Industry data reveal that 70% of overhead distribution transformer fuses result in nuisance outages where no other repair work is needed. Often the cause of the fault cannot be found, which typically indicates the fault likely would have been temporary.

Typically, these fuses are located at the edge of the grid and in difficult-to-access areas, making straightforward fuse replacement a more time-consuming task and causing truck roll costs to escalate. As a result, utilities are experiencing permanent outages that could have been altogether avoided and unnecessarily assuming maintenance costs to roll a truck to restore power.

VacuFuse Self-Resetting Interrupters bring fault-testing technology furthest toward the edge of the grid than had previously been possible, providing utilities with true, end-to-end lateral protection in every system’s most vulnerable and hard-to-reach places. With their advanced fault-mitigation technology, these fault interrupters avoid both unnecessary sustained outages and their subsequent maintenance expenses.

Despite the grid investments utilities make every year, customer satisfaction scores stubbornly refuse to improve. Utilities are now paying closer attention to customers asserting their voices, and industry regulations are shifting toward customer-centric frameworks. Performance-based rates have begun to incentivize utilities to improve customer satisfaction.

New metrics, such as Customers Experiencing Multiple Interruptions (CEMI), are designed to measure the individual customer experience and help identify troublesome pockets of the grid. The VacuFuse Self-Resetting Interrupter targets grid problem areas with low customer satisfaction by automatically restoring power to customers when temporary outages occur.

VacuFuse Self-Resetting Interrupters enable safety benefits for both utility crews and the environment. Unlike fuses, the interrupters mitigate risk because they do not expel debris or cause sparks. This is critical, especially in dry climates where wildfires are quick to ignite. They also decrease how often crews must access hard-to-reach places for fuse replacements, allowing them to spend more time on proactive, grid-modernization tasks.