Above the buzzing cherry picker trucks, old power lines are wrapped in rubber to protect workers from the 32,500-volts flowing mere inches away. It looks like a neon orange deer being dressed about 25 ft. in the air, but it’s actually the rebuilding of seemingly ancient power poles along Richmond’s main energy artery on Route 1.

“Those are energized facilities up to so they cover them up so they can do their work,” said Aaron Tickle, Dominion’s manager for grid resiliency. He’s out on a chilly morning supervising this 2.5-mile stretch of main line rebuilding.

This story was reported and written by Radio IQ

Dominion Energy and other electric utilities around the Commonwealth are spending big money to improve the quality of power transfer and set the state up for new technology like solar.

The improvements include replacing wooden poles and older tech with fiberglass and new materials designed to better handle higher voltages and, eventually, the transfer of power back into the grid from at-home solar plants. But in the short-term Tickle says customers will see shorter repair times if the lines go down.

“If we can protect the poles from breaking then you can shorten the duration of the restoration bit,” he said.

The updates come with a $2 billion price tag, paid for by us, power consumers, after the bill increase was approved by the State Corporation Commission in 2019. We’re now seeing the results of that effort in Richmond, and also in other areas where data shows power lines are prone to disruption. And where those disruptions occur, folks like Tickle will be there.

“We’re trying to make the system stronger, more resilient. Trying to set it up well for adoption of distributed energy resources like solar,” Tickle added.

Dominion has completed about 200 miles of line rebuilds so far; another 800 miles of line is up next.

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