Hubbell recently announced the addition of a 25,000-square-foot facility in St. Petersburg, Florida, dedicated to the production of the LineDefender™ advanced lateral protection recloser. The investment expands U.S. manufacturing capacity to meet growing utility demand for advanced lateral protection, distribution automation, and grid reliability solutions.
It reflects the strong market momentum behind the product, which was validated through an extensive pilot program involving collaboration with utility lineworkers, engineers, operators, and technicians across North America.
“Utilities are looking for smarter ways to improve reliability, enhance workforce safety, and reduce the operational costs associated with distribution system outages,” said Division President for Grid Automation, Erik Christian. “The LineDefender recloser was developed in direct response to those challenges, and the market’s response has exceeded our expectations. This new facility gives us the capacity and flexibility to support continued growth while maintaining the quality and innovation our customers expect from Hubbell.”
The device helps utilities modernize lateral protection by automatically detecting and clearing temporary faults. It reduces sustained outages and truck rolls, improves restoration times, and combines advanced protection, familiar field operation, flexible communications, and safety-focused features.
The production facility accommodates multiple parallel production lines, allowing Hubbell to quickly scale output by adding a line as demand increases. The expansion is expected to reduce LineDefender recloser lead times by up to 50 percent by 2027.
Hubbell celebrated the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recloser manufacturing facility on Aug. 27, 2026, highlighting the company’s ongoing commitment to U.S. manufacturing.
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