Reliability Initiative

In 2005, Great Lakes Energy launched a reliability initiative as part of a long-range plan to upgrade our entire distribution system over time. Approximately 60 percent of Great Lakes Energy’s power line distribution system is at least 40 years old.

Key projects in progress to help us reach our reliability goals in order to provide better electric service to our members include:

•  Met its annual reliability goal for five straight years by reducing average outage minutes (see SAIDI information below),
• Met state-mandated performance standards for electric service and reliability for four straight years,
• Witnessed an increase in number of members who rate their electric service reliability as “excellent” or “above average” from 75 percent in 2006 to over 85 percent in 2010,
•  Other large investments allowed the co-op to re-clear trees along more miles of power line rights-of-way each year and add more sectionalizing devices on the lines that have helped limit the number of members affected by outages.

Sectionalizing circuits helps minimize the number of members affected by outages. When something interrupts the flow of electricity through the lines, often large sections of the line need to be de-energized so that employees can repair the problem. Depending on the type of circuit configuration, we install different pieces of equipment in order to isolate the smallest clusters of members as we can when a fault occurs.

SAIDI and Reliability

Great Lakes Energy’s reliability goal in 2011 is to not exceed 175 SAIDI minutes.

If we succeed, it will be the sixth straight year that we have met our annual reliability goal.

Large annual investments in tree re-clearing near power lines, major line upgrade work and new technologies have allowed us to meet our annual reliability goal for the last five years. These major improvements have also enabled us to restore power more quickly when severe weather conditions cause massive, widespread damage to our distribution system.

SAIDI stands for System Average Interruption Duration Index. SAIDI is a good indicator of a co-op’s reliability because it reflects the average amount of time you can expect to be without power in a given year. Of course, in reality some members experience no outage time, while others experience more than the SAIDI number.

Our reliability goal is based on average outage minutes recorded during normal conditions. Typically the outages are due to weather, animals, equipment failures, vehicle accidents and other causes. Extreme weather conditions such as last fall’s windstorm are not included in determining our reliability goal. Extreme weather conditions in our service area are rare.  In 2009, for example, there were no outages due to extreme storms.

Although we’re pleased by last year’s progress, this achievement is still only one small step toward our ultimate goal of one day reducing average outage minutes to 90 or less. This will take some time given our large 26-county service area and the financial resources required. Reaching this goal will give us one of the best reliability records of any electric cooperative in the United States.