![]() ![]() For example, in most coal fired power plants, chunks of coal are crushed into fine powder and are fed into a combustion unit where it is burned. The generation of electricity begins at the power plant- where fuel sources such as coal, natural gas or hydro are used to transform water to steam by a heating process. And it all starts at the generation plant: It is this grid, owned and maintained by CAEC’s Generation and Transmission provider, PowerSouth, as well as transmission lines owned by Southern Company that makes delivery of electricity possible to our members. This includes our vegetation management program, line and substation inspections and other critical programs.Īs we learned above with our detailed look at the distribution system, it takes many parts working together to make the transmission system possible. This process also does not cover the maintenance we must perform and personnel it takes to ensure the infrastructure we have put in place stays in top condition. Some other vital equipment we use includes highside and lowside breakers, voltage regulators and lightning arrestors. This only covers a few major pieces of equipment we use to keep your power on more than 99.9 percent of the time. At this point your home wiring comes into play and enables energy to be sent to your plug outlets and light switches at the touch of a button or flip of a switch. The meter box in both cases allows CAEC to measure the amount of energy used.įrom the meter box, a wire usually connects to the home’s breaker box, which functions as a safety mechanism for your home. The tie that is made on the source side of the meter is the point of connection between CAEC and the member. ![]() If your service wire is underground, CAEC connects the service wire to your underground meter box. ![]() If your service is overhead, CAEC connects the service wire to your weatherhead, which is the point of connection between CAEC’s facilities and the homeowner’s. In the last five years the cost of transformers has risen 50 percent, partly due to escalating material costs and also to federal regulations requiring higher efficiencies.įrom the distribution transformer, a service wire is connected to your house, which is called the service drop. From there, power is distributed across miles (depending on how far your home is from the substation) of power lines to reach a distribution transformer, which steps the power down again to the voltage level required by your home, which is 120/240 Volts. We’re not ready to get the power to your house just yet the voltage coming from the power transformer, at 25,000 or 13,200 volts, is still too high to go directly into your home. Power transformers are used to step the voltage down to an acceptable level to bring into your neighborhoods. The voltage coming to the substation, at 115,000 or 46,000 volts, is too high to go directly into your neighborhoods. Siting and building a substation is no simple process in fact, from the planning phase to implementation, it takes two to three years to complete just one, at a cost of approximately $1.5 million. When you sign up for service, no matter what your intentions are for that meter, we have to factor in your current and future needs for power into these forecasts. CAEC uses long-term forecasting to plan for new substations, which has a direct impact on reliability. A lot of work goes into planning new substations or even substation upgrades. Distribution substations step down the voltage coming in from the transmission lines in order to begin the process of sending power to your home. Our substations are the point at which power grid infrastructure becomes distribution. CAEC purchases energy from our generation and transmission co-op, PowerSouth, which generates or purchases the electricity and transmits it over long distances on transmission lines to distribution utilities, like CAEC. ![]()
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