Benton REA is making strategic upgrades essential to ensuring we can meet the needs of our membership today and in the decades ahead. These projects address system expansion, safety and wildfire concerns.
Circuit Reclosers
One of the most significant system improvements this year has been the installation of additional reclosers—devices that act like “smart reset switches.”
Much like a GFCI outlet in your home, reclosers automatically shut off power when they detect a fault and then safely restore it. By dividing long circuits into smaller sections, Benton REA can limit outage size and speed up power restoration.
Line Protection Fuses
Benton REA is also installing non-expulsion fuses that contain sparks when a fuse blows, dramatically reducing wildfire risk in dry vegetation. More of these devices will be installed in high-risk areas throughout 2026.
Line Upgrades to Increase Capacity
Many of the lines installed over the last 50 years are nearing their design capacity. We will be replacing the existing lines with larger ones capable of providing increased capacity for growth and future development.
Fiberglass Poles & Crossarms, and Ductile Iron Poles
In areas that are prone to wildfires, we are replacing traditional wood poles with fiberglass and iron poles and fiberglass crossarms. This helps our equipment to be more resilient to wildfires and severe weather events.
New Technologies – Drones & Micro Weather Stations
We are embracing new technologies such as drones and micro weather stations. Drones are used to inspect lines and identify hazards such as trees in hard to reach areas and rough terrain. We have also installed micro weather stations. These are compact systems used to monitor environmental data such as temperature, wind speed & direction, humidity, and rainfall. They provide data in real-time, allowing us to detect weather throughout our service area that can lead wildfire risk or damage to our system from sever weather activity.