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Bringing reliability home to you

Line engineer wearing helmet, gloves and safety goggles, repairing a power line at the top of a pole

When it comes to energy, PSE customers have many different priorities, but reliability is always high on the list. That’s why PSE places so much importance on system improvements that strengthen and modernize the electric grid. It’s the surest way to keep the lights on for our customers, now and for years to come. 

In a way, grid modernization is a lot like updating a home or business. Even a structure with good “bones” needs improvements to thrive in a changing world. That could mean replacing old wood and wiring and installing more efficient appliances and equipment. You could invest in upgrades like new windows and flooring, or smart thermostats and lighting. Structural improvements and insulation would keep you safe and comfortable in all kinds of weather.

We’re doing this same kind of work at PSE, except our home is 6000 square miles of service area that includes mountains, islands, vast stretches of open land, and some of our country’s fastest-growing communities and urban centers. Plus, 1.2 million electric customers served by 26,409 miles of power lines. That’s almost as long as the earth’s equator!

Grid modernization

Our grid improvements are just as big in scale and range from structural improvements to advanced technology. We’re replacing aging cables and wooden poles and updating traditional power lines with more robust “tree wire.” We’re installing “recloser” devices that can detect outages on our lines and trigger automatic switching to re-route power to get your lights back on in a matter of seconds!

Across our grid, we’re adding batteries, microgrids, and smart technology to increase reliability and make our system more flexible and resilient. We’re installing software platforms and equipment that can monitor and remotely control grid infrastructure in real time – allowing us to prevent service interruptions or respond to them faster. There’s so much more, which you can read about at jnkjdc.com/gridmodernization.

Already, customers are getting year-round reliability benefits that will only increase over time as more equipment is installed.

  • In 2023 alone, our grid’s “self-healing” technology shorted existing outages by 3,300,000 minutes and prevented 262,000 new outages. By 2030, one-third of PSE’s distribution system could have this capability.
  • In 2022 and 2023, recloser devices saved customers roughly 2,000,000 minutes of outage time each year.
  • In 2022 and 2023, other devices, called “fusesavers”, saved over 530,000 outage minutes each year.

When it was originally constructed more than 100 years ago, our electric grid represented the most advanced engineering of its day – and, just like a well-built home, it’s supported us for generations. With thoughtful planning and strategic investments, PSE is transforming that grid into something customers can rely on even more to meet their growing and changing needs, now and for decades to come.