GridOps White Papers · Restoration
An Available Tie Doesn't Mean an Available Restoration Path
The tie is only the last device in the path. Everything between it and the source has a say.
3 min read
When a feeder is out and the fault is isolated, the one-line starts suggesting answers. A normally-open tie sits right at the edge of the interrupted section. It shows open, it shows available, and closing it would pick everyone up in one step.
That's exactly why it deserves a second look. "Available" describes the device. It says nothing about the conductor, the regulators, the breaker, or the substation transformer that will carry the load once the tie closes.
The useful question is about the whole path. Starting at the alternate source, what does the transferred load flow through, what is each piece already carrying, and what is each piece rated for? A breaker with plenty of margin can sit upstream of a short run of smaller conductor that has almost none.
None of this is new to experienced operators. What's hard is building the habit before it's needed, so that checking the complete path happens at 02:40 on a storm night, when the closest tie is right there and the phones are ringing.
DL-001, The Easy Tie, is built around this exact moment.