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Electric system improvements near East Baton Rouge and Ascension Parishes line
08/08/2024
Self-healing network and reliability work to reduce power outages
Entergy Louisiana is enhancing the electric system for communities in the Interstate 10 to Jefferson Highway corridor near the East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes line. These improvements include engineering and constructing a self-healing network, as well as performing reliability work on overhead power lines.
These projects will benefit more than 5,800 customers in neighborhoods extending from Jefferson Highway and Pecue Lane to Old Jefferson Highway and Highway 42 on the east side, and from Old Perkins and Perkins roads to Bluff Road and Bluff Oaks Avenue on the west side.
A self-healing network employs smart devices with automatic reclosing technology, known as reclosers, that are programmed to communicate and operate when the electric system is impacted. These smart devices sectionalize the grid, allowing portions of the electric system to continue operating even during temporary disruptions, such as a small tree limb falling onto a power line or an animal contacting equipment. These devices can identify specific impact locations and isolate affected sections of the grid, ensuring that not all customers connected to certain power lines experience outages.
“A self-healing network is like a brain in that it makes decisions based on what has been experienced,” said Steven Benyard, vice president of reliability for Entergy in Louisiana.
He added, “Imagine if the electric system was broken down into lines and squares, with the lines representing our power lines and the squares representing our smart devices. If a tree limb falls onto the line between the first and second squares, the smart devices would communicate and maintain power flow between squares two to four while isolating the section between squares one and two.”
The result is fewer customer interruptions and a more precise location for line workers to inspect and repair. This outcome minimizes the overall impact on customers and accelerates the inspection and restoration process for those affected by the power outage, Benyard explained.
The self-healing network near the East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes line includes three substations and five distribution power lines. As part of the project, crews are upgrading and installing 13 reclosers, installing four concrete poles, and upgrading one pole to a 60-foot class 1 wooden pole.
Additionally, as part of a separate reliability project, crews will replace several crossarms (equipment that holds power lines, insulators and other material in the air), install a guard to protect equipment from animals, strategically cut tree limbs away from power lines and conduct other miscellaneous tasks along Jefferson and Old Jefferson highways between Highland Road and Highway 42.
Crews anticipate completing both the self-healing network and reliability work by the end of the year. Neighborhoods like Manchac Place in Prairieville and Azalea Lakes in Baton Rouge, for example, are included in the self-healing network.
To learn more about Entergy’s reliability efforts, visit entergy.com/reliability.
