Move with the times

This article examines the impact of power reliability and quality and the associated cost to rural customers, beginning with an examination of the technological changes in rural customers along with changes in the types of rural industries. The nature of rural industry has undergone significant changes since the 1940s. In addition to manufacturing, rural economies also depend on agriculture and mining. The agricultural and mining industries have also become heavy users of computers and power electronics. These technologies have been adopted to improve energy efficiency, operations, and safety that they offer. Although the feeder load densities and concentrations of industry are less in rural areas, rural industries still share in the technologies used by urban industry and therefore share the susceptibilities to power quality and reliability problems that urban industry has.