Smarter grids, shorter outages: Inside New England's power restoration technology
You've probably seen the new technology and don't even know it.
FILE: Market Meteorology: Falling temperatures mean rising energy prices
Fox Business Network Contributor Phil Flynn discusses how this cold start to December is impacting the energy sector.
New technology is helping a major energy provider restore power quicker in the three New England states they service.
The tech - called smart switches — is transforming the electrical grid by restoring power a lot quicker and more efficiently.
You've probably seen them, and don't even know it. They're devices that are installed on power lines to monitor electricity in real time and protect the system when something goes wrong — like a tree branch hitting a line, animals, lightning or a car hitting a pole.
What a smart device recloser looks like.
(Eversource)
But the goal is for them to revolutionize power restoration all the time — including during severe weather. It would mean shorter wait times and fewer trucks deployed.
"Just a simple tree coming down and sitting on a wire. Every one of those events requires a truck to be rolled. So, if we didn't have this device, what would happen is [a] tree limb comes down, hits the wire and causes a disturbance to electricity," David Gladey, Eversource vice president of distribution engineering, said.
WHY SOME POWER COMPANIES SHUT OFF ELECTRICITY AHEAD OF A HURRICANE
The devices talk to each other and isolate outage events, making outages a lot smaller than they normally would have been.
"What would have happened is that event would have gone all the way back to the beginning of our circuit…taking out all the customers along that circuit," Gladey said. "The smart devices are really allowing us to automatically restore customers, and it's also given us the exact location where the real problems are, where we can focus our resources on to get customers back even sooner."
How it works
During a power outage, the smart device recloser senses an electrical event or fault and quickly shuts off power to prevent damage. But most outages are temporary, so the device automatically turns the power back on after a few seconds.
If the issue has cleared, customers may just see a brief flicker instead of a long outage, according to Eversource.
If the problem is serious, it stays off and isolates only the affected section, so fewer people lose power.
Local utility trucks working on the lines in the b each town of Falmouth, MA on Cape Cod. These trucks are equipt with buckets for work on the power lines.
(Judd Brotman / Getty Images)
Eversource hopes to advance this technology, and they're already evaluating the next level of smart devices that can detect other critical system performance needs such as downed electrical wires, leaning or downed poles, wildfire detection and predicting equipment failures.
"We know that we cannot continue just to rely on tree trimming as the way to solve this problem. We know that engineering-wise, we have to think about how we continue to automate and isolate these areas quicker and faster. That’s what this all does," Gladey said.
WATCH: DRIVERS SWERVE AS WINDS TOPPLE POWER LINES IN ARIZONA
Eversource has internally built a benefit cost analysis — a tool that allows them to input all of their reliability data, analyze the number of customers and the type of construction that's out there today.
The tool shows Eversource where they should add smart switches to get the highest value.
Breaking down the numbers
The technology currently covers over 15,000 miles of overhead circuits across Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Eversource has already installed around 8,500 across these states, and they continue to install between 300 and 400 smart switches each year. The energy provider said this tech prevents around 3.8 million customer outages each year.
This is the sensing part of the smart device.
(Eversource)
In Connecticut alone, 1.5 million customer interruptions are avoided annually, and without the smart switches that are already installed, customers would experience four to six more outages each year.
"There’s always a lot of talk about big events, right? And none of us ever want to see those hit, but you know, it’s the smaller events, actually, that are becoming more frequent for us. And those events are becoming more impactful. Because you’re seeing basic wear and tear on the system. You’ve seen the wear and tear on the vegetation," Gladey said.
What comes next
Over the years, Eversource has made progress installing these smart switches in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and part of Connecticut.
But garnering support from the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or PURA, has proved to be quite difficult.
WHAT HAPPENS TO EXPENSIVE ELECTRONICS WHEN THE POWER GOES DOWN, ARE THEY SAFE?
"We’ve not had support from our regulator to be able to finance the investment we believe is needed to do that," Gladey said. "We have been very careful that we're not going to go to the next level of integration without clear regulatory direction."
Landscape
(Nick Hiatt / Getty Images)
Eversource and PURA have been engaged in a years-long series of legal and administrative disputes involving rate adjustments, regulatory oversight and other related issues.
A lawsuit filed by Eversource and other utilities in 2025 alleged that PURA disregarded state law and the chairwoman at the time, Marissa Gillett, acted independently in making major decisions rather than using the full commission.
HOW MUCH ENERGY DOES IT TAKE TO POWER THE SUPER BOWL? THE ANSWER WILL SHOCK YOU
Gillett stepped down from her position as the PURA chairperson following the lawsuit filing and amid growing scrutiny. Thomas Wiehl has been serving as interim chairperson since then.
Eversource is urging Connecticut officials to consider the economic impact on the state when power outages aren't being addressed as fast as possible.
Power poles with clouds
(Adam Townsend / Getty Images)
"Our entire response cost for a storm is less when you have those smart meters on the system because they're able to restore the power instead of us having to get a crew out there to analyze what exactly the fix is, and then to go ahead and make that fix," Gladey said.
ELECTRICAL GRID-LOCK: HOW TO SAVE ENERGY DURING A HEAT WAVE
Gladey said Eversource is looking to install at least 1,000 more meters in Connecticut alone.
"We are very committed that the right thing to do is to make that investment so we can shorten outages to the best of our ability," Gladey said. "We're excited to be able to work with them [PURA] to be able to convey what we think is needed, and those discussions are happening more and more, which is great."
Boston, USA - 15 October 2025. utility service truck from Eversource parked on Beacon Street, equipped with maintenance tools and a lift for field training and infrastructure work.
(Veronique D. / Getty Images)
But the change won't come without a rate increase for customers. Eversource is confident the additional cost will be worth it, saying investments are reflected in customers' bills, whether immediately or down the line.
"That money’s going back into the system to try and increase and improve our reliability and the resiliency of our system," a spokesperson said.
"We haven't seen any areas where we've installed them, and they haven't provided the operational benefit," Gladey said. "The more you have the ability to strategically sectionalize and isolate, that’s gonna improve our ability to respond to customers."
PURA said they couldn't provide comment "due to ex parte communications" as they evaluate Eversource's next rate case.
You can read more about smart switches here.