Circuit Resiliency Program
In 2019 CHA joined Avangrid in the 10-year, $2.5 billion effort to improve distribution circuit reliability. The initial effort began in Northern Maine, working on some of the state's worst-performing circuits. At the beginning of the resiliency program, the scope and process of the work were undefined. Our efforts focused on understanding the existing topology, outage areas and causes, future distribution planning goals, balancing loads, and assessing asset conditions. This information was used to create a plan for improvements in reliability and spending. In late 2019, CHA was awarded three large circuits in New York.
CHA's experience allows us to approach this program with a thorough understanding of Avangrid and its customers' needs. In addition, as the program has grown, CHA has added qualified staff to accommodate the expanding engineering needs of the program. Our team provides a depth of resources that has helped develop the program, its standards, and processes as it expands.
Since the program's infancy and CHA's initial involvement, we have grown from 4 full-time employees to approximately 23 full-time employees working in CMP, NYSEG, and RG&E territories. Our current efforts include:
- Scoping each assigned circuit to understand the existing issues and conditions
- Incorporating distribution planning and CHA hardening recommendations into a single proposed scope
- Working with the Avangrid Program Director and Managers to refine and establish a design plan to optimize the long-term improvements with consideration for cost
Once the scope of work is defined, CHA conducts field surveys to collect photographs, asset information, and field notes. This information is collected in GIS software and is used by the designers to develop CAD drawings of the field plans to improve circuit reliability. Our designers also create the Work Orders in SAP to price and build each finalized design.