Design, testing and experience with 15kV enclosed switchgear

With the growing concern of power equipment visual impact on the environment and with the ever increasing cost of land for substation sites, it was desirable to develop a 15kV power switchgear which is not identifiable by any present standards and yet satisfies the requirements for a number of systems conditions. The need for this type of switchgear become necessary since the present, standard metal-clad equipment could not economically be justified for low fault current availability of a predominantly residential and rural system. American Electric Power Service Corporation, in co-operation with McGraw-Edison, developed such a switchgear and the intent of this paper is to describe its design, testing and the operating experience.