Falling branches and debris often snag service entrance cables between the utility distribution pole and the customer's building or home. The result of these incidents can be a safety hazard and likely lead to insurance or financial impact to both customer and utility. Depending on how the cables fall, they may be energized, causing a safety hazard to the public, emergency response personnel and utility personnel. In addition, the mechanical loads may cause extensive damage to the customer's facilities that require costly repairs and time delays in service restoration.

The Tullahoma Utilities Board (TUB; Tullahoma, Tennessee, U.S.) is taking advantage of the support of Tennessee Valley Authority's working collaboratively with its distributor customers through their Tennessee Valley Public Power Association's Research & Development Committee to address this problem. A collaborative effort is underway between TUB, TVA, EPRI, EPRIsolutions and The Homac Companies. This joint effort has resulted in a unique line hardware component that will provide two important solutions to the potential risks of torn down service drops. The idea for a service mechanical overload protection device occurred while reflecting on the factors that delayed restoration of service following a December 1998 ice storm that left most of Tullahoma without electricity.

The MiniPOD, coined for its relative size as a Protective Overload Device (POD), is designed to provide an immediate electrical continuity break in the service drop so that any service drop cables will be de-energized. It also provides a mechanical fuselink that limits the mechanical loads experienced by the distribution pole and equipment or the customer's facilities, and thus mitigates damage to those facilities.

Within three months of its initial installation on an alley pole, the MiniPOD responded to a tree falling on a service entrance to a residential customer. There was no safety hazard since the damage resulted in the service cables being pulled clear of the pole and becoming de-energized. Potential damage to the residence was eliminated, and service restoration time and cost was significantly improved.

With the series of storms that enveloped the Southeast this year, the MiniPOD may be an attractive addition to distribution strategies to manage outage and safety goals.