One of Choctawhatchee Electrical Cooperative's newest projects, feeder automation, makes the organization's reliability even stronger, according to a CHELCO media release.
"It brings operational and engineering analysis technology together to create a smarter electric grid, which makes our members power more reliable," the release stated.
CHELCO fully activated the feeder automation system earlier this month. North Baker, Laurel Hill West, South Glendale and North DeFuniak are the first areas to receive activation.
The technology automatically detects any disturbance that causes an outage and redistributes the power by remotely activating switches that restore power to as much of the affected outage area as possible. Not everyone will have power, but fewer members would be out of power because electricity is routed on different circuit to some of the members. Some of the testing showed that the average time to restore power was two and half minutes.
"The feeder automation project is just one way CHELCO works for its members by maintaining the best reliability possible," CEO Steve Rhodes said. "Although this project will be implemented over the next 10 years, the benefits have already begun with the recent activations."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: New CHELCO project set to improve power reliability