Power Transmission & Distribution Solutions

Transmission moves bulk power at high and extra-high voltage over long distances, from power plants to substations. Distribution takes it from those substations to homes and businesses at medium voltage, then low voltage. The substation is where the two meet and voltage is stepped down. We support all three: overhead lines, underground cable networks and substations.

It depends on the standard. In IEEE practice, medium voltage usually means above 1 kV up to 35 kV. In IEC markets the range commonly extends to 52 kV. Low voltage is below 1 kV in both. That is why we design and test to both IEEE and IEC: our separable connectors, for example, cover IEC, IEEE and GB/T networks.

Grid hardening means physically strengthening transmission and distribution assets so they are less likely to fail under stress from weather, wildlife, vegetation, lightning, age and rising load. Typical measures include upgraded cable joints and terminations, stronger connectors and insulation, wildlife protection, surge arresters and grounding, targeted undergrounding, and fault monitoring that speeds up restoration. Watch Powering Resilience: Hardening Strategies for Evolving Grids.

Hardening reduces the chance of damage. Resilience is the network's ability to withstand, adapt to and recover from major events, so it also covers monitoring, automation and restoration. Reliability is the everyday outcome, measured with IEEE 1366 indices: SAIDI (average outage minutes per customer) and SAIFI (average interruptions per customer). In 2024, U.S. customers averaged 11 hours without power, with major events behind 80% of those hours.⁹

Weather drives most major outages: in the U.S., 80% of major outages from 2000 to 2023 were weather-related.7 Day to day, trees, equipment failures and squirrels were the three most reported causes of sustained outages in 2023 public power data, with animals behind about 19% overall.⁸ Worldwide, wildlife outages cost electricity suppliers an estimated USD 10 billion a year.¹⁰ See Storm Preparedness and Wildlife & Grid Protection.

It depends on the route. Underground cable is shielded from wind, ice, trees and most wildlife, which makes it attractive in wildfire areas, dense cities and storm-exposed corridors. It costs considerably more to build than overhead line, and faults can take longer to locate and repair. A cable system is also only as reliable as its joints and terminations, so accessory choice, installer training and fault indication matter as much as the cable. See underground solutions.

Cover or isolate the energized parts animals touch, and give birds space. That means covers and guards on bushings, cutouts, arresters and jumpers, plus barriers that keep climbing animals out of substations. Covers need materials that resist tracking, UV and heat so they keep insulating for years. On lines, flight diverters reduce collisions, and APLIC's Suggested Practices guide spacing for raptors. Mount Horeb Utilities cut the impact of wildlife outages by 84.5% in a year. Read the wildlife outages white paper.

A substation grounding system keeps step and touch voltages within safe limits during a fault and carries fault and lightning current safely to earth. IEEE 80 is the main design guide in IEEE markets; IEC markets typically follow IEC 61936-1 and EN 50522. Connections should stay sound for decades, which is why exothermic welds are widely used. See Harger grounding and lightning protection and our substation solutions.

A faulted circuit indicator (FCI), called a fault passage indicator (FPI) in IEC markets, detects fault current on an overhead or underground line and shows crews which section the fault is in, so they patrol less and restore healthy sections sooner. Connected to SCADA, FCIs feed fault location, isolation and service restoration (FLISR). In a U.S. DOE study of 266 FLISR operations, FLISR cut customers interrupted by up to 45%.¹¹ See Kries fault indicators and watch A Roadmap to Digitalizing your Power Grid.

Before the season, harden the most exposed feeders, stage materials and train crews on fast-install connectors and repair solutions. During the event, use fault indicators and remote monitoring to see where the damage is. Afterwards, restore with temporary connections where needed, such as the First Aid connector, then make permanent repairs that leave the line stronger than before. See Storm Preparedness & Grid Resilience and watch When Nature Strikes.

Training is product-specific and hands-on, and manufacturers usually run their own courses with periodic recertification. It matters: more than half of medium-voltage cable accessory failures are caused by installation errors,⁵ and the global grid workforce must grow by at least 1.5 million people by 2030.³ We train 2,500 installers a year at our training centers in Europe and North America. See installation training and, in the U.S. and Canada, MVPower certification.

Our T&D portfolio brings together Raychem cable accessories and insulation, Richards MV cold shrink accessories and network protectors, Harger grounding and lightning protection, Kries grid monitoring, AMPACT overhead connectors, SIMEL and UTILUX connectors and lugs, and Bowthorpe EMP surge arresters. Together they cover underground, substation and overhead networks, with one engineering team behind them.