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Atlantic City: Where Are Reclosers Installed—and Why It Matters to You

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As Atlantic City works to modernize and strengthen its power infrastructure, one critical piece of technology is playing a growing role in keeping the lights on: the recloser. These automated circuit breakers are being strategically installed throughout the city and its surrounding areas to enhance service reliability, mitigate the impact of outages, and adapt to the challenges of a changing energy landscape.

Power outages—especially during harsh coastal storms—are more than just an inconvenience. For homes, businesses, and essential services such as hospitals, an interruption in power can be costly or even hazardous. That’s why local utility companies, such as Atlantic City Electric, are investing in smarter, faster-acting technologies like reclosers to ensure the grid is responsive and resilient.

So, where exactly are these reclosers installed, and what do they mean for Atlantic City residents?

What Are Reclosers?

A recloser is a type of switch that can automatically shut off and restore electrical flow along a power line when a problem or fault is detected. When lightning strikes a line or a tree branch causes a temporary short, a recloser isolates the issue without requiring a full shutdown of the grid. In many cases, the recloser “tests” the line by temporarily interrupting the power and then automatically re-energizing it if the fault is gone.

Unlike traditional breakers or fuses, which often require a field crew to reset them manually, reclosers act automatically, sometimes within seconds. This can drastically reduce the time that homes and businesses are left in the dark.

Modern reclosers also have communication capabilities, making them part of a broader “smart grid” system. These devices send real-time data to control centers, enabling utility operators to monitor power conditions, identify the source of faults, and make better decisions about how to restore service quickly and efficiently.

Where Are Reclosers Installed in Atlantic City?

Reclosers are not installed randomly; they’re placed at key points in the electrical distribution network to maximize their benefit. In and around Atlantic City, you’ll often find reclosers at:

  • Substation exits, where they protect major feeder lines

  • Midpoints along long distribution lines, particularly where sections of the city rely on a single path for electricity

  • Branch line connections that serve large residential neighborhoods or commercial districts

  • Borders between urban and rural areas, where network density and environmental risks differ

  • Near critical infrastructure like hospitals, government buildings, or transportation hubs

For example, along feeder lines running from substations that serve the central Atlantic City grid, reclosers may be spaced every few miles to create sectional protections. If a problem occurs on one portion of the line, the recloser can isolate that segment, keeping the rest of the city powered while crews address the fault.

In more rural portions of Atlantic County, where lines run for long distances and are more exposed to environmental hazards, reclosers are placed more frequently. In denser, urban zones, reclosers work in tandem with other smart devices to manage the increased load and complexity of the grid.

Why Should Local Residents Care?

Reclosers may not be visible to most people, but they have a direct and significant impact on daily life in Atlantic City. Their presence can mean the difference between a multi-hour blackout and a brief flicker of the lights.

Here’s why they matter:

  1. Improved Power Reliability
     Automated reclosers restore power faster after faults, especially those caused by brief, weather-related issues. This helps keep residents comfortable and businesses operational.

  2. Minimized Outage Scope
     By breaking the grid into smaller segments, reclosers reduce the number of customers affected by any single fault. Instead of thousands of homes losing power, an issue might affect just a few blocks.

  3. Faster Crew Response
     Because smart reclosers report faults automatically, utility crews can respond more quickly and with better information. They know exactly where to go and what to expect.

  4. Storm Resilience
     Atlantic City’s coastal location means storms are a regular threat. Reclosers help mitigate storm-related outages by isolating damaged sections while keeping the rest of the grid active.

According to a spokesperson from Atlantic City Electric, “Reclosers are a key part of our plan to deliver more reliable service to our customers. They help us respond to outages more effectively and prevent small issues from becoming major problems.”

How Smart Reclosers Are Changing the Grid

The evolution of high-performance reclosers for power grids—from simple mechanical switches to intelligent, networked devices—is a game changer for modern power distribution.

Smart reclosers can:

  • Communicate with utility control centers in real time

  • Work in coordination with other smart devices, such as automated switches and fault indicators

  • Collect and transmit data on power quality, voltage, and system performance

  • Support predictive maintenance by identifying equipment that may be close to failure

In practical terms, this means Atlantic City Electric can proactively manage its grid rather than reacting to issues after they cause an outage. That’s a major step forward for community resilience and energy security.

Preparing for Future Growth

As Atlantic City and nearby communities grow—and as more homes and businesses adopt solar panels, electric vehicles, and other distributed energy technologies—the demands on the local power grid will continue to increase.

Recloser placement strategies must evolve in response to these changes. Utilities regularly review data on population growth, infrastructure development, and energy usage patterns to determine where new reclosers should be added or existing ones upgraded.

In areas where new housing developments or commercial centers are being built, reclosers may be installed in advance to ensure those neighborhoods receive the same level of reliable service as more established parts of the city.

Additionally, the integration of renewable energy sources has introduced new challenges for grid protection. Solar panels and other distributed energy resources can create bidirectional power flows, meaning electricity may move both into and out of a neighborhood. This requires more sophisticated protection schemes, and reclosers are essential to making those systems work safely and effectively.

What Can Residents Do?

While most of the technical details are handled by utility engineers, residents can take a few simple steps to stay informed and benefit from this technology:

  • Ask Your Utility: Contact Atlantic City Electric to learn how your neighborhood is protected.

  • Prepare for Weather: Even with reclosers, severe weather can still cause longer outages. Keep emergency supplies, flashlights, and backup power ready.

  • Stay Alert: If you see utility crews working on overhead lines, it may be part of a recloser installation or upgrade. These projects are short-term disruptions that offer long-term benefits in reliability.

Conclusion

Reclosers are a quiet but critical part of Atlantic City’s ongoing effort to deliver dependable power in an increasingly unpredictable world. Their bright, strategic placement helps utilities respond to outages faster, protect essential services, and support growth without compromising reliability.

author

Chris Bates



STEWARTVILLE

JERSEY SHORE WEEKEND

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