Equipment Failure Model and Data for Distribution-Voltage-Class Protection Equipment - A PM Basis Application - Technical Update

Sep 11, 2026

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Increasing pressure from customers and regulators to maintain service reliability while controlling costs creates a dilemma for utility distribution businesses. This technical update presents an alternative approach for estimating equipment failure rates for distribution-voltage-class (DVC) protection components using a failure model based on expert judgment and available data. The report supports asset management decisions by providing mechanisms and preventive maintenance data to build life-cycle business cases and assess multi-year financial impacts and risks of failure as assets age.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages90

Reading Time31 min

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Equipment Failure Model and Data for DistributionVoltage-Class Protection Equipment A PM Basis Application 1010886 Effective December 6, 2006, this report has been made publicly available in accordance with Section 734.3(b)(3) and published in accordance with Section 734.7 of the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. As a result of this publication, this report is subject to only copyright protection and does not require any license agreement from EPRI. This notice supersedes the export control restrictions and any proprietary licensed material notices embedded in the document prior to publication. Equipment Failure Model and Data for DistributionVoltage-Class Protection Equipment A PM Basis Application 1010886 Technical Update, December 2005 EPRI Project Manager Jeremy Bloom ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE 3420 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304-1395 ▪ PO Box 10412, Palo Alto, California 94303-0813 ▪ USA 800.313.3774 ▪ 650.855.2121 ▪ [askepri@epri.com](askepri@epri.com) ▪ [www.epri.com](www.epri.com) DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITIES THIS DOCUMENT WAS PREPARED BY THE ORGANIZATION(S) NAMED BELOW AS AN ACCOUNT OF WORK SPONSORED OR COSPONSORED BY THE ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC. (EPRI). NEITHER EPRI, ANY MEMBER OF EPRI, ANY COSPONSOR, THE ORGANIZATION(S) BELOW, NOR ANY PERSON ACTING ON BEHALF OF ANY OF THEM: (A) MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WHATSOEVER, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,(I) WITH RESPECT TO THE USE OF ANY INFORMATION, APPARATUS, METHOD, PROCESS, OR SIMILAR ITEM DISCLOSED IN THIS DOCUMENT, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR (II) THAT SUCH USE DOES NOT INFRINGE ON OR INTERFERE WITH PRIVATELY OWNED RIGHTS, INCLUDING ANY PARTY'S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, OR (III) THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS SUITABLE TO ANY PARTICULAR USER'S CIRCUMSTANCE; OR (B) ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING ANY CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF EPRI OR ANY EPRI REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES) RESULTING FROM YOUR SELECTION OR USE OF THIS DOCUMENT OR ANY INFORMATION, APPARATUS, METHOD, PROCESS, OR SIMILAR ITEM DISCLOSED IN THIS DOCUMENT. ORGANIZATION(S) THAT PREPARED THIS DOCUMENT Asset Performance Technologies, Inc. This isan EPRI Technical Update report. A Technical Update report is intended asan informal report of continuing research, a meeting, ora topical study. It is not a final EPRI technical report. NOTE For further information about EPRI, call the EPRI Customer Assistance Center at 800.313.3774 ore-mail [askepri@epri.com](askepri@epri.com). Electric Power Research Institute and EPRI are registered service marks of the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. Copyright © 2005 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. CITATIONS This document was prepared by Asset Performance Technologies, Inc. 313 Nobles Lane Corrales, New Mexico 87048 Principal Investigators David Worledge Glenn Hinchcliffe This document describes research sponsored by EPRI. The publication is a corporate document that should be cited in the literature in the following manner: Equipment Failure Model and Data for Distribution-Voltage-Class Protection Equipment: A PM Basis Application, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA: 2005. 1010886 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Increasing pressure from both customers and regulators to maintain and enhance service reliability, while atthe same time controlling costs, has put many utilities’ distribution businesses ina classic dilemma of conflicting objectives. For that reason, asset management has become an increasingly important aspect of corporate business strategies. A significant focus of EPRI’s asset management research in recent years has been to develop a rational basis for selecting repair or replacement options for specific classes of equipment by balancing the risks of equipment failure against the costs of continued maintenance or

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the report?

The report provides data on equipment failure mechanisms and preventive maintenance to systematically estimate failure rates for distribution-voltage-class protection components.

Why are failure-rate estimates important for utilities?

Failure-rate estimates help utilities decide when to replace assets and support asset management investments by enabling multi-year life-cycle business cases.

How does the report propose estimating equipment failure rates when maintenance records are insufficient?

It develops an alternative failure model that combines expert judgment with available data to generate interim failure information for asset management.

Sep 11, 2026

Upload by Oliver