ROWE — Residents were introduced to a series of infrastructure upgrades in the works by National Grid to ensure a more storm-resistant power grid.
The Rowe Reliability Project — spanning from Tunnel and Petrie roads and from Hazelton Road to the town center — aims to add an additional regional feeder to ensure a backup power source in the event of an outage. The project’s Lead Community Manager Robert Ide explained on Wednesday that the work will include the installation of new utility poles within the project perimeter and the restringing of existing lines. He said it will not interrupt service to customers.
“We have a single feed coming out on the substation. So right now, if there is a single tree that comes down in that right of way (across Brittingham Hill Road and Tunnel Road), every surrounding community served by National Grid goes out of power. You go out of power, Charlemont goes out of power, Heath goes out of power, Monroe goes out of power, as well as Hawley,” Ide said. “What we’re doing today for Rowe is we’re kind of doing the second step, to put in a system that allows for high-speed isolation of outages or faults.”
In an effort to further protect residents from outages and ensure that power can be restored as promptly as possible in the event of a storm, Ide explained that National Grid will use Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration (FLISR) technology to automatically detect problems, isolate electrical faults and reroute power.
Director of Community Engagement for National Grid Joanne DeRose, noting that the snowstorm that spread through the region on Presidents’ Day weekend took down 30 utility poles within Nation Grid’s right of way, explained that changes to the poles are expected to make the grid more storm-resilient.
In response to a resident’s concerns that the project might defy some of the state’s clean energy regulations, Ide assured the crowd that the project will be unaffected by environmental regulations. DeRose added that the project will be funded entirely by National Grid, though rate increases will be implemented over the course of years.
“The Department of Public Utilities does oversee us as a public utility, but they don’t get that granular where they’re looking at where we’re spending, you know, what projects we’re investing money in, other than to ensure that we’re providing a safe and reliable network for our customers,” she said. “It’s funded by National Grid ratepayers, but we tend to amortize the cost over 20 or 25 years.”