ABSTRACT
Distribution cable systems have peak failure rates during the summer months throughout North America. Research work has shown that impulse surges to cables shorten their service life [19-1]. Both temperature and rainfall may peak during the same time period. All of these factors may influence this failure rate. It is also well documented that water trees reduce the impulse level of extruded dielectric insulated cables and contribute to the failure situation. Most of the effort that has been spent in the past on lightning protection of distribution system components has been on overhead transformers. This is logical when you consider that the companies that build transformers are also the ones that sell arresters.
