Once the substation lowers the voltage, the electricity is ready to be transported to homes and businesses through a distribution, or networks, system. The distribution/networks system consists of the poles and wires you see in the streets of cities and towns. Conductors called feeders reach out in all directions from the substation carrying electricity.
At key locations along the distribution/networks system, distribution transformers lower the voltage to the level needed by customers (see diagram 5). Reclosers located throughout the distribution system prevent a permanent outage due to a temporary fault (see diagram 6).
These reclosers function as circuit breakers, isolating permanent faults from the rest of the circuit. A recloser will automatically restore the circuit when power is lost due to a temporary fault. If an outage occurs, reclosers will localize the fault to minimize the number of customers affected.
Devices called regulators maintain the voltage depending on customer demand for electricity (see diagram 7). Capacitors, which are found in substations and on poles, momentarily store electricity to help control and improve voltage regulation (see diagram 8).
Lines on the high-voltage side of the distribution transformer are called primaries, and those on the low-voltage side are called secondaries. Secondary lines tie to the transformer and run from pole to pole. The customer's service line runs from the secondary line or transformer to the customer's meter. The meter then measures and records electricity usage each month.