The Kerite Company is using its 160 year history to forge a successful path in the 21st century for its cable products and services, which include utility transmission and distribution power cable, industrial power cable, as well as turnkey installation and field service capabilities.

Proud of its past but not content to bask in its former glory, Kerite continues to build on what made it so long-lasting – premium quality, manufacturing flexibility, extremely fast turnaround time, and total warranty protection – to ensure the next 160 years.

The early days form a firm foundation for the future

Kerite Company was founded in 1854 by Austin Goodyear Day, nephew of Charles Goodyear. It was equivalent to the most successful startup of today’s era after the invention of the first crosshead extruder led to the production of insulated telegraph wire – think of the telegraph as the internet of the 19th century. Kerite went on to introduce railroad signal cable and power cable, winning three top awards at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, installed the world’s first submarine power cable, and supplied cable for the Panama Canal in the early 1900s.

Further cable technology breakthroughs came with the invention of the Permashield non-conducting stress control layer in 1958, the first cables with specially formulated discharge-resistant ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) insulation in the 1960s, and the introduction of cable for the nuclear power industry in 1965. Active in the nuclear power plant cable business in the 1960s through the 1980s, Kerite cable was installed in well over 65 nuclear plants, more than half the country’s total.

The firsts just kept on coming throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s, with the introduction of high voltage cable and an innovative cable services installation division.

In 1969, Kerite was purchased by the Hubbell Company, an electrical equipment manufacturer with a long history, known for patenting the ubiquitous duplex receptacle and the electric light pull socket. For the next 30 years, Kerite prospered as part of Hubbell, which invested heavily in new manufacturing facilities and revised plant layouts, replacing some buildings that dated back to the Civil War era.

A high voltage (HV) development laboratory was installed in 1973 to facilitate testing and evaluation of Kerite HV products and began testing and evaluating HV cable in 1975. In the early 1990s, about half the plant was replaced with newer buildings and facilities, primarily to facilitate manufacturing of HV (115-138 thousand volt) cable. In 1992, Kerite installed its own wire mill, and updated and rebuilt laboratory spaces.

In 1999, Kerite was purchased by the Marmon Group, an international association of more than 125 business units that operate independently within diverse business sectors. From 2000-2007, Marmon made continuous investments in equipment and plant layout to improve service levels and manufacturing flow. In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway acquired 60% of Marmon. Today Marmon is 100% owned by Berkshire Hathaway.

In the intervening years, Kerite has continued to benefit from significant investments to build upon the company’s advantages in the market.

History of superior performance

Kerite’s history of investment in equipment, facilities, research and development and testing are the main contributors to Kerite’s superior field performance, demonstrated by more than a century of empirical evidence and a proven track record. Five factors contribute to this record of reliability and long life, including:

Discharge resistant insulation – The company’s proprietary ethylene propylene/ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPM/EPDM)-based compounds are formulated, mixed, and extruded in house with the express goal of resistance to degradation caused by partial discharge (PD). This focus on building PD immunity is one of the reasons EPR-based cables show no signs of partial discharge over extended periods of time, effectively providing a lifetime guarantee that there will be no electrical failure due to insulation deterioration.

Permashield non conducting stress control layer – The high specific inductive capacity (SIC) material with insulating properties delivers superior stress relief between the conductor and the insulation layer. During extrusion Kerite performs a continuous 2kV DC production test for stress control layer continuity, resulting in long term AC cable strength and impulse breakdown levels.

Transient attenuation – Kerite cables provide a superior level of high frequency attenuation; transient voltage spikes can cause transformer windings to short and Kerite cable is four times more effective in attenuating transients than EPR cable from other manufacturers and an order of magnitude better than TR-XLPE.

Long service life –There have been no known field-related insulation failures for Kerite’s EPR cables and no time limit is placed on its cable warranty.

Ease of installation – More than 160 years of experience making cable has resulted in a deep understanding of how to make lineman-friendly cable that saves time and adds another element of reliability. With no bonding between the insulation and the insulation shield, the shield is very easy to remove regardless of temperature.

Flexibility and short lead times bring the past into the future

Another success stemming from the company’s long history is its ability to modify its schedule when necessary, giving it the shortest lead times in the industry for its submarine, high voltage and medium voltage cable. This is primarily due to the fact that the plant has always focused on being flexible, and can change operations, and reschedule production to meet demand.

For example, Kerite is the only U.S manufacturer of armored submarine cable, and has had great success with the product. Kerite’s EPR insulation formula means that submarine cables can operate in direct contact with water, without the need for an impervious lead sheath or asphalt coating.

The cable can be covered with individually jacketed steel armor wires for mechanical protection and ease of installation pulling. Kerite has the ability to provide a variety of outer dimensions for submarine cable.

Ed Sleight, Regional VP of Sales, who has worked for Kerite for more than 45 years, explains that approval cycles for this type of project can be very long and Kerite’s short manufacturing lead time is extremely advantageous to the company. “Oftentimes we don’t know in advance when a project will come to fruition – we could be following a project for 10 years or we could be needed for a project when a cable fails and they need to replace it on short notice.”

For example, one recent large project is for two 3500-foot cables that will be installed underneath a naval base in Virginia. Sleight adds, “We don’t just have to set machines and let them run for weeks on end. Our operations don’t lend themselves to that. We have the ability to change on the fly and are close to our customers, so if there’s something that is not needed right away we can move jobs around to accommodate urgent needs.”

The business is also seeing somewhat of resurgence in its nuclear-qualified cable business, as older nuclear power plants are upgrading their facilities and a few new ones coming online. Cable installed in such facilities must be tested and certified to have a 40-year lifespan. As part of a joint effort with RSCC Wire & Cable, Kerite is participating in ongoing testing of cable that is required for recertification.

Finally, Kerite is responding flexibly to the fact that more high voltage cable is being placed underground than ever before. The move towards underground cable is in response to demands for system hardening and the improved aesthetics when large lines are placed underground. Also, in congested areas it is sometimes impossible to place additional overhead wires, so utilities that need to build or expand substations due to population growth and greater overall power usage often must use the underground cable option.

“Twenty-five years ago, utilities were not convinced high voltage underground cable was reliable or affordable. As both a manufacturer and installer for cable through Kerite Cable Services, Kerite has proven that it can be done easily and at not much higher cost. Even short lengths can be installed at a reasonable cost.”

Industry veteran Ed Sleight believes the challenge for the cable industry is getting utilities to understand the true cost consequences of buying lower quality underground cable. He explains that between the 1960s and the 1980s, some cable companies did not properly test and qualify their underground cable, and there was quite a high failure rate, especially problematic since most utilities expect underground cable to last a long time and replacing failed products is expensive.

“The problem now is that since cable quality has improved so much people forget what a cable problem is. Materials and equipment can make a cable to last 20 years but can it last 50 years?” Learn from the past, Sleight says. “History shows Kerite power cables can withstand the toughest test of all – the test of time through actual field experience.”