Wouldn’t it be something if your furnace gave you a 30-day notice that it needed to be replaced? Or what if your car told you it was going to need a new radiator in a few weeks? It would be like having an early warning system telling you there is trouble ahead. We all try to anticipate when the equipment we rely on will need attention, but it often breaks without warning and then we scramble to find an affordable alternative.

The electricity grid is not that much different. Energy Delivery companies like National Grid have hundreds of thousands of miles of transmission and distribution wire, underground cable, substations, and other equipment that serves millions of customers. Sometimes that equipment fails because of storm damage or a catastrophic event, and other times it can fail due to its age or normal wear and tear, like when a furnace stops functioning or your car’s headlight goes out.

That is why National Grid Partners, the unregulated corporate investment and innovation arm of National Grid, is investing in LineVision's technology. And that’s why National Grid is using that technology to assess the condition of our energy delivery system, obtain greater situational awareness, and increase electricity transmission line capacity on our systems in Massachusetts and New York.

The technology includes sensors that collect important data on overhead power lines like line temperature, sag, horizontal motion and other anomalies. This data can alert us to problems before they happen and can prevent costly power interruptions. It helps us better understand the condition of our assets while enabling us to meet the goals of our Net Zero by 2050 plan. We see investment in grid-enhancing technologies like LineVision as strategically important to our efforts to modernize the grid and integrate more renewables.

It’s amazing technology that requires no new infrastructure and is invisible to most of us as we go about our day. That way you can continue to drive by miles of utility wire, cables and electricity equipment without giving it a second thought, and you can take for granted that when you flip the switch, the lights will come on. This is exactly what National Grid wants for our customers. We are always looking for new and better ways to deliver safe, seamless service while integrating clean energy and keeping costs affordable for our customers.

About National Grid

About National Grid: National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

For more information, please visit our website, follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, friend us on Facebook, and find our photos on Instagram.