Automatic Transfer Reclosers Help Consumers Energy Prevent Outages
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Michigan-based Consumers Energy claimed that it has avoided outages for more than 72,000 customers so far in 2024 (as well as about 70,000 customers in 2023) thanks to the ongoing deployment of automatic transfer reclosers (ATRs) and similar technologies. All told, that makes over 700,000 hours’ worth of avoided outages in the past 2 years alone. This is quite an impressive feat, so I thought it would be helpful to do a bit of a deeper dive.
Overview of Consumer Energy’s Fleet of Automatic Transfer Reclosers (ATRs)
The utility currently has roughly 550 ATRs strategically located within its Michigan service territory, and it plans to add an additional 100 this year and many more in the future. In addition to the automatic transfer reclosers, the utility is placing a heavy emphasis on inspections and will have inspected over 25,000 miles of low-voltage lines by the end of this year. The utility is also installing 3,000 line sensors.
These efforts dovetail with the company’s announcement in May 2024 that it plans to invest about $24 million in smart technology designed to reduce or prevent outages. A key objective for this is the utility’s stated goal to ensure that no more than 100,000 customers ever lose power from an event, and that all outages are restored in 24 hours or less.
The utility was prompted to make these enhancements in part because it has been under fairly intense regulatory scrutiny over its performance during recent events. Specifically, a recent state audit revealed that Consumers Energy is slower than other utilities in terms of restoration times, and over 10% of the utility’s customers experienced at least 4 outages in 2023. The utility has been dinged in other areas as well, but you get the point.
Regardless of the history, the deployment of automatic transfer reclosers and other smart technologies is clearly a step in the right direction from an emergency preparedness perspective. Kudos to Consumers Energy!
