Westport
in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Wednesday,
February 26, 2014
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Lions Club offers Scholarships.
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More power to ya! NSTAR program of clipping
back trees and strengthening 3-phase power lines brings greater capacity and
more reliability to Westport’s distribution grid. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday, February 26, 2014 Photos/EverythingWestport.com More power to ya! Unless you’ve
been visiting another planet, over the last two years NSTAR has been very
visible cutting back the roadside tree canopy and upgrading their power
distribution network to better service Westport residents.
Above: The weather has
been less than cooperative as frigid temperatures, snow and sleet, and high
winds batter NSTAR utility workers upgrading Westport’s electrical distribution
network. And the utility’s
efforts are paying off. There were no
major, or even minor for that matter, power outages in one of the worst
winters Westport has experienced in decades. NSTAR is fighting back. For more than 100
years, NSTAR Electric and Gas has been delivering electricity and natural gas
to customers in Eastern, Central and But in recent
years, severe fall and winter storms have taken their toll on aging trees and
tree limbs, and many town residents have experienced major blackouts, some
lasting a week or more. Left: upgrading Westport’s electrical distribution grid will hopefully
reduce images like this caused by tropical storm Sandy that hit Westport on
October 30, 2012 with tremendous damage to trees and East Beach Road. NSTAR has pursued
an aggressive program over the last two years to cut back tree branches and
remove aging trees that threaten their power grid. They have also improved
the power distribution grid in Westport with new poles, and upgraded the 3-phase
electrical wire service with the capacity to deliver higher amperage to meet
emerging requirements, “We’re replacing the
existing 30 foot poles with new 45 footers,” said an NSTAR utility worker at the
beginning of the week. “The poles are about 40 percent larger in diameter.” The increased strength
and height of the poles will keep pace with the heavier loads being introduced
by cable and phone utilities, and will be more resistant to downed tree
damage.
Inset: Looking much like the Martian tripod invaders in War of the Worlds,
these five Lewis Tree Service bucket trucks made quick work of tree pruning
on Hixbridge Road between Route 88 and Drift Road
in September of 2012. The town experienced many road closures with only
school buses, abutters and emergency vehicles getting through during the
intensive tree cropping activity of the NSTAR contractors. Click on
picture to enlarge.
Above, left: utility workers
restring the 3-phase electrical lines.
Right: 3-phase lines are more tightly grouped and supported and
protected by a heavy gauge aluminum cable.
Above: NSTAR has taken
an innovative approach to safe maintenance and self-healing by installing
radio-controlled switches on the 3-phase lines at key points in the Westport
grid, improving service to areas previously cut off from power when line
crews were repairing downed lines. Smart Distribution solutions for restoring
Power Grids. The electric
industry introduced the term smart distribution to classify some of the
growing challenges facing electric distribution utilities. It covers fundamental requirements to
maintain grid reliability and enable more efficient restoration from severe
storms and other natural disasters. Smart
distribution supports the concept of self-healing and autonomous
restoration—the ability to restore healthy sections of the network after a
fault without manual intervention. Smart distribution also enhances security
of supply and power quality—the ability of the distribution grid to maintain
supply to customers under abnormal conditions and deliver a quality of power
that meets customers’ needs. The ability to
keep stakeholders informed helped significantly in saving lives and restoring
electric service. Customers with smart phones were able to receive updates
from their utilities, and in some cases, were also able to help utilities
locate trouble spots. Communication between the utility control room and the
field personnel were critical in assessing the damage and understanding the options
for reestablishing service. After Sandy, mutual assistance programs brought
field personnel from all parts of the U.S. to help with the restoration. Keeping
communication infrastructure working is critical to efficient storm recovery
efforts. Editor’s
note: some information for this article courtesy
of NSTAR and NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) Westport
Lions Club offers Scholarships. EverythingWestport.com Thursday,
February 27, 2014 Westport Lions
Club is again pleased to offer two scholarships to Westport residents who are
high school seniors graduating in June of 2014. One scholarship
is $6,000.00 and the other is $3,200.00 payable directly to the student in
four installments of $1,500.00 or $800.00 for four consecutive years. The
actual money is granted after the successful completion of the first semester
of each year. By filling out an
application you will be considered for both scholarships. First place gets
the $6,000.00 scholarship and second place gets the $3,200.00. To obtain
applications contact the Guidance offices of the following schools: Westport
High School, Bishop Connolly, Bishop Stang, Diman Vocational High School, and Bristol Agricultural
High Schools. You must be a
Westport resident. If you need more information or an application contact
President Mike at 508.636.8642. © 2014 Community Events of Westport. All rights
reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
