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# New electric poles are popping up around the city. They’re designed to reduce outages.
- URL: https://www.richmonder.org/new-electric-poles-are-popping-up-around-the-city-theyre-designed-to-reduce-outages/
- Published: 2026-11-15T18:39:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-15T18:39:44.000Z
- Description: “We've seen significant, measurable improvements in reliability as these projects are completed.”
- Author: Sarah Vogelsong
- Tags: Local News, #the-bridge

This summer and fall, every electric pole on the northern side of a roughly one-mile strip of Brookland Park Boulevard was replaced. 

The new poles were taller, and their replacement required weeks of rolling lane closures. The Richmonder wanted to know what the project was all about, so we asked Dominion Energy: Were the old poles just too old? Was there some new law that said poles had to be taller now? 

It turned out the replacements were one of 11 recent projects in the Richmond area that aim to shorten the amount of time large numbers of customers face outages annually. 

“We’re trying to target feeders that serve customers that have basically experienced more than their fair share of outages chronically,” said Aaron Tickle, a grid resiliency manager for Dominion. 

Feeders, or main feeders, are essentially the middle man of the electric distribution system — the lines that run between substations and the smaller “tap lines” that bring power into neighborhoods. In cities like Richmond, they tend to run down main thoroughfares, with the tap lines then branching off of them. 

Because main feeders channel power to so many customers, any downed trees, lightning or [vehicle collisions with electric poles](https://www.richmonder.org/some-richmonders-report-reduced-water-pressure/) that impact them can cause widespread outages. 

For that reason the lines have been a major focus of Dominion’s Grid Transformation Plan, a set of phased projects that were ushered in by Virginia’s 2018 Grid Transformation and Security Act, a sweeping law that not only aimed to encourage a more resilient and reliable electric grid. To date, Dominion has included “mainfeeder hardening” in all three phases of its Grid Transformation Plan, although [regulators have not always signed off](https://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/7%25qs01!.PDF) on all the improvements the company has proposed. 

In the Richmond area, Tickle said that plan has covered about 40 miles of line improvements in and around Brookland Park Boulevard, Manchester, Jefferson Davis Highway, Bon Air, Elko Road and River Road, with more projects in the pipeline. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/11/E0343BCB-0686-4E49-852B-AFCC535A8A8F.jpeg)

The goal is to make feeders in those areas less prone to outages through changes like larger poles and fiberglass cross-arms that in case of a physical strike are more likely to break without bringing down the entire pole. 

“It makes everything stronger, but it’s specifically designed to protect the integrity of the pole,” said Tickle. “So if a tree were to fall, you would see the arm come down versus the pole break.” 

That’s because of how much effort has to be put into replacing each part: a toppled pole can take anywhere from eight to 12 hours to restore, while the cross-arm takes around two, said Tickle. 

Other fixes can involve re-routing problematic parts of the line or building in backups to reduce outage times. 

The projects are time-consuming, however: Because they are done with electricity still flowing, Tickle said only about two poles can be replaced per day. 

According to Dominion’s data, the fixes do pay off: roughly six fewer hours of outages for customers served by upgraded feeders annually. The most affected of those customers — those who had experienced twice the system average of outage minutes over a five-year period — see an average of 12 fewer hours of outages annually. 

“We've seen significant, measurable improvements in reliability as these projects are completed,” said Tickle. “And it's especially rewarding to see our customers experience fewer and shorter outages during major weather events.” 

*Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at* [*svogelsong@richmonder.org*](mailto:svogelsong@richmonder.org).

*Dominion Energy is a sponsor of The Richmonder but was not allowed to review or influence this story. Read our editorial policy* [***here***](https://www.richmonder.org/our-policies/) *or learn about The Richmonder's funding* [***here***](https://www.richmonder.org/contribute-to-the-richmonder/)***.***