The Brief
- Duke Energy crews replaced underground cables in downtown St. Petersburg on Wednesday as part of a proactive maintenance.
- The specialized, submersible system features a huge network of transformers and cables that are capable of automatically rerouting power during a failure to prevent widespread outages.
- The technology is in only two locations across Duke Energy’s 35-county Florida service territory: downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Clearwater.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Deep beneath the bustling streets of downtown St. Petersburg, a massive network of specialized electrical equipment ensures continuous power for the city.
Duke Energy upgrades downtown St. Petersburg
What we know:
Duke Energy crews swarmed the area Wednesday to replace aging cables with new ones as a proactive measure.
“The system kind of self-heals itself,” Torean Savage, a network specialist with Duke Energy, said. “So, if one place goes out of power, there’s another transformer and cables making up for that power, preventing outages or kind of fixing the outage at a faster rate of speed.”
While some above-ground lines have this self-healing technology too, the big deal with this network is it’s protected from the elements and won’t get corroded by water.
Grid reliability history
The backstory:…