Versant Power completes reliability project in Ellsworth



Ellsworth, Maine – Versant Power crews recently completed work to improve customer reliability of service with new equipment in Ellsworth.

Crews installed remote-operated devices in strategic areas that communicate the location of line issues to a central computer system. After the location is determined, the area can be isolated, and crews can work to make outage repairs in less time with fewer people affected.

“This increases reliability due to reduced customer outages and response time for line crews to find and repair faults on the system,” said Versant Power Electrical Engineer Tyler Stanley. “Having these new devices on our system also gives us a better picture of the conditions on the circuit, such as real time loading and outage data.”

After replacing existing poles with taller poles to enable reliable communications and completing necessary line work, line workers installed the new remote-controlled devices. The devices connect to the Hancock and Mill Street substations in Ellsworth, where equipment was modernized to meet the needs of the new system.

Additionally, this is the first time distributed generation (two solar sites near Boggy Brook Road) has been integrated into a project like this. This will enable Versant to better monitor and calculate load on distribution circuits. 

“The final step in the process was to test the communication between the devices and commission the equipment, which has been completed,” said Versant Power Superintendent of Line and Meter Operations Ryan Fysh. “I would like to thank the public for their patience while we were working on this project. Some of the locations were on busy roads through town, which required us to set up in the roadway, slowing the flow of traffic.”

We appreciate our customers’ patience as we worked on this service reliability improvement. 

Versant Power is committed to delivering safe, reliable electric service. As the state's second-largest electric utility, the company delivers electricity to nearly 170,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers across 10,400 square miles in northern and eastern Maine.