Cable, Again

After Friday's post about the submarine electric cable that serves Ocracoke Island (see photo below), I had this question from a reader: "I always wondered what a submerged cable looked like. So, does anyone know, what happens if this thing was accidentally cut while in the water? Does it trip some kind of breaker or could you technically be shocked if you were nearby? I'm imagining the world's largest GFI outlet. Does it just lay on the bottom?"

This is the reply I received from Heidi Smith, Tideland Electric Membership Director of Public Relations: "It is actually sunk below Hatteras Inlet. Obviously the depth is ever changing based on shifting sand. Our previous cable would get nicked from time to time by a boat propeller, thus the new armored cable. Yes, if the energized section of cable buried deep within ever were nicked it would result in a breaker operation and shut power off."

For more information about the island's electric service, especially our new microgrid, please click here: https://villagecraftsmen.blogspot.com/2016/12/microgrid.htm.

And look for the story of the electrification of Ocracoke Island in a future Ocracoke Newsletter.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Ellen Marie Cloud's first person account of the "Great Ocracoke Lighthouse Windows Heist." You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news012117.htm.