Duke Energy expands use of ‘self-healing’ technology as Carolinas brace for Helene outages

CHARLOTTE. N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — Tuesday evening, Duke Energy crews remained on standby as the Carolinas wait to learn the eventual path of Tropical Storm Helene.

The storm has the potential to rock the Florida Gulf Coast, but its impact throughout the Carolinas has yet to come into clear view.

However, when it does, Duke Energy officials predict the state’s electrical grids will be able to withstand whatever impact could be seen.

This is connected to the expansion of “self-healing” or self-automating technology.

If there is a break in the line or an obstruction, this system will kick in and find an alternative route in the line to get the energy to where it needs to go.

Oftentimes, this will appear as a small flicker of the lights or a brief outage altogether.

Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks explained that “as long as the infrastructure itself is not damaged, there are no poles damaged or on the ground, it works very, very well.”

Duke Energy first gave Queen City News an in-depth look at the implementation of this technology in 2022.

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