The SMA team focuses on reliably delivering your power — and they’re very good at what they do

Clive Buttrey can sum up his chief job description in four simple words: Keep the lights on. But the easy part ends right there. “It’s a challenge,” he says about maintaining the co-op’s near-perfect record of reliability. “Our goal is for no member to lose power unexpectedly. Ever.”

Maintaining the service reliability MTE members expect is a complicated matter requiring a sophisticated blend of manpower and machines, the manager of the co-op’s substations, metering and apparatus (SMA) department says.

Honoring MTE’s reliability pledge is the daily work of SMA, a team of 19 engineers and technicians. They are responsible for the equipment and infrastructure necessary for seamlessly moving power from TVA transmission lines to some 360,000 meters serving co-op member homes, businesses and institutions.

It’s no small job to keep the power flowing across MTE’s 2,100-square-mile territory, especially during the spring storm season when grid infrastructure can take a beating. Buttrey lists these priorities his team focuses on to ensure system reliability every day of the year:

1. Maintenance is a must

MTE meets or exceeds industry standards for maintaining and testing electricity distribution equipment. “We tend to be
aggressive with preventive maintenance, which isn’t typical of most utilities,” Buttrey said. This is why MTE’s equipment failure rate is below the national average.

The SMA mantra is to “catch the problem before it becomes a problem,” meaning equipment is closely monitored and repaired, or retired, before it can cause an outage. “Potentially leaving thousands in the dark or cold because of a preventable breakdown is a gamble we’re never willing to take,” he said.

2. Investing in reclosers

Few MTE members know what an electrical recloser is, but it’s likely you’ve experienced its value. Such protective devices detect power interruptions — for example, when lightning strikes or tree branches fall on power lines — and intervene to de-energize only the damaged area while leaving undamaged lines in service. “Most of the time this equipment does its job so well members never know there’s a problem somewhere down the line,” Buttrey said.

MTE has steadily invested in reclosers, with more than 500 now installed along the co-op’s power lines. About 75% of the electricity distribution system can be remotely controlled by these devices.

This means MTE’s Systems Control personnel, who work 24/7 every day, can manually trigger an immediate response and avert a widespread power outage. The co-op is incrementally upgrading to have the entire system served by remote controlled reclosers.

3. Building more substations

Substations are crucial facilities in MTE’s electrical grid. Each acts as a nerve center, transforming high-voltage power from TVA generation plants to lower voltages for safe distribution to member homes and businesses.

In the last 25 years, MTE’s substation count has increased from 22 to 55 — and more are coming. The newest is due to open in southern Wilson County in 2027.

Besides addressing population growth and increasing energy demand, adding more substations improves the system’s reliability and resilience, Buttrey said. “If a storm damages a substation and causes it to fail — like what we experienced when a tornado hit Wilson County in March 2020 — we can reroute power from other stations to minimize outage time.

4. Expert problem-solving skills

MTE invests the time and resources to provide training that helps co-op personnel excel in reliability. For instance, SMA team members know how to switch the electricity transmission system that feeds into the service area from TVA generation facilities. Some electric utilities must wait for TVA employees to arrive and handle the repairs.

Recalling a September 2025 transmission line failure in Rutherford County, Buttrey said MTE employees were able to isolate the problem and restore members’ power in about an hour.

“If we’d had to wait for TVA’s personnel to get here and do the job, it could have been up to four hours,” he said.

Clive Buttrey spends his days, and even plenty of nights, thinking about how the SMA team can positively impact reliability. Whether it happens because of leading-edge equipment or simply working smarter, the end result is all that really matters: “We’ll do whatever is necessary to keep the power flowing.”