Entergy Mississippi installs nearly 70 reclosers to improve service reliability
Entergy Mississippi said Wednesday that it has installed 69 reclosers in its networks as part of a $4.5 million project to enhance service reliability.
The reclosers temporarily open a line when brief problems occur. This sectionalizes the power and helps prevent additional damage to equipment, reduces the frequency and length of outages and
reduces the number of customers affected by outages.
“A recloser is a lot like a circuit breaker in your house,” Robbin Jeter, Entergy Mississippi vice president of distribution operations, said. “When a breaker overloads or short circuits, it cuts off electrical current to the problem line until the issue can be safely addressed. If a limb or animal brushes the line, the power comes back on automatically when that line is cleared.”
Entergy Mississippi noted that, to determine where to install the devices, it used historical data and engineers looked at every circuit in every network in Entergy Mississippi’s service area.
“We used historical data to determine where reclosers would have the most impact in reducing the number of customers affected should a power outage occur,” Jeter said. “By adding equipment that isolates areas experiencing problems, overall customer power disruptions can be reduced.”
