Electromechanical fuse for storm damage mitigation and outage reduction on distribution line customer service drops

摘要

Events such as hurricanes, severe icing events, and tornados clearly show that a significant number of customer outages are related to the interruption of power on the service end of the delivery system (i.e., at the customer's place of business or residence). Experience shows that these extreme events typically cause outages that are the result of impacting trees and branches on the service side support wires. An electromechanical protective overload device has been developed that can be installed in line with the service drop support wire to limit the maximum tension that can be exerted on the service installation on the customer's place of business or residence. This device acts as a mechanical fuse that allows the connection to be severed (i.e., both mechanically and electrically) on the transformer side before tensions increase far enough to cause any damage on the dwelling.