HARRISON, Ohio — When winter weather strikes — or really, any major storm — and power lines go down, utility crews spring into action across southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. But behind every field repair is a sophisticated operation most customers never see: Duke Energy's Midwest Power Distribution Control Center in Harrison.
The state-of-the-art, 140,000 square foot facility serves as the brain of the electrical grid, where dozens of operators work around the clock to manage power distribution for 800,000 customers across Ohio and Kentucky.
"This facility is responsible for managing all the technology out on the grid," said Joshua McCord, director of operations for Duke Energy Distribution Control Centers Midwest.
The control center, which opened in 2021, represents a dramatic shift from the utility industry's past. Gone are the days when customers had to call to report outages and crews had to patrol entire sections of power lines to find problems.
"We had no visibility into the system. It was just poles and wires," McCord said.
Now, advanced technology allows operators to pinpoint outages and dispatch crews to specific locations. Smart devices installed throughout the grid communicate directly with the control center, providing real-time information about system conditions.
WATCH: Go behind-the-scenes in the power distribution control center
Self-healing technology
One of the center's newest tools is called "self-healing technology" — a system that automatically reroutes electricity when problems occur, similar to how GPS navigation finds alternate routes around traffic.
When a car hits a power pole or a tree falls on lines, McCord said the technology can instantly detect the problem and redirect power around the damaged area. What might have left 1,800 customers without power now affects only 250 customers, who experience brief flickers as the system switches power sources, McCord said.
"Those customers would have seen a blink. And so that's the lights flashing sometimes, sometimes once or twice or three times," McCord said.
This year alone, the self-healing technology has prevented nearly 400,000 customer outages in Ohio and Kentucky, saving nearly 1.4 million hours of total outage time, according to Duke Energy. More than 75% of Duke Energy customers in the region now benefit from this technology.
McCord said the impact becomes clear when comparing today's capabilities to past storms. During Hurricane Ike in 2008, some customers went without power for over a week. The self-healing technology didn't exist then.
"The improvements that we've made since that time would have an impact on restoration, because of those self-healing teams, because of the electronic devices we're putting out on the system," he said. "There would be situations that occurred then where customers were out for a long duration that they may only see a blink in today's time with all the self-healing equipment that we have out there."
Operators manage the grid 24/7
The control center operates with a demanding schedule. Thirty operators rotate through 12-hour shifts, working every day of the year.
During severe weather events, the facility becomes a hub of intense activity, McCord said. Ice storms pose particular challenges, as ice accumulation on power lines and trees can cause widespread outages. Wind, thunderstorms and lightning also create significant problems for the electrical grid.
"If there was a major icing event, we would experience outages. This room would be completely full of people working to dispatch crews and restore power," McCord said.
Even during routine cold spells, operators stay busy managing system loads as customers increase their electricity usage for heating, hot water and lighting.
The operators undergo extensive training — a rigorous two-year program followed by annual continuing education requirements to maintain their certification to operate the grid safely.
Technology and humans working together
While artificial intelligence may play a larger role in grid operations in the future, McCord said that human oversight remains essential, especially for safety-critical decisions involving high-voltage equipment.
"My personal hope is that we always see people in the room," McCord said. "We have a lot of high voltages; it can be hazardous work, and so making sure our crew's safety is paramount."
The Harrison facility is one of five distribution control centers Duke Energy operates across its service territory, which includes locations in St. Petersburg, Florida; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; and Plainfield, Indiana.
McCord said Duke Energy continues investing in grid improvements, including pole and line upgrades, capacity additions and expanding smart technology deployment.
"Duke Energy is always investing to improve the grid reliability for our customers," McCord said. "The customer is number one. Every single person in this room is focused on the fact that they know a customer is without power, and they treat it with that level of sincerity and that level of criticality."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
