A Power Blink is Not Always Bad
It has always been the primary goal and responsibility of Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative to deliver the highest possible quality of electric service at the lowest possible price. Quality seems to be measured in the number of power outages, or power blinks the member encounters. I want to discuss the latter as a positive rather than a negative. I know resetting your clocks, cable boxes, and other appliances around the house can be annoying, but a blink is better than an outage.
Let’s take a moment to understand the power grid and how Marshall-DeKalb is leveraging technology to enhance reliability by reducing outages. In the past, a blink often signaled an impending outage. However, with the adoption of newer technologies, we are working to reduce the number of outages. This may mean you see more blinks, but it’s a sign that we’re actively working to prevent outages. Our commitment to using technology to improve reliability should reassure you of our capabilities.
Several years ago, we started a program to install fuses on many distribution lines. These fuses were one-shot devices that, when a fault occurred, the fuse blew and everyone downstream of the device lost power. The problem with the fuse is evident. A tree limb contacts the power line and creates a fault, resulting in a power outage. What we are using technology to do now is to reclose the line after the initial fault, leading to a power blink rather than a power outage.
Marshall-DeKalb is now using several technologies, including pole-top circuit reclosers and sectionalizers, to replace an outage with a blink. These technologies operate on the principle of reclosing the circuit after the fault has cleared to maintain the current flow. This results in the power blink that you experience without the outage.
I understand how frustrating and annoying it can be to deal with power blinks. However, it’s important to remember that every time your power blinks and comes back on, a power outage is averted. Even with the best technology, power outages can still occur. Rest assured, we are constantly monitoring our system. Should a power outage occur, we are always ready to respond. Our goal is to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, ensuring your comfort and safety. Scott Bobo-MDEC GM