CL&P To Upgrade Electrical

Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) has budgeted $1.3 million to upgrade the electrical distribution system and to improve service reliability in Newtown. The project, which will begin in January of 2000, is scheduled to continue through May. CL&P crews will install new poles and wire, upgrade equipment and add devices designed to isolate outages to smaller areas.

CL&P crews will run new tree wire along portions of South Main Street near Pecks Lane, Meadowbrook Road, and Huntington Road. Wire will also be changed along sections of Route 25 and other roads around town. Tree wire helps to reduce the number of outages caused by brush contact with branches and animals.

Along with the new wire, approximately 85 poles will be replaced by CL&P and SNET crews. Pole top equipment such as crossarms, insulators, lightning arresters and transformers will be upgraded as part of this project.

Reclosers will be added for improved circuit reliability. Reclosers automatically restore power after a line has experienced a temporary fault that could be caused by a falling tree branch. A power outage would occur without a recloser as compared to a momentary blink of the lights.

“The combined benefits of line reconstruction, the addition of reclosers and the recently completed tree trimming will improve reliability to Newtown customers,” said Bill Stax, general manager for the Danbury/New Milford district.