest, however, is that two of those petitions, one for a pole on Grove Street and one for a pole on East Central Street involve the installation of ‘reclosers.’

What, you might ask, is a recloser?

Well the name is actually perfectly descriptive of what amounts to a giant circuit breaker covering a particular section of the town. When a branch falls on a line or when there is a lightning strike that upsets the normal flow of electricity, the recloser interrupts the power. But, thanks to all the modern smarts built into it, it is able to detect if the problem is persisting and serious or just a momentary glitch.

If it is safe to do so, it will resume power transmission.

The point, of all this, is to make power delivery more consistent and resilient.

A spokesperson for New England National Grid, explained that the benefits of adding reclosers to the town’s power lines include:

1. Reduces Power Outages: Many electric system faults are temporary. A recloser can restore power automatically within seconds without needing a crew to respond.

2. Improves Reliability: Utilities use reclosers to improve reliability of metrics by reducing both the frequency and duration of outages.

3. Isolates Permanent Faults: If a fault is permanent, the recloser locks open and isolates only the affected section, allowing the rest of the system to remain energized.

4. Reduces Operating Costs: Automatic restoration means fewer truck rolls and faster fault identification, saving utilities time and money.

5. Enhances Public Safety: By quickly interrupting fault currents, reclosers help protect equipment, reduce fire risk, and minimize damage to the distribution system.

Pretty cool, huh?