Georgia Power is bolstering its infrastructure with smart grid technology to minimize power outages for its 2.7 million customers during severe weather events. The power company announced its ongoing investment in upgrading its energy grid, aiming to improve service reliability and reduce disruptions caused by storms.

According to Georgia Power spokesperson Matthew Kent, the implementation of smart grid technology will enable the company to remotely restore power when lines go down, provided an alternative power route is available. This allows for quicker recovery times and minimizes the impact on customers. “The technology can remotely restore power in the event that a line is down if there’s an available way to reroute that power,” Kent explained. He also highlighted the role of smart meters and other smart technologies in reducing outage times, stating, “We’re using all of that together to make sure that we can make your power outage times as minimal as possible after a storm. The main goal is to minimize any disruption. We know how difficult it is to be without power.” The company reported a significant improvement in outage times for customers in 2023, with some experiencing up to a 50% reduction. Last year’s Hurricane Helene provided an opportunity to accelerate the upgrades. “We had something like 11,000 poles, 1,000 miles of wire down and 3,000 transmitters. It was a lot of work to restore that,” Kent noted, emphasizing the scale of the work required to modernize the infrastructure.

Georgia Power says they are committed to providing reliable and efficient energy service to its customers and continues to invest in advanced technologies to mitigate the impact of severe weather.