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Vegetation Management 28 l Protection & Control 36 l Mobile Dispatch 40

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2009 S&C Electric Company 766-A0901
Conventional reclosers stress the circuit with fault
current every time they reclose into a fault. The results:
Avoidable damage to the windings of upstream transformers,
conductor splices, terminators, and connectors . . . shortening
their lives. Plus voltage sags on adjacent, unfaulted feeders.
But S&Cs IntelliRupter wont damage your system. Its
PulseClosing Technology performs a fast close-open operation
at just the right point on the voltage wave, putting a short, 5-ms
pulse of current on the line to test for the presence of faults.
IntelliRupter offers you:
A completely integrated package
including controls, communications,
power supply, and three-phase voltage
and current sensing. Eliminates cost,
clutter, and complexity. Controls are
line-powered, no VTs needed.
Easy up, easy on. All system
components are contained in the
IntelliRupter base for easy, single-
point-lift installation.
Simple conguration and operation
from the comfort of your vehicle,
using secure WiFi-based wireless
communication.
NEW! Available with IntelliTEAM SG
Automatic Restoration System. This self-healing
feeder reconguration system responds to system
disturbances and restores power to all the loads the
system can handle. With new features like Rapid Self-
Healing and IntelliTEAM SG Designer, IntelliTEAM SG
is faster and easier to use than ever before.
NEW! Now with single-phase tripping capability, plus
optional external power supply and ber-optic com-
munication.
S&Cs
IntelliRupter

PulseCloser
eliminates the
need to close into
a fault to test the line.
Current versus TimeConventional RecloserFault from Phase Wire to Grounded Neutral
Current versus TimeIntelliRupter PulseCloserFault from Phase Wire to Grounded Neutral
PulseClosing Technology tests for faults with
non-disruptive 5-millisecond current pulses.
With each reclosing, circuit is stressed by fault current.
Still not
convinced?
See an actual demo
of IntelliRupter
pulseclosing versus
a typical recloser at
www.sandc.com/ir-demo
25-kV Non-Disconnect Style
IntelliRupter PulseCloser
Screen shot
of typical
recloser
closing
into a fault
2009
AWARD WINNER
Answers for energy.
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SIPROTEC for over 100 years, a unique success story of
innovation and quality in protection technology.
Since the beginning of the twentieth century and the pioneering days of protection technology, customer
requirements have been in a continuous process of change. Siemens has consistently transformed these new
requirements into innovative products and solutions always working closely with our customers and always
one step ahead of the competition. Our strategy of innovation, combined with a total focus on our customers
and their benefits, has made Siemens the market leader. www.siemens.com/energy/siprotec2011
Is it possible to be a pioneer
from generation to generation?
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 2
Vol. 63 No. 5
CONTENTS
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PEVs in the Motor City
Detroit Edison examines adoption of PEV scenarios to determine
distribution system impacts.
By Haukur asgeirsson and Nick Carlson, Detroit Edison
Its Not Just Cutting Trees
Tree Line USA recognition is part of a comprehensive utility program
to engage customers in managing the community forest.
By robbie Beard and Keith r. Forry, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative;
Lisa randle, Pacic Gas and Electric Co.; and randy Gordon, Arbor Day
Foundation
Voltage Regulation Under Control
Norway installs the worlds rst magnetic voltage stabilizer
on rural 22-kV distribution feeders.
By Tormod Leistad, Eidsiva Nett A.S.
Web-Based Integration Streamlines Processes
Truckee-Donner PUD integrates disparate IT tools to provide
collective value.
By Ian Fitzgerald, Truckee-Donner Public Utility District
Building Reliability Into a High-Prole Area
Underground service and a truly self-healing distribution system
improves customer service within the automation zone.
By mark Kimbell, Murfreesboro Electric Department
Wood Pole Inspection Extends Service Life
Knowledge of pole condition is crucial for decision making
in managing distribution facilities.
By adriano Gabiatti and Pedro montani, AES Sul Distribuidora Gacha
de Energia S.A., and Flvio vidor, marcal Pires and Berenice a. Dedavid,
Pontical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul
Frankfurt to Host CIRED
The 21
st
International Conference and Exhibition on Electricity
Distribution will be held June 6-9.
By Gerry George, International Editor
56
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Never Compromise
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May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 4
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Departments
GlobalVIEWPOINT
Another Egg Cracks. After years of outsourcing, manufacturing is making
its way back home. Individual states are working with global companies
to bring high-paying manufacturing jobs to the United States.
By Rick Bush, Editorial Director
BUSINESSDevelopments
BPA to Build New High-Voltage Power Line in Southeast Washington
Landes de Couesm Wind Farm Orders 11 Wind Turbines
SMARTGrid
JEA to Deploy Landis+Gyrs Gridstream Network to Support
Energy Conservation
EnerNOC to Deliver Energy-Efciency Applications to SCE Customers
TECHNOLOGYUpdates
Montana-Dakota Utilities Selects OSIs monarch Technology
for SCADA/EMS
EA Technology to Market Pnu Power Compressed Air Batteries
QuarterlyREPORT
The Future of the Smart Grid. Representatives from two of Utilimetrics
member companies, General Electric and Siemens, share their predictions
for the future of the smart grid world. By Joel Hoiland, Utilimetrics
CHARACTERSwithCharacter
Life Science. EPRI Senior Project Manager Doug Dorrs fascination with
problem solving, had simple beginnings his fth-grade science class.
By Cathy Swirbul, Contributing Writer
PRODUCTS&Services
Warning Solution for Less Critical Transformers
Epoxy Bushings
StraightTALK
The Trouble With Wind. Wind capacity has its pluses and minuses. We all
need to be careful lest we embrace the former while ignoring the latter.
By George C. Loehr, Management Consultant
In Every Issue
ClassiedADVERTISING
ADVERTISINGIndex
CONTENTS
ABOUT OUR COVER:
Detroit Edison is putting
a charge into electric
vehicles.
20
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Quanta Services roots in the power industry run deep. For generations, Quanta has been the force behind the
development of the power grid. As consumption of electricity rises, so does the demand for transmission and distribution
contractors. Reliability is at stake.
Quanta designs, installs, maintains and repairs electric power infrastructure. The branches of our network are far
reaching and ready to mobilize. With more than 14,000 employees working in all 50 states and Canada, Quantas
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May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 6
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CONFIDENCE
Editorial Director Rick Bush rbush@tdworld.com
Technology Editor Vito Longo vlongo@tdworld.com
Senior Managing Editor Emily Saarela esaarela@tdworld.com
International Editor Gerry George gerry.george.tdw@talk21.com
Automation Editor Matt Tani mattelutcons@joplin.com
Contributing Editor Amy Fischbach aschbach@tdworld.com
Contributing Editor Stefanie Kure skure@tdworld.com
Technical Writer Gene Wolf GW_Engr@msn.com
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Publisher David Miller David.Miller@penton.com
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Chief Financial Ofcer & Executive Vice President
Nicola Allais Nicola.Allais@penton.com
Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Andrew Schmolka Andrew.Schmolka@penton.com

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Printed in USA
Petra Solar avoids permitting and siting while enabling utilities to protably nance solar through direct ownership.
Petra Solar has pioneered new technology that efciently generates power through solar modules on utility and
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May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 8
GlobalViewpoint
Another Egg Cracks
A
ccording to author Joseph Pearce, our understanding
of reality is formed slowly over time based on personal
experiences. Then along comes a Eureka moment
that cracks our cosmic egg, forcing us to re-evaluate our world
view.
In January 2001, I wrote about utilities that outsourced
major information technology (IT) functions. We saw the
outsourcing of tasks formerly considered core, which caused
us to rethink our entire business model. Now so many call
centers have been outsourced that I am surprised when I call
a credit card help number and reach someone here in the
United States.
Of course, the outsourcing trend is not limited to call cen-
ters and IT providers. We have seen manufacturing shifted
to low-cost countries including Mexico, China and Indone-
sia, whether through joint ventures, in-country subsidiaries
or partnering arrangements. And developed countries are
even offering up their core technologies to get business. Im
sure you are aware that China often demands (and pays for)
intellectual property rights as a condition of doing business.
Two examples are 800-kV DC and high-speed Maglev train
technologies.
The Next Cosmic Egg Cracks
Over the past 18 months, Ive received announcements
from companies headquartered all over the globe that are
building manufacturing plants here in the United States. I
personally have toured two of these facilities and am looking
forward to visiting more. Take a look at what is coming or has
arrived in a state near you:
Oct. 29, 2009: Prysmian (Milan, Italy) opened North Amer-
icas rst EHV cable plant in Abbeville, North Carolina. This
facility manufactures cable in voltages up to 460 kV and in
lengths up to 1 mile (1.6 km). The facility includes a 16-story
vertical extruder and cost $46 million (31 million euros) to
build.
April 19, 2010: EFACEC Group (Lisbon, Portugal) opened
its new transformer manufacturing facility in Efngham
County, Georgia, having invested $100 million in the facil-
ity, which is the sole North American producer of large high-
capacity shell-type transformers. The EFACEC plant produces
both core- and shell-type transformers up to 1,500 MVA and
up to 525 kV.
July 10, 2010: Hyundai Heavy Industries (Ulsan, South
Korea) began construction on a transformer plant in Mont-
gomery, Alabama. Hyundai is investing $86 million into this
new plant. Projected to be operational in December 2011,
the plant will produce up to 200 medium to large kVA-rated
transformers per year at voltages up 500 kV.
Aug. 1, 2010: CG Global (Mumbai, India) opened a state-
of-the-art transformer manufacturing facility in Washington,
Missouri, with an initial investment of $20 million. From this
plant, CG provides utility and industrial customers medium-
power transformers up to 60 MVA and up to 138 kV.
Jan. 14, 2011: Alstom (Paris, France) completed its high-volt-
age breaker plant expansion in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. With
an investment of $5 million, the existing plant has been more
than doubled in size. And with added state-of-the-art testing
facilities, Alstom has extended its product line of high-voltage
dead-tank circuit breakers beyond its traditional range of
72 kV to 245 kV, and now can provide breakers up to 550 kV.
Feb. 14, 2011: Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (Tokyo, Japan)
announced plans to build a new $200 million, 350,000-sq-ft
(32,516-sq-m) large power transformer plant to be located in
Memphis, Tennessee, which is the headquarters for the groups
heavy electrical equipment production in North America.
March 7, 2011: Jyoti Structures Ltd. (Mumbai, India) se-
lected Conroe, Texas, to establish a fully automated lattice
transmission tower facility. The $34 million, 200,000-sq-ft
(18,581-sq-m) under-roof facility will produce 36,000 tons
(32,659 tonnes) of lattice transmission towers annually for
EHV and UHV overhead lines, based on a two-shift operation.
The plant will be located on 20 acres (8 hectares) in Conroes
Industrial Park North.
April 4, 2011: ABB (Zurich, Switzerland) celebrated the
groundbreaking for its new Huntersville, North Carolina, $90
million facility to manufacture AC and DC high-voltage un-
derground power cables. The main facility, including an ex-
trusion tower of over 350 ft (107 m), is slated for completion in
the second half of 2012.

What Is Driving This Investment?
This string of announcements brings with it the reality that
another cosmic egg has cracked. But lets look a little deeper
and see if we can determine why global companies are invest-
ing here and now.
The United States is now building out its bulk power net-
work at a steady pace that typically increases on the order of
9% per year, which makes it possible for manufacturers to gen-
erate a good business return over time.
Earlier this year when I was in Mumbai, I had the opportu-
nity to speak for an hour with S.M. Trehan, CEO of CG Ltd.
I asked Trehan his thoughts on what the global marketplace
might look like as we come out of this global recession. He
Consuttlng Englneerlng Constructlon Operotlon I www.bv.com
Bigger
Better
Whot vou need tomorrow ls lust os lmportont os whot vou
need todov. Even os Btock & veotch detlvers todov`s most
comptex Power Oetlverv prolects. we`re lmptementlng
exponslve ptons for growth to ensure we`tt contlnue to
exceed vour expectotlons for lnto the future.
We`re bultdlng o wortd of dlfference. Together.
Perceptive planning shapes a powerful future.
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 10
Globalviewpoint
Editorial Director
stated that large companies will have to be global in reach if
they are to prosper.
Trehan says that global companies will naturally shift to
where the biggest markets are and to where the biggest cost
advantages reside. Global companies will nd they must man-
ufacture in the biggest markets because of the power of the
consumer. A consumer would rather buy from a manufac-
turer 200 miles away than one that is 6,000 miles away, said
Trehan.
As to going after the largest markets, Trehan said, North
America makes up one of the largest T&D markets with 23%
of the total. And Europe is not far behind. So if you want to
be a global player, nearly half the market is in North America
and Europe.
From ABBs perspective local investment pays dividends.
We are a technology company with global reach and a strong
local presence in the countries we operate, said Peter Leupp,
global head of the power systems division, ABB Group. This is
very much driven by market and customer needs.
In a press release, Luis Filipe Pereira, CEO of EFACEC,
shared his companys perspective on investment in the United
States: The construction of new industrial premises to manu-
facture large power transformers in the USA must be consid-
ered a very important strategic step for EFACECs expansion
and globalization, and a fundamental benchmark for its inter-
national growth, namely in the USA market, which is consid-
ered a priority market for EFACEC operations.
Talking of the new transformer plant, Katsuya Takamiya,
president and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric US Group Compa-
nies, said, The opening of this facility in the United States is
vital to our company from a global perspective. Our factory
in Ako, Japan, is presently the primary source of the power
transformers we produce. The Memphis plant will expand our
capacity to supply our customers around the world.
The story at Jyoti is similar. I caught up with Claus Sutor,
executive vice president of engineering and marketing, who
told me, We at Jyoti realized that there were no longer any
modern full-service tower shops on U.S. soil. Major tower
supplies come from Canada, Mexico, Turkey and India.
Potential customers are ecstatic that they can have their
lattice towers fabricated here in the United States, witness
prototype assemblies and physically check on progress be-
ing made with their orders, rather than traveling to far-off
locations, Sutor added.
Its All About Jobs
Addressing job creation is becoming a critical component
of the overall strategy of companies who want to do business
in the United States. Sutor shared how Jyoti worked at the
state level to bring manufacturing to Conroe, Texas: The
Texas Enterprise Fund, invoked through Gov. Perrys ofce,
along with support from county and city leaders, were all im-
portant factors in selecting to build the facilities in Conroe.
Jyoti even has a tie in to the Conroe Technical College, which
will greatly assist in training of CNC [computer numerical
control] machine operators along with other skilled and semi-
skilled personnel.
The high-tech jobs at these facilities are adding up just
look at the numbers:
l North Carolina: 32 (Prysmian); 100 jobs (ABB)
l Missouri: 150 jobs (CG Global)
l Pennsylvania: 50 jobs (Alstom)
l Georgia: 300 jobs (EFACEC)
l Alabama: 480 jobs (Hyundai)
l Texas: 200 jobs (Jyoti)
l Tennessee: 275 jobs (Mitsubishi).
Politicians Give Kudos
Behind the scenes, states compete to land high-paying jobs.
Once landed, governors are quick to tout their successes. Here
are just a few of the statements released to the press on the
manufacturing jobs mentioned above:
North Carolinas Gov. Bev Perdue: We welcome companies
like ABB that are willing to invest in our state and position
North Carolina as a leader in the power industry. The workers
in these new jobs will be building the smart grid. These are the
sort of 21
st
century jobs that are not only putting North Caro-
linians back to work but are helping our state steadily climb
out of the recession.
Georgias Gov. Sonny Perdue: EFACEC is Portugals leader in
electronics and electromechanics, and were proud that they
have chosen Efngham County and the state of Georgia as the
site of their rst U.S. plant. These jobs are high-skilled, high-
pay positions, and I know that EFACEC will be thrilled with
the talented workforce they will employ.
Alabamas Gov. Bob Riley: This truly is a team effort, and our
Alabama team is proud to welcome Hyundai Heavy Industries.
When you combine Alabamas outstanding workforce with the
great economic development team we have at the state and
local levels, youre able to recruit world-class companies like
Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Tennessees Gov. Bill Haslam: Im thankful that Mitsubishi
Electric Power Products has chosen to make its investment in
Tennessee as we work to make Tennessee the No. 1 location
in the Southeast for high-quality jobs, acknowledging Ten-
nessees more than half-century of innovation in the eld of
energy technology and his states long-standing economic and
cultural ties to Japan.
In one form or another, countries are putting pressure
on vendors to build local. That denitely can be seen in the
recent Obama stimulus bill that requires a high percentage
of products to be purchased from Made in America compa-
nies. And individual states are eager to bring in high-paying
manufacturing jobs by wooing foreign manufacturers with
incentives to set up in their states. And why not? Coming out of
a recession, jobs creation is crucial in every politicians mind.
Expect to see more multinationals crack another egg as they
build manufacturing facilities in the large markets of North
America and Europe.
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project life-cycle solutions enable utilities to plan, implement, and operate vitally important systems.
The result is a smarter grid and greater eciency in an ever-changing marketplace. Smart people solving
hard problems.
Learn more at saic.com/smartgrid
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 12
BusinessDevelopments
BPA to Build New High-Voltage
Power Line in Southeast Washington
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) will build a new power line across
southeast Washington, U.S. The project is expected to provide up to 170 jobs and
carry an additional 840 MW of renewable wind energy, enough to power about half
a million Northwest homes when the wind is blowing.
The line, called the Central FerryLower Monumental line, will extend about
38 miles (61 km) from a new Central Ferry substation near Port of Central Ferry in
Gareld County west through Gareld, Columbia and Walla Walla counties to BPAs
existing Lower Monumental substation in Walla Walla County.
Infrastructure like this is vital to regional and national efforts to deliver renew-
able energy and enhance our energy independence, said Larry Bekkedahl, vice
president of engineering and technical services, BPA Transmission Services. The
jobs associated with the project will also be a welcome boost to local and regional
economies.
The line was chosen from four proposed routes between the new Central Ferry
substation site and the existing Lower Monumental substation. BPA will now acquire
new 150-ft (46-m)-wide right-of-way for the entire length of the new line. The line
will consist of 161 new lattice steel transmission towers set about 1,200 ft (366 m)
apart and ranging in size from 104 ft to 189 ft (32 m to 58 m).
The decision is the culmination of a public process launched in June 2009. Dur-
ing that process, BPA received hundreds of comments that helped it assess the im-
pacts of the four proposed alternative routes. The process led to development of an
environmental impact statement, outlining steps that will help BPA minimize the
lines impacts on land use, wildlife, vegetation, scenery and other resources.
When complete, the 500-kV Central FerryLower Monumental transmission line
will distribute increasing amounts of renewable wind energy while strengthening
the Northwest power grid for coming decades.
For more information, visit www.bpa.gov.
Landes de Couesm Wind Farm
Orders 11 Wind Turbines from Alstom
Alstom has secured the rst order for its ECO 110 wind turbine by signing a con-
tract with wind farm developer Eole Generation, wind farm developer and subsid-
iary of GDF SUEZ, to construct the Landes de Couesm wind farm near La Gacilly
in Brittany, France.
The wind farm will have a total installed capacity of 33 MW, enough to pro-
vide clean energy to 22,000 households and avoid the production of 77,000 tonnes
(84,878 tons)/year of CO
2
, thus helping France to meet government targets to install
19 GW of onshore wind and 6 GW of offshore wind by 2020.
Today, onshore wind farms in France represent an installed power of 5.7 GW.
The contract signed by Alstom, worth just under 30 million euros, includes the
assembly, supply and installation of 11 ECO 110 wind turbines of 3 MW each, plus
ve years of operation and maintenance.
With its 53-m (174-ft)-long blades, Alstoms ECO 110 wind turbine captures
power more efciently, thus fewer units are needed to generate a given amount of
electricity. One unit alone has the capacity to provide enough electricity for 2,000
households and avoid the production of 7,000 tonnes (7,716 tons) of CO
2
per year.
To date, Alstom Wind has installed or is installing over 2,080 wind turbines in
more than 110 wind farms, representing a total capacity of more than 22,680 MW.
For more information, visit www.alstom.com.
AES Acquires DPL
The AES Corp. has executed a de-
nitive agreement under which AES has
agreed to acquire DPL Inc. in a transac-
tion valued at US$4.7 billion on an en-
terprise value basis. Upon closing of the
transaction, DPL will become a wholly
owned subsidiary of AES. DPL is the
parent company of the Dayton Power &
Light Co. (Dayton, Ohio, U.S.).
Under the terms of the agreement,
AES has agreed to pay $30 per share in
cash to DPL shareholders. AES will pay
a total of $3.5 billion in cash for the eq-
uity and assume $1.2 billion in net debt
for a total transaction value of $4.7 bil-
lion. AES has committed bridge nanc-
ing in place from Bank of America Mer-
rill Lynch. Permanent nancing will
include a combination of non-recourse
debt, the re-issuance of corporate debt
at AES that was temporarily paid down
in 2010 and cash on hand.
DPL serves over 500,000 customers in
West Central Ohio through its subsidiar-
ies, DP&L and DPL Energy Resources.
DPL operates over 3,800 MW of power
generation facilities and provides com-
petitive retail energy services to indus-
trial and commercial customers.
DPL will remain a standalone busi-
ness, with local management and corpo-
rate functions, but will be able to lever-
age the best practices and resources of
AES global portfolio. DPL headquar-
ters will remain in Dayton, customers
will continue to be served by DP&L and
the company will continue to use the
DP&L name.
AES has a history in the U.S. utility
sector with its investment in Indianapo-
lis Power & Light Co. After AES acquired
IPL, it invested more than $500 million
in environmental controls, while main-
taining rates that are among the lowest
in Indiana and earning attractive after-
tax returns for AES.
The consummation of the transac-
tion is subject to approval of DPL share-
holders, the Public Utilities Commission
of Ohio, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission and the antitrust review
under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Ap-
provals are expected to be completed
within six to nine months.
To learn more, visit www.aes.com or
www.dpandl.com.
N E C A / I B E W C O N T R A C T O R S T H E Q U A L I T Y C O N N E C T I O N
National Electrical Contractors Association
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
www.thequalityconnection.org
When power lines go down, the job of a line worker can be a
dangerous business. Thats why its important to hire a contractor with
a workforce who knows what theyre doing. With thousands of hours
of combined classroom and on-the-job training under their belts,
NECA-IBEW journeymen are the most highly skilled line workers
in the world. They know the meaning of the word safetyespecially
in situations where their lives and yours are at stake.
Contact your local NECA line chapter or IBEW local union
for more information.
Our linemen have a mission:
To restore powersafely.
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
BUSINESSDevelopments
14
Limiting Liability Due to Wildres:
A Unique Agreement Between Government and Utilities
By Neil Thiessen, Consultant
Fire-suppression costs and litigation can cost millions of dollars. An agreement
between the province of Alberta, Canada, and resident utilities provides for limiting
liability for the cost of wildre suppression. The agreement, negotiated in the early
1990s, limits costs to those utilities (electric, pipeline) that have the use of land in
and adjacent to provincially controlled forested areas.
Years of dispute as to who is responsible for a re caused by trees that contact
energized power lines from within or outside of the legal boundaries of the right-
of-way resulted in the incentive to develop a win-win agreement that results in a
responsible approach of mitigating the risk and sharing any associated costs.
The old argument that if the power line was not there, dead, diseased or wind-
blown trees that fall would never cause a re was the forest services stand. The
electric power line owners always argued that they are not responsible for fallen
trees that are not on the disposition or under their control. In other words, they are
government trees, and it is up to the government to take care of them. Further,
the province of Alberta attempted to recapture the costs of re suppression from
companies they deemed responsible, and the end result was that these charges
were challenged in court and/or seldom paid. This conict rarely resulted in a
satisfactory result by one or both of the parties.
In 1993, one electric utility with two representatives one from the
transmission department and one from the distribution department and the
manager of wildre suppression agreed to sit down and see if a win-win agreement
was possible. After a year and a half of negotiating, an agreement was in place.
The fundamentals of the agreement included:
Electric power line company must have a ve-year approved plan in place to
manage the vegetation on its right-of-way.
Electric power line company must have a danger tree plan in place that
addresses trees that were dead or diseased or leaning that could contact the
power line but were outside the boundaries of the right-of-way. This plan had to be
approved by the forest service on an annual basis.
Once the provincial forest service signed off on this agreement, any liability to
the electric utility for the re suppression and loss of merchantable timber for res
caused by trees contained within this agreement would be limited to CDN$100,000.
This agreement ensured that a responsible and sustainable vegetation
management program is in place in the forested areas of the province, and it
incented the electric utilities to help mitigate re risk due to the location of their
power lines. In return, the forest service had a partner in helping to reduce the
potential of power line-caused res. A win-win agreement was possible.
ISA Annual Conference
This agreement and its development will be discussed in a presentation at the
International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) annual conference in Sydney, Australia,
July 2327, 2011.
ISA has announced the speaker lineup and session overview for the conference,
which features a look at the best in new research, trends and best practices for the
arboricultural profession. The three-day educational programming includes two full
days of utility program with tracks for utility arboriculture education.
The ISA and its professional afliate the Utility Arborist Association annually
work together to provide educational opportunities for arborists working in utility
services arboriculture.
For more conference details, visit www.isa-arbor.com/events/conference.
FPL Delivers 99.98%
Service Reliability
to Customers in 2010
In a ling with the Florida Public
Service Commission, Florida Power &
Light Co. (FPL) reported delivering an-
other year of outstanding reliability for
customers in 2010 and outlined plans for
continued investment in reliability and
storm preparedness in 2011.
FPLs reliability continues to rank
among the best in the nation as the com-
pany progresses on its long-term efforts
to strengthen the infrastructure. This
year, FPL will continue to focus on im-
proving service reliability and storm pre-
paredness throughout the T&D systems
that serve over 4.5 million customers.
As measured by the industry standard
and according to the most recent data
available, FPL customers, on average, ex-
perienced 81.3 minutes without power
during 2010, which is 32% better than
the 2009 national average. The average
annual number of interruptions that
FPL customers experienced improved to
1.21 in 2010 while the companys average
restoration time of 67.4 minutes per out-
age ranks second among major utilities
2009 performance nationwide.
One of the most frequent causes of
distribution outages is vegetation tree
branches, palm fronds or other plants
coming into contact with power lines. To
help reduce and prevent power outages
and ickers for its customers, FPL cleared
vegetation from more than 13,000 miles
(20,921 km) of distribution power lines
and all transmission corridors last year.
Florida is also the lightning capital of
the U.S., and lightning can cause power
outages and ickers, which is why FPL
Lightning Lab engineers are constantly
testing equipment and researching ways
to reduce its impact on the grid. Overall
in 2010, FPL invested more than $100
million in distribution reliability pro-
grams, including vegetation manage-
ment, priority feeders and overhead line
inspections, to keep reliability high for
customers. In 2011, FPL plans to clear
vegetation along more than 12,000 miles
(19,312 km) of distribution power lines
and to maintain a similar level of fund-
ing for reliability programs as in 2010.
Visit www.fpl.com.
SOLUTIONS POWERED BY PEOPLE
Behind every Doble solution is 90 years of knowledge and expertise.
When you work with Doble, youre accessing the collective knowledge of the
worlds best engineers, with nearly a century of trending data and experience
for power generation, transmission and distribution systems over 25 million
test results from 350,000+ electrical apparatus. All provided by a trusted
engineer you can pick up the phone and talk to.
Find your solution at www.doble.com
DOBLE IS AN ESCO TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 16
SMARTGrid
JEA to Deploy Landis+Gyrs Gridstream
Network to Support Energy Conservation
JEA will begin deploying Landis+Gyrs Gridstream RF Network as part of a smart
grid project aimed at enhancing customer service and helping consumers manage
energy consumption.
Under the agreement with JEA, Landis+Gyr will install Gridstream technology to
enable two-way communication with advanced meters. This technology also provides
the capability to connect distribution devices and home area network equipment
to the system through a single network. The project includes installation of 3,000
FOCUS AX-SD meters with integrated ZigBee communications and service switches.
Once the network is in place, the utility can strategically offer new programs to
help consumers with energy management, such as an electric prepay program, an
online consumer energy portal and variable time-based pricing. The technology up-
grades also will provide automatic outage and event notications to further improve
outage-restoration response.
The Gridstream network enhancement is part of a broader smart grid initiative
for which JEA received a stimulus grant from the Department of Energy. In addi-
tion to improving its advanced metering capabilities, JEA also will enact several up-
grades to its data management and operational software, as well as adding customer
engagement tools that, in addition to a web portal, will include testing outbound
messaging and alerts.
Landis+Gyr currently manages an advanced meter network that collects and
reports daily information from JEAs 730,000 electric and water meters. The new
Gridstream infrastructure will be deployed and maintained under this managed
services contract.
For more information, visit www.jea.com or landisgyr.com.
EnerNOC to Deliver Energy-Efciency
Applications to SCE Customers
EnerNOC has entered into a contract to deliver its EfciencySMART data-driven
energy-efciency applications to Southern California Edison (SCE) customers.
As part of the contract, which runs through Dec. 31, 2012, SCE will provide fund-
ing for EfciencySMART Commissioning deployments at commercial and institu-
tional customer sites, enabling SCE customers to receive all metering and moni-
toring equipment, as well as the rst year of energy-efciency data analytics and
reporting, at a signicantly reduced cost.
EfciencySMART Commissioning combines advanced metering technology with
sophisticated software to provide valuable insights into facilities energy usage. Ener-
NOC analysts review energy-savings opportunities identied by EfciencySMART
to deliver clear, actionable, low- or no-cost recommendations that help customers
reduce energy consumption, prioritize maintenance issues and enhance occupant
comfort. By deploying EfciencySMART Commissioning, participating sites can ex-
pect to achieve a savings of 10% or more on their total energy expenditures.
EfciencySMART Commissioning is part of EnerNOCs EfciencySMART suite
of applications and services. By helping customers understand their energy usage
in real time, the service delivers energy-savings opportunities based on customers
actual energy-usage patterns. The suite includes three products: Commissioning,
initial and retro-commissioning services blended with real-time, persistent commis-
sioning technology; Insight, Web-based enterprise energy monitoring; and Services,
energy engineering and project design.
Visit www.enernoc.com/solutions.
PSE&G Awards GIS
Order to Siemens
to Increase Reliability
in New Jersey
Siemens has been awarded a contract
by New Jersey-based Public Service Elec-
tric and Gas Co. (PSE&G), one of the
largest electric utilities in the U.S., for
the design, engineering, manufactur-
ing, installation, testing and commis-
sioning of an indoor 230-kV, 4000-A,
80-kA gas-insulated substation (GIS)
and associated gas-insulated bus (GIB).
The GIS is an expansion of the exist-
ing Bergen switching station located in
Ridgeeld, New Jersey. The new infra-
structure will help provide additional
load capability and enhanced system
reliability, all in a small footprint. Com-
missioning of the substation is sched-
uled in stages beginning at the end of
2012 through April 2013.
The Siemens scope of supply includes
the design, engineering, installation,
testing and commissioning of the GIS
and associated control and protection
buildings, as well as the GIS breakers in
a breaker-and-a-half arrangement.
The GIS technology allows construc-
tion of a substation in a signicantly re-
duced space, compared to conventional
air-insulated substations. GIS is also
considered a more reliable solution with
limited maintenance and less sensitivity
to potential external environmental fac-
tors. It is equipped with a state-of-the-art
gas density monitoring system in order
to continuously monitor SF
6
density.
The systems partial-discharge sensors
also predict potential partial discharge
in the system, alerting the utility in ad-
vance of an irregularity.
Siemens understands the complete
energy-conversion chain and is able to
transform todays grid into a living in-
frastructure that is smart enough to re-
spond quickly, exibly and comprehen-
sively to societys energy needs. Siemens
also incorporates solutions for commer-
cial and industrial applications as well as
smart homes, including building auto-
mation, information technology systems
integration, advanced lighting technol-
ogy and energy-efcient appliances for
a comprehensive smart grid solution.
Visit www.siemens.com/energy.
1
0
0
Year
s
C
e
le
bra
t
in
g
2009 S&C Electric Company 461-A0903
If you presently use electronic sectionalizers on lateral circuits,
your substation feeder breakers are likely set to trip for every
downstream fault . . . so all customers on a feeder experience
a momentary interruption for every fault on that feeder. Its
particularly irritating for customers served from feeders with
laterals that are prone to momentary faults from tree limbs,
lightning, or animal intrusions.
Why make all these customers unhappy?
S&Cs TripSaver Dropout Recloser supports your Smart Grid
need for improved power reliability. It offers all the features of
an electronic sectionalizer plus fault-interrupting capability.
With TripSaver, only the customers served from a faulted lateral
experience a momentary interruption.
Want proof?
After installing TripSaver Dropout Recloser,
one utility avoided nearly 3000 momentary
customer-interruptions on one of their feeders, and
over 5000 momentary customer-interruptions on
another . . . plus immeasurable customer anxiety.
And the number of customers on laterals who
experienced momentary interruptions dropped too.
Award Winning!
TripSaver is truly a breakthrough in lateral circuit
protection. Its a recipient of the prestigious
2008 R&D 100 Award and the
2007 Chicago Innovation Award.
Minimum trip current now 50% lowerlets you
apply TripSaver in more places.
Want more details?
Visit our website or call your nearest S&C Sales OIfce. We can
prepare coordination and protection studies that will prove the
benefts oI applying TripSaver on your system.
S&Cs TripSaver
Dropout Recloser
Gives You All the Benefits of a
Dropout-Style Electronic Sectionalizer
Plus Fault-Interrupting Capability and
Improved Power Reliability
www.sandc.com/ta
2008
AWARD WINNER
15-kV TripSaver
Dropout Recloser
TripSaver
With TripSavers fault-interrupting
capability, theres no need to trip the
breaker for every downstream fault.
Feeder
breaker
NEW
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
SMARTGrid
18
Siemens Develops Distribution
Feeder Automation System Via WiMAX
Siemens has embarked on a road to develop a high-speed, decentralized distribu-
tion feeder automation system that expands its distribution automation portfolio.
The decision to move in this direction was based on three major requirements:
a future-poof solution that uses only recognized communication standards; a sys-
tem that must provide high-speed fault location to start rapid feeder recongura-
tion; and a system that must be scalable to provide cost-effective applications from
a source-transfer application for a critical load to a fully automated Fault Location
Isolation and Service Restoration (FLISR) system.
The following technologies were chosen to form a base for the solution:
1. The IEC61850 communication protocol with peer-to-peer capability forms the
basis for all data communication between devices.
2. WiMAX was chosen as a platform for the IEC61850 systems based on its high-
bandwidth and long-haul capabilities. The RuggedComm RuggedMAX Hardened
Wireless Broadband WiMAX system was chosen for this solution.
3. The protection relay selected was the SIPROTEC 7SJ80 with high-speed PLC
functionality.
Siemens had no problem nding a partner to deploy such a system in a pilot proj-
ect. The partner, A&N Electric Cooperative, serves customers on the eastern shore of
Virginia, U.S. Kelvin Pettit, vice president of system reliability, and Tom Larson, vice
president of engineering, immediately realized the power in the scalability of this
system. According to Pettit, A&N needed a cost-effective solution to address its need
for automation of some critical loads. A&N had a distribution feeder in its network
feeding a critical hospital load that was controlled manually. An outage caused by a
fault in the connected feeder could lead to a long outage before the system could be
recongured to supply power to the hospital from an alternate substation source.
Deploying the new system would provide A&N with an automated, high-speed
solution for the transfer of substation sources 20 miles (32 km) apart to feed this
critical load. In addition, the system would provide high-speed FLISR functionality
to this feeder, greatly enhancing reliability.
According of Andre Smit, senior product development manager for Siemens,
faults are detected in less than 0.1 sec and automation-switching sequences on this
feeder are completed in less than 0.4 sec. We are condent that A&Ns customers
will not even be aware that switching was performed to optimize the feeder and to
keep the maximum number of customers connected to a stable supply of power.
For more information, visit www.energy.siemens.com.
AEMO Chooses Itron to Automate
Energy Demand Forecasting
Australian Energy Market Operator Ltd. (AEMO) will implement an Itron solu-
tion to automate short-term load forecasting for the National Electricity Market in
Australia, which includes New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia
and Tasmania.
Itron will implement an end-to-end solution to streamline AEMOs processes and
provide half-hourly demand forecasts at intervals ranging from half-hour ahead to
eight days ahead. With demand forecasts created at a sub-regional level, the proj-
ect will enable improved forecasting of interconnection constraints and, in turn,
improve the forecasting accuracy of spot prices and reserves.
The solution will leverage Itrons MetrixIDR platform, which generates accurate
sub-hourly, hourly or daily short-term forecasts automatically. By combining histori-
cal load data with weather and calendar information, MetrixIDR provides system
operators and energy traders with the real-time load forecasts required to operate
successfully in todays dynamic real-time markets.
For more information, visit www.itron.com.
Get the
Recognition
You Deserve
Submit your paper now to:
http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pes-ieee
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 20
TECHNOLOGYUpdates
Montana-Dakota Utilities Selects
OSIs monarch Technology for SCADA/EMS
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (MDU) has selected Open Systems International
(OSI) to upgrade and replace its legacy supervisory control and data acquisition/
energy management system (SCADA/EMS) system with OSIs monarch (Multi-
platform Open Network ARCHitecture) platform. MDUs primary motivations for
switching to the OSI technology has been the desire for improved usability, interop-
erability, support and overall lower cost of maintenance and enhanced ability to
meet regulatory requirements.
MDUs monarch-based OSI SCADA/EMS system is intended to serve MDUs in-
terconnected electric generation and transmission infrastructure, which currently
serves about 125,000 residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers
within portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. MDUs
electric system spans 3,000 miles and 4,600 miles (4,828 km and 7,402 km) of trans-
mission and distribution lines, respectively, and consists of nine electric generating
facilities.
The new SCADA/EMS system will be based on OSIs next-generation Microsoft
.NET based Graphical User Interface and will include: SCADA; Historical Record-
ing System; Data Engineering and Maintenance Subsystem; Real-time and His-
torical Trending; Alarm Management; Calculations Subsystem; Disturbance Data
Collection; Historical Information System and Data Archiving; Load Shed and Res-
toration; Inter-Control Center Communications Protocol; Automatic Generation
Control and Dispatch; Transmission Network Security Analysis Suite; Equipment
Outage Scheduler; Operator Training Simulator; Transaction Management System
and Switching Order Management software products.
For more information, visit www.montana-dakota.com or www.osii.com.
PECO has contracted Alcatel-Lucent
to provide and implement end-to-end
Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity via an
optical core as well as wireless (WiMAX)
and microwave edge connections. The
new network will help PECO give cus-
tomers the information they need to use
and save energy effectively.
The Alcatel-Lucent solution includes:
A single converged IP/MPLS net-
work allowing PECO to offer new IP ser-
vices with enhanced quality of service
and end-to-end common operations
and service management.
A Gigabit Ethernet switch built for
IP network deployments in unusually
demanding operational environments
Microwave packet radio and long-
haul microwave solutions for a single
service-aware solution that enables
PECO to optimize service delivery in any
condition.
Professional and network integra-
tion services including comprehensive
IP trafc engineering and design, circuit
provisioning, maintenance services and
project management.
Visit www.peco.com
PECO to Upgrade
Metering Technology
EA Technology to Market Pnu Power Compressed Air Batteries
Pnu Power compressed air batteries produce electricity on demand
using a scroll expander an adaptation of technology developed
more than 100 years ago and used reliably in refrigerators, air condi-
tioning units and superchargers.
The EA Technology Group has agreed to collaborate with
Energetix Pnu Power to market the latters groundbreaking
range of compressed air batteries worldwide.
Headquartered close to Energetix Pnu Power in Capen-
hurst, U.K., EA Technology will use its network of ofces in
the U.S., China, Middle East and Australia, together with 35
distribution partners, to develop sales of Pnu Power products
in a range of power backup and uninterruptible power supply
applications.
The failure of cooling systems in Japans nuclear plants is a
dramatic reminder of the need for reliable and robust backup
solutions in a wide range of industries, said Neil Davies, EA
Technology international director. Pnu Power compressed
air batteries are a better choice for backup, because they are
inherently reliable, low maintenance and low carbon.
Developed since 1997, Pnu Powers patented products use a
scroll expander to generate electricity on demand from stan-
dard compressed air supplies. They have no moving parts and
very low energy losses in standby mode, are virtually mainte-
nance free and will operate reliably in extreme environments.
Run-time availability is limited only by the size of the air sup-
ply and can be predicted accurately.
Pnu Powers portfolio includes standardized replacements
for wet batteries with outputs from 3 kW to 200 kW, together
with complete packages designed to replace rotary/ywheel
backup solutions rated at 1 MVA and above. Users can choose
from a range of voltage outputs as AC, DC or both.
Deployment of Pnu Power compressed air batteries in-
cludes four installations at National Grid substations in the
U.K. and U.S.
Visit www.eatechnology.com and www.pnu-power.com.
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 22
technologyUpdates
Australian Households Power Micro-Grid in Energy Storage Trials
Sixty households in Newcastle and Scone in New South
Wales, Australia, will be tted with their own mini power sta-
tion to test powering the network during peak times under the
Smart Grid, Smart City project. Participating homes in Scone
will form Australias rst micro-grid, which will power local
households and help shield them from outages using battery
storage and other energy sources connected to the grid.
Ausgrid energy-efciency expert Paul Myors said house-
holds would be invited to take part in the trials by mid-year,
which would involve installing an energy-storage unit on their
property for two years. Were testing whether energy-storage
technology can make the electricity supply more reliable and
give customers greater control over their household energy
use, said Myors. It will help us understand the technical im-
pacts of adding battery storage to the grid and the opportuni-
ties to use those resources to power local areas during essen-
tial maintenance or outages.
Homes on the micro-grid can be powered independently of
the electricity network using battery storage and other energy
generation to be added to the grid including wind and solar.
Elermore Vale in Newcastle and Scone in the Hunter were
selected following technical assessments of Ausgrids local
network and because they represent other
urban and rural areas in Australia that
could benet from the trial.
The 5-kW zinc-bromine batteries are
the size of a slim-line fridge and would be
installed outside, near a household meter
board. The steel-covered unit includes
a battery, inverter as well as control and
communications systems. The 60 ener-
gy-storage systems will be monitored by
Ausgrid engineers throughout the trial.
Visit www.ausgrid.com.au.
China Awards ABB
$120 Million Power
Transmission Order
ABB has won an order worth about
$120 million to engineer and supply
key equipment for the Jinping-Sunan
800-kV ultrahigh-voltage direct-current
(UHVDC) power transmission project
of the State Grid Corporation of China
(SGCC).
The system and key equipment will be
designed in close cooperation with SGCC
and local Chinese partners, and ABB will
also supply key components for both con-
verter stations, including converter valves,
the control and protection system, and
DC yard equipment.
UHVDC is particularly suitable for
large countries like China and India,
where centers of high power consump-
tion are often located far from the energy
sources. This 2,090-km (1,299-mile) pow-
er link will transport clean hydropower
from Sichuan province in central-western
China to the highly industrialized coastal
area in the eastern province of Jiangsu.
The UHVDC link will have a rated capac-
ity of 7,200 MW and is expected to be en-
ergized in 2013.
Visit www.abb.com.
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 24
3. The devices will be more advanced. In the future, Evans be-
lieves T&D will physically and visually look very much the same
as it does today, with the exception of the devices that are out
there, such as the switches, capacitor bank controllers and volt-
age regulators. Today, most of these devices are manual, but in
the future, they will be automated and connected, via the com-
munications network, in such a way that they can be tied into
machine-to-machine systems and then remotely upgraded
and congured. By making the devices smarter, utilities will
have more insight and visibility into their T&D networks, and
they will know how they are performing.
4. Networks will be able to x themselves. If most people look
at some of the fundamental denitions of a smart grid, they
may begin to think in terms of self-healing and self-correct-
ing. Utilities have to understand what is happening at several
points along the network. In other words, they must have a lot
of monitoring devices in place, which communicate in both
directions, so adjustments can be made. These can include
automatic switching as well as loads that can be strategically
reduced, based on agreed-upon parameters, in order to adjust
to disturbances or faults on a temporary basis.
5. Utilities will have increased control over the network. OHara
agrees with Evans in that he doesnt believe the T&D network
infrastructure will look much different physically. However,
OHara says there will be new technology and information
coming from the existing infrastructure in a way we have
never seen before. He predicts that this will involve a lot of
interaction and provide new methods of control. In short, the
network will look the same physically, but the amount of in-
formation owing and the controllability of the network on a
real-time basis will look very different.
As utilities are trying to navigate their way in the uncer-
tainty of the smart grid world, Utilimetrics is available to help
its members with educational sessions, webcasts and sharing
of best practices. By working together, Utilimetrics and utili-
ties are paving the way for a brighter future using smart grid
technology.
Joel Hoiland (jhoiland@utilimetrics.org) is CEO of Utilimetrics,
a trade association of utilities, consultants, vendors and other
professionals engaged in or considering utility automation.
Utilimetrics brings industry professionals together to
share lessons learned, best practices and future needs.
The associations focus is on the deployment of intelligent
technology and enhanced utility operations to best serve
customers.
QuarterlyRepoRt
The Future of the Smart Grid
By Joel Hoiland, Utilimetrics
S
mart grid technology has begun to work its way into
utilities transmission and distribution (T&D) network.
At this point in time, electric utilities are trying to gure
out how this new technology will t within their existing infra-
structure. Companies are also questioning what T&D will look
like in the coming smart grid world.
To map out the future of smart grid technology, Utilimet-
rics turned to two of the industrys experts Kerry Evans,
market leader, T&D, for General Electric, and Kevin OHara,
vice president and general manager, T&D service solutions,
Siemens to get their predictions for the future of the smart
grid world.
1. The smart grid will improve connectivity. Evans says the busi-
ness case for implementing advanced metering infrastructure
(AMI) simply to perform a metering function is tough to jus-
tify. What his company is seeing more often, however, involves
how utilities use the communications infrastructure they are
deploying to connect more things than just meters. These in-
clude equipment such as switches, capacitor banks, voltage
regulators and other devices in a substation or on a distribu-
tion network that are designed to help the utilities improve
their efciency and operational performance.
This might involve engaging in activities such as volt/VAR
control. In this situation, utilities would use the voltage infor-
mation from meters at the end of a feeder and combine it with
the DAP changer setting on a transformer in the substation
and the capacitor banks on a distribution feeder. Utilities can
then optimize their power factor on that feeder to better main-
tain a voltage setting. At the end of the day, this improves their
operational performance, reduces their line losses and makes
their operations more efcient overall, Evans said.
2. Communication will be in real time. OHara explained the
T&D network as a living, breathing organism between a util-
itys generation asset and its consumers. Regardless of how
close that generation asset is to the consumer, the utility wants
real-time, live communication between the consumer, the
network and the generation station, so the utility can balance
load demand in both directions, he said.
Historically, utilities have done everything they can on
the supply side to meet the demand. In the future, OHara
believes the utility will be able to control demand and sup-
ply at the same time, on an economic basis. As he sees it, the
smart grid is nothing more than technology being applied to
the existing generation, T&D and consumer infrastructure in
order to connect the three of them in such a way that they can
interact in real time.
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26 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
CHARACTERSwithCharacter
Life Science
Doug Dorr, EPRI
By Cathy Swirbul, Contributing Editor
D
oug Dorr leads a team of innovators at the Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI) who devise inge-
nious solutions for power industry challenges, includ-
ing smart phone and smart device apps that solve a multitude
of problems. Dorrs fascination with problem solving, though,
had simple beginnings his fth-grade science class.
We had a class competition in which you could earn a gold
star based on the amount of research you did on a particular
topic, said Dorr, EPRI senior project manager. We raced to
see who could earn the most stars by the end of the year.
Growing up, I tried to gure out how many things I could
take apart with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, Dorr said.
My dad had every tool available, and those tools were the best
toys. One of my favorite childhood gifts was a chemistry kit,
which I used to turn our rug purple. I dont think my mom
appreciated this.
His obsession with science and problem solving held con-
stant through his teen years, eventually propelling him to
study engineering at the Indiana Institute of Technology, in
Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.
Dorr spent the rst ve years of his career at an uninter-
ruptible power supply test lab, where his team tore apart the
competitions product to determine how to make their compa-
nys product better. He noted wryly that a big draw of that job
was that the lab had a lightning simulator they used to blow up
things in spectacular ways. A few years later, EPRI asked Dorr
to lead its test facility in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Dorrs interest in lightning continued at EPRI, where his
favorite projects have been testing lightning protection equip-
ment for power lines. You get to see smoke coming out of
things. Sometimes its pretty catastrophic how the equipment
fails, Dorr said. Its rewarding to create a design that starts
with failures and ends with a solution that is fairly bullet-
proof.
One lesson Dorr has learned in his teams experiments
is that jumping to conclusions is not a good idea. My team
went to a GE plant where they make tungsten lament for light
bulbs, Dorr said. They start with tungsten powder and make
a bar, then run it through processes that heat and stretch it.
Eventually, it becomes a long rod. By the time they get it to the
other end of the plant, that rod has become a spool of wire.
They are pulling it through and creating lament the size of
sewing thread.
It takes three days to wind a spool, and they have 200 ma-
chines doing the winding, Dorr said. Every time the lights
blinked, the machines shut down, the spools continued to spin
and the lament snapped. I was certain we could x the prob-
lem with a power conditioner, but the machine wouldnt even
run with the power conditioner on it. It started oscillating and
snapping the wire even without a power variation. We were
down to the last 10 minutes before we had to leave. One of my
technicians walked over to a machine that had a portable dis-
turbance generator hooked to it to simulate a voltage drop. He
took a screwdriver and held the wire down at the place where
it was coming off the roller and going onto the spool. Then he
dropped the voltage. It snapped his arm up but didnt break
the lament.
We ended up adding a $40 spring roller at that spot that
acted as a mechanical shock absorber, rather than using a
$3,000 power conditioner. It xed the problem and saved that
company $500,000 annually. I learned that you should never
assume anything.
Dorr nds his work stimulating but also enjoys inspiring his
teams creativity. Each team member is very innovative and
has a strong skill set in two to three specic areas. My job is to
keep them focused on those areas, Dorr said. For example,
we have a couple of guys who can build any kind of circuit you
want, but they dont enjoy documenting or presenting it. So
you try to bring together the entire group on a project to get
all the strengths that you need for the project. I always tell my
team that no one is as smart as all of us together.
He also keeps his diverse team members focused on one
goal that they establish as a group. One of their objectives is to
bring technology to the eld so that no one in North America
is seriously injured or killed by an energized object this year.
To stimulate creative thinking, EPRIs Knoxville facility has
Tech Thursdays in which everyone learns about one interest-
ing EPRI project over lunch. Its amazing how many e-mails
we get after Tech Thursday from people who either attended
or listened remotely, Dorr said. They have an idea for a new
project or to enhance what we are already doing.
Whats next for Dorr? His team is working on a robot that
can be sent down smoking manholes to diagnose power line
problems. This is going to be fun because everyone can con-
tribute, from the crews who work in manholes to our engineers
who will create an iPad platform to control the robot.
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28 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
Detroit Edisons electric
overhead line truck, 1915
Model T electric taxi
accumulated more than
46,000 miles in two years
Electric AMC Pacer wagon
Subaru electric van
Limited deployment
of electric Volkswagen Rabbit
A Park & Charge system
used credit cards to track usage
Ford hybrid SUV
Chevrolet Volt
1915 1960s 1970s 1980s 2009 2010
PEVs in the
Detroit Edison examines adoption of PEV scenarios
to determine distribution system impacts.
By Haukur Asgeirsson and Nick Carlson, Detroit Edison
A
bout 100 years ago, Henry Ford left Detroit Edi-
son to start his own car company, said DTE
Energy Chairman Tony Earley to attendees of the
Edison Foundations Powering the People con-
ference held March 3, 2011. And while he had a very success-
ful automotive career, he also set off a revolution in the way
we travel, where we live and how our nation has grown over
the past century, said Earley. Today, we are again welcom-
ing seismic change in transportation. And that change is the
world of electric cars and trucks. Electric power will trans-
form transportation. Its already happening!
Electric utilities are committed to making electric trans-
portation a success, Earley continued. Electrifying our
transportation system will create new, high-quality jobs and
help reduce our countrys dependence on oil imports. And
its good news for the environment.
It is well known and certain that plug-in electric vehicles
(PEVs) are entering the market. However, it is uncertain
where and to what degree they will be adopted.
Where and When Will It Happen?
Only through accurate predictions can a utility properly
Automotive History
DTE Energy/Detroit Edison is centered in Detroit, Michigan, U.S the Motor City. So it is only tting that Detroit Edison should be
studying market adoption of plug-in electric vehicles and their effects on the utility distribution system.
29 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
e Motor City
analyze the coming situation and take the steps necessary to
prepare for PEVs. With support from the Michigan Public
Service Commission, DTE Energy has studied the effects
of PEVs on its distribution network. For this analysis, DTE
Energy asked Electrical Distribution Design to create an ap-
plication to aid in the analysis of the effects of various PEV
adoption levels in the Distributed Engineering Workstation
(DEW).
The new application uses a Monte Carlo simulation to ran-
domly place PEVs as a function of customer class at
locations on the circuit being studied. The
simulation uses time-varying charging patterns to predict
feeder load characteristics as a result of the new PEV loads,
along with primary and secondary overloads and voltage
problems that result from the PEV charging.
Since PEV technology is new to the mass market, informa-
tion on how consumers will use PEVs is not available. Thus,
the PEV application allows the user to assume expected pat-
terns on how consumers will charge PEVs.
distributionManagement
In the application, PEVs are assumed to be charged at the
secondary voltage level of circuit distribution transformers as
a function of customer billing class. It was assumed the bat-
tery is fully discharged when PEV charging occurs once a day.
There are two likely voltages for charging: 120 V and 240 V.
Both voltage levels are available for study.
In the analysis, customer loads are estimated from aver-
aged hourly supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
measurements, hourly customer kilowatt-hour (kWh) load
data and monthly kWh load data processed by load research
statistics to create hourly loading estimates for each customer.
The PEV load, or other distributed electric resource, is then
added to the specic customers load estimate.
The application uses a PEV adoption rate as well as an an-
nual growth rate that can extend years into the future. By ap-
plying a Monte Carlo simulation to the census data and relat-
ing travel time to miles traveled, a probability distribution of
people arriving home from work was obtained. The program
assumes the PEV owner will initiate recharging upon arriv-
ing home. The analysis reports both primary and secondary
problems for both overloads and low voltages resulting from
the PEV additions.
Using the PEV adoption application, effects of 5% to 30%
PEV adoption rates were studied in both on-peak and off-peak
1
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13.2-kV low voltages
Uncontrolled charging of 4.8 kV versus 13.2 kV.
31 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
DISTRIBUTIONManagement
scenarios. These scenarios were conducted under the follow-
ing worst-case assumptions:
PEV charging occurred on the day of peak kWh con-
sumption in 2009 for each distribution feeder analyzed.
Batteries were fully depleted at charging start time and
continued charging until full.
In on-peak studies, PEV charging start times were distrib-
uted among customer arrival times at home after work.
In off-peak studies, all PEVs began charging at the same
time.
The 109 distribution feeders chosen for DEW analysis are
fed from heavily loaded substations in expected early adopter
areas of Detroit Edisons service area serving 106,993 custom-
ers fed from 11,368 distribution transformers.
Modeling the Impacts of PEVs
Since EVs have never been present on a mass scale, con-
sideration must be given to a number of items regarding the
initial takeoff of this technology.
Although todays PEVs are being designed to allow plug-
ging in to a standard 120-V home electrical outlet, a 240-V op-
tion has the ability to cut the charging time in half. This could
mean saving anywhere from 4 hours to 8 hours, depending
on the PEVs battery capacity. The faster option will undoubt-
Residential electric service availability for at-home EV charging. Results show distribution impacts of off-peak 240-V charging.
120-V
service
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service
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service 13%
No electric service 8%
Dont know 2%
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Charging start time
Overloaded transformers
Low voltages
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32 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
DISTRIBUTIONManagement
edly be more desirable; therefore, residential and commercial
electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) installation will be
required for a smooth transition. Such installations, depend-
ing on the age and status of home electrical panels, also could
require an upgrade to this panel.
EVSE installation is already underway, in support of elec-
tric vehicles (EVs) that entered service in late 2010. Only 14%
of customers currently have 240-V access.
Distribution System Effects
The two main objectives of the electrical system impact
studies are to understand various PEV adoption scenarios and
to nd charging start times to mitigate these effects.
The greatest impact on the grid in Michigan generally oc-
curs during the summer when high ambient temperatures are
>90F (>32C) along with high humidity. The effects of 5%
to 30% PEV adoption rates were studied
for both on-peak and off-peak scenarios.
Based on when workers arrive home, the
uncontrolled charging study determined
that overload and low-voltage issues were
signicantly greater on the 4.8-kV sys-
tems than the 13.2-kV systems. The ef-
fects of level two (240-V) charging at low
PEV adoption rates are minimal. Thus,
from the system-level view, no signicant
problems due to the assumed PEV adoption are expected.
However, problems due to clustering of PEVs on individual
transformers are expected.
The analysis showed that transformer overloads peak
around 8 p.m. and begin to decrease drastically after 11 p.m.
Problems caused by localized residential PEV adoption can
be signicantly reduced by charging during off-peak hours
beginning after 11 p.m. This was the basis for implementing
a new EV time-of-use rate (approved by the Michigan Public
Service Commission in August 2010) with the off-peak rate
starting at 11 p.m. Off-peak pricing can save customers up to
40% on their annual PEV charging costs and defer distribu-
tion infrastructure upgrades.
The bottom line is the Detroit Edison electric distribution
system is able to handle the increased load from the initial
eet of PEV adoption with little investment in infrastructure
upgrades. Off-peak vehicle charging (af-
ter 11 p.m.) can reduce costs and defer
investments in distribution infrastruc-
ture upgrades while still allowing vehicles
to receive a full charge by morning. It is
also possible that incentivizing custom-
ers to charge during off-peak hours can
be done with time-of-use pricing.
System Perspective
The distribution system modeling
study has provided valuable insight into
the impact EVs will have on the electric
utilitys distribution system. Since the
growth and adoption of EVs is expected
to be relatively slow in the coming years,
the anticipated impact EVs will have on
the electric distribution system will be
minimal. However, there is potential that
a high concentration of these vehicles in
certain areas may cause local transform-
er overloads and low voltages even in the
near term.
The study conrms that major in-
frastructure problems for electric utili-
ties can be mitigated if charging can be
controlled (managed) during periods
of peak demand. Incentivizing custom-
ers to charge during off-peak hours not
only minimizes potential power-quality-
Scenarios of Renewable Resources Adoption Analysis
PEV Solar generation Solar storage Wind generation Wind storage
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Case 4 10% 30%
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34 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
distributionManagement
understanding Customer demographics
A key factor in predicting the takeoff of PEVs is developing a demograph-
ic prole of the typical customer. For this purpose, DTE Energy conducted
focus groups and surveyed 1,016 members in its service territory. The follow-
ing data was extracted from this survey.
Respondent Characteristics
l Overall, the sample population was middle-aged, educated and afuent.
l Only 14% of respondents already have access to 240-V electric service
where they park at home.
l The majority of respondents reported driving less than 50 miles/day
(80.5 km/day), with about half driving less than 30 miles/day (48.3 km/day).
l Respondents spend about 60% of their time driving at less than 50 mph.
Public Infrastructure Expectations
l At least on an occasional basis, anticipated public-charging station usage
increased signicantly when respondents were given a fast-charge option
(10-minute to 15-minute full charge).
l 74% of respondents indicated that public fast-charging facilities will inu-
ence their decision to purchase a PEV.
l Given a home-charging cost of US$0.81/full charge, respondents are will-
ing to pay an average of $1.40/full charge at public fast-charging facilities.
Charging Rate/Payment Scenarios
l The majority of respondents prefer to have the ability to charge at any time
but still receive a discount if they deferred their charging to late evening.
l Strong PEV considerers were signicantly more likely to opt for interrupt-
ible service and alternative energy sources for their PEV charging.
From this information, early adopters most likely will use standard 120-V
outlets to charge their vehicles at rst due to a lack of 240-V service. Over
time, seeing that a faster charge is more desirable, it is expected that some
customers will install EV supply equipment to enable 240-V home charging.
related issues for the customer, but also alleviates the need for
upgrading transmission or distribution infrastructure in the
near term.
Detroit Edison plans to continue studying the impacts of
EVs on the electric distribution system through its own EVSE
pilot project as well as a General Motors/U.S. Department of
Energy Vehicle electrication demonstration. These ongo-
ing demonstration projects will allow Detroit Edison to better
understand customer charging behaviors, including battery
state-of-charge levels and battery capacity. These projects will
provide key data that will ultimately improve the accuracy of
future studies.
Considering just the adoption of PEVs does not paint a
complete picture of the future. The adoption of solar genera-
tion, wind generation, storage and other distributed resource
technologies should be considered, and these technologies
may help to offset the adoption of loads.
Distributed Resources Impact
After the PEV adoption program was completed for DTE
Energy, the National Renewable Energy Lab funded the fur-
ther development of the application to examine solar, wind
and battery storage technology adoption. The expanded ap-
plication enabled studies of the simultaneous
adoption of the various technologies. One ob-
jective was to evaluate adoption levels of solar
and wind generation supplemented with bat-
tery storage that would offset the adoption of
EV loads.
The investigation analyzed the inherent vari-
ation in the performance of renewable energy
resources by evaluating the exact same circuit
during winter and summer loading conditions
with different scenarios of renewable energy
penetrations with and without storage. Because
of the non-dispatchable characteristics of solar
and wind, a signicant impact on the load du-
ration curve was not apparent until storage was
included in the mix.
Haukur Asgeirsson (asgeirssonh@dteenergy.com)
is the manager of Power Systems Technologies
at DTE Energy. Currently, he is managing grants
related to PEVs, energy storage and solar
integration, and the effect of distributed energy
resources (DER) connecting to the grid. He is also
responsible for managing a mobile eet of DER
for supporting distribution circuits and managing
all DERs interconnecting to the Detroit Edison
electric system. Asgeirsson holds BSEE and MSE
degrees from the University of Michigan and is a
registered professional engineer.
Nick Carlson (carlsonn@dteenergy.com) is a
senior engineer at DTE Energy. He is currently
responsible for managing various smart grid and
PEV activities. Much of his recent focus has been on electronic
transportation and infrastructure as well as distribution applica-
tions of energy storage technologies. Carlson holds a BSEE
from Michigan Technological University and a MBA from Wayne
State University.
Editors note: The IEEE general meeting will be held on July 26-
29, 2011, in Detroit. The transactions paper Evaluation of DER
Adoption in the Presence of New Load Growth and Energy Stor-
age Technologies will be presented and will expand consider-
ably on the content of this article. The co-authors of this paper
and implicit contributors to this article were: Jaesung Jung,
Haukur Asgeirsson, Thomas Basso, Joshua Hambrick, Murat
Dilek, Richard Seguin and Robert Broadwater.
Companies mentioned:
DTE Energy www.dteenergy.com
Edison Foundation www.edisonfoundation.net
Electrical Distribution Design www.edd-us.com
IEEE www.ieee.org
Michigan Public Service Commission www.michigan.gov
National Renewable Energy Lab www.nrel.gov
Department of Energy www.energy.gov
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36 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
vegetationManagement
Its Not Just Cutting Trees
Tree Line USA recognition is part of a
comprehensive utility program to engage
customers in managing the community forest.
By Robbie Beard and Keith R. Forry, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative;
Lisa Randle, Pacic Gas and Electric Co.; and Randy gordon, Arbor Day Foundation
D
ealing with vegetation management issues is a chal-
lenge every utility faces. Much of the time, dealing
with such issues requires many work hours, causes
tons of complaints and raises stress levels for every-
one in the utility as well as for customers. It can be one big
headache. But the good news is it does not have to be. In cases
of managing the utilitys portion of the community forest,
prevention is indeed the best medicine.
The best way to avoid crisis situations is to devise a compre-
hensive, detailed plan for dealing with all kinds of vegetation
management issues that includes educating and engaging the
local community, one aspect of the Tree Line USA program of
the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National
Association of State Foresters. In the long run, the utility will
be better off and customers will appreciate it.
Reaching Out to the Community
Pacic Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) is exploring a new
style of community outreach to improve communication with
its customers. In April, PG&Es vegetation management staff
along with staff from various other departments attended a
two-day training session hosted by the Public Conversations
Project of Watertown, Massachusetts, U.S. The training offers
guidance to individuals, organizations and communities to
constructively address and understand conicts related to veg-
etation management projects.
The new style of community outreach will assist PG&E
in maintaining customer satisfaction and in meeting the
publics expectations of high reliability. The utility also will
benet from increased communication within its internal
cross-functional teams.
Given the right tree in the right place, the coexistence of trees and distribution lines can be a beautiful thing.
37 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
VEGETATIONManagement
Another area of PG&Es outreach
focus is assisting cities within its service
area by creating customized city tree
guides. Each guide will contain a list of
trees that have been approved by a city
as well as PG&Es Right Tree, Right Place
guidelines for planting near transmis-
sion and distribution lines. PG&E will
develop tree guides for each city within
its service area that is participating in
Tree City USA a program of the
Arbor Day Foundation that encourages
better care of the nations community
forests by awarding recognition to cit-
ies and towns that meet basic standards
of a good tree-care plan.
PG&E embraces opportunities that
boost communications and outreach
efforts about avoiding tree and power line conict. Finding
creative and collaborative ways to partner with cities and com-
munities will build on the joint Arbor Day events PG&E holds
as a Tree Line USA utility.
Caring for Trees
There was a time not so long ago that Rappahannock Elec-
tric Cooperative (REC) took a different approach to manag-
ing vegetation issues. Managers used to take an if-it-is-not-
broken, do-not-x-it approach to vegetation issues but not
any longer. The focus has shifted from managing member
complaints to managing the trees impacting power lines.
Instead of taking a ground-to-sky pruning approach, REC
does what is best for the trees. All work done by RECs vegeta-
tion management crews is directed by a certied arborist, and
the cooperative spends considerable time talking to its mem-
Members of PG&Es vegetation management and electric operations departments demonstrate
the power of blue during Arbor Day activities at the Willow Creek Head Start preschool in
Willow Creek, California.
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vegetationManagement
bers about the benets of having a sound tree-management
program in place.
REC rst sought the approval of its customers by engaging
the communities it serves across 22 counties. The cooperative
takes time to explain the specics of what it is doing in relation
to its trees and providing reliable service.
Healthy Trees Extend Pruning Cycles
The results have been remarkable. By focusing on the health
of trees, REC changed its pruning cycle from a three-year to a
ve-year rotation. Instead of going from hot spot to hot spot,
REC was able to extend its regular pruning cycle, which saved
time and money in the long run. REC also invests time and
money to educate members of the communities it serves about
the benets of strategically planting trees to help lower energy
Many utilities take advantage of Arbor Day to help their communities
plant trees in needed areas.
costs and ensure safe, reliable, uninterrupted power.
REC provides funds and educational tools to encourage its
members to plant the right trees in the right places. For ex-
ample, REC suggests its customers plant large deciduous trees
south of the house but away from overhead power lines, use
low-growing trees and shrubs within the utilitys rights-of-way
and place evergreen screens on the edge of the rights-of-way
rather than directly under the conductors.
Engaging Future Homeowners and Tree Planters
REC also reaches out to local schools for its Arbor Day cel-
ebrations to engage a younger audience. During the past nine
years, the utility has engaged hundreds of students and has
planted over 60 trees at schools and parks across its service
territory. REC uses these events to support the environment,
local urban forests, its customers and their neighborhoods.
One of the rst steps was for REC to receive Tree Line USA
recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation. Tree Line USA is
a validation of best-management practices in all aspects of the
line-clearance program. Proper pruning practices allow the
extension of the maintenance cycle while minimizing dam-
age to retained trees. The improved health of trees adjacent
to lines enhances service reliability while providing all the
benets of a healthy suburban forest to the community. Being
recognized as a Tree Line USA utility speaks to the fact that an
outside organization recognizes the good work being done.
Tree Line USA Encourages Best-Care Practices
Tree Line USA is about so much more than vegetation
management. It is a holistic approach to managing Americas
vast urban forests, educating and engaging the public about
planting the right tree in the right place, and training utility
workers in best tree-care practices to protect and care for a
communitys vital asset its trees.
Community involvement always has been a core value at
REC and participation in the Tree Line USA program has en-
couraged additional outlets for these efforts. The new Tree
Line USA requirements for an energy conservation compo-
nent integrates nicely with corporate goals of providing mem-
bers with ways to reduce their energy consumption. Public
education efforts through the Arbor Day programs, print pub-
lications and website should provide members with the knowl-
edge to select the proper tree for the location, enhancing the
urban forest throughout the REC territory.
Communities benet when utility providers meet Tree Line
USA requirements. Proper tree care provides many benets:
39 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
vegetationManagement
l Helps reduce energy costs to consumers when trees are
planted for energy conservation
l Reduces the heat island effect by cooling paved areas in
larger cities and towns
l Increases reliable service of power because properly
pruned and maintained trees are less likely to down lines dur-
ing severe weather
l Provides for healthier and more abundant urban forests.
Trees are an important part of urban landscapes in every
region of the United States from an environmental and eco-
nomic standpoint. Trees not only help clean the air and wa-
ter sources, the shade they provide helps reduce peak energy
usage and conserve energy. Utility providers who follow Tree
Line USA standards are setting a good example about the im-
portance of recognizing the need to take care of a valuable
community resource like trees.
Tree Line USA Benets
Last year, more than 140 utilities, including PG&E and
REC, received Tree Line USA recognition from the Arbor
Day Foundation. These providers experienced the benets of
being a Tree Line USA utility, including lower line-clearance
costs that result from best pruning practices, improved rights-
of-way management by engaging the community in right-tree-
right-place planting practices, lower peak energy demand
through an increased urban tree canopy, and increased reli-
ability of service by following best tree-care practices.
A key component of Tree Line USA is tree planting and
education. The program encourages utilities to participate in
community tree plantings and outreach opportunities and to
have an education program designed to add to a communitys
tree canopy and teach customers about the benets of proper
tree planting, placement and pruning.
This year, Tree Line USA utilities service customers living
in 45 states plus the District of Columbia. More than 78 mil-
lion Americans benet when their electric utilities by in-
vesting in trees contribute to healthier urban forests and
provide safe, reliable and efcient service.
Robert W. Beard (rbeard@myrec.coop) is the Culpeper district
manager for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. He began
working at REC during summers in college, and after graduating
from the University of Virginia, he became a full-time employee.
Keith R. Forry (kforry@myrec.coop) has been the corporate
arborist for Rappahannock Electric Cooperative since 2001.
Brooke Wallace, a second-grade student at Valencia Elementary
School in Aptos, California, creates her version of a power line-friendly
tree from PG&Es A Selection and Planting Guide to Small Trees Near
Distribution Lines brochure.
Previously, he was vice president of vegetation management
services for Environmental Consultants Inc. Forry is a certied
arborist, utility specialist, and a member of the Utility Arborist
Association and International Society of Arboriculture. He holds
a BS degree in biochemistry from Penn State University and a
MS degree in forest science from Oregon State University.
Lisa Randle (lara@pge.com) is the Vegetation Management
Public Outreach program manager for Pacic Gas and Electric.
Through the work of the vegetation management department,
the National Arbor Day Foundation has recognized PG&E as a
national leader in tree care every year since 1995.

Randy Gordon (rgordon@arborday.org) is programs manager
with the Arbor Day Foundation and works with the Tree City
USA and Tree Line USA recognition program, and the Partners
in Community Forestry program and conference. Gordon works
closely with utility foresters, municipal arborists, nonprot tree-
planting groups and state and federal forestry agencies in the
promotion of healthy community tree management.
Companies mentioned:
Arbor Day Foundation www.arborday.org
Pacic Gas and Electric Co. www.pge.com
Public Conversations Project of Watertown, Massachusetts
www.publicconversations.org
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative www.myrec.coop
40 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
PROTECTION&Control
Voltage Regulation
Under Control
Norway installs the worlds rst magnetic voltage
stabilizer on rural 22-kV distribution feeders.
By Tormod Leistad, Eidsiva Nett A.S.
I
n the municipality of Trysil, near the Swedish border,
Norwegian distribution network operator Eidsiva Nett
has experienced a reduction in the number of residen-
tial customers. However, at the same time, it has seen a
signicant increase in the number of vacation homes and
activity centers. These changes have resulted in a large uc-
tuating power demand during weekends and reduced energy
consumption during the remainder of the week.
The distribution network supplies customers in large rural
areas through long radial 22-kV overhead lines, many of which
have small cross-section conductors, thus creating voltage-
quality problems. The increasing expectations of its custom-
ers prompted Eidsiva Nett to seek a cost-effective alternative
solution to resolve these voltage uctuations.
The utilitys demographic changes have increased the peak
load on the network but reduced the total energy consump-
tion and, consequently, revenues. As the area grows even more
popular as a leisure destination, Eidsiva Nett may have an op-
portunity in the future to reinforce its distribution network.
In the meantime, the utility had to solve the problem of volt-
age uctuations on an overhead distribution line that extends
some 52 km (32 miles) at minimum cost.
The problem of voltage uctuations is familiar, and in spite
of constantly investing in the distribution network, it is dif-
cult to foresee and make provisions for unexpected changes
in power consumption, even though the overall demand for
energy continues to increase. The problem is made worse as
utility investment decisions are based on asset life spans of
40 to 50 years. Therefore, it is prudent sometimes to seek
quick-x solutions that will not delay larger projects or invest-
ments targeted to supply customers with a high-quality and
reliable source of electrical energy.
Solution Development
Initially, the utility considered the possibility of installing
series- or parallel-connected capacitors, but design studies
conrmed this would not produce the required voltage in-
crease. Also, the capacitor would need dynamic tapping to
prevent potential resonance problems. As the recorded load
variations were relatively frequent, Eidsiva Nett decided not to
install a transformer with an on-load
tap changer because of the burden
and wear imposed on the tap changer.
Therefore, for this remote overhead
line, the utility decided to adopt an
install-and-forget solution.
Eidsiva Nett discussed the need
for a new solution with Magtech A.S.,
a Norwegian technology company
that designed and produced a voltage
regulator for use on the low-voltage
(230-V) network in 2004. The re-
search and development project to
produce a 22-kV voltage regulator was
supported by a consortium compris-
ing the Research Council of Norway,
Magtech, Norsk Trafo Service and the
distribution network operators Skag-
erak Nett A.S., Haugaland Kraft and
Eidsiva Nett. The goal was to demon-
strate a solution that could continu-
Trysil
kmmune,
Ljordalen
The map shows the location of Eidsiva Nett in Norway, where long rural feeders have experi-
enced voltage-uctuation issues.
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protection&Control
ously correct voltage uctuations within a few seconds. In the
future, this characteristic probably will be necessary to follow
frequent and fast voltage swells caused by distributed genera-
tions or sags caused by e-mobility applications such as electric
vehicle charging.
Additionally, another feature requested by the consortium
was to design equipment that offered a minimum of 20 years
of maintenance-free operation. The project was known as volt-
age stabilization for a weak 12-kV to 24-kV network with dis-
tributed generation.
The existing 22-kV overhead line to Trysil offered a good
opportunity to test the rst solution, even though there was no
distributed generation connected to the network. This circuit
had a need for fast voltage correction, and the solution would
prove cost-effective if it could offer stable voltage without the
need for future equipment maintenance.
System analysis studies conrmed the optimum position
for the voltage regulator was some 30 km (19 miles) from the
66/22-kV source substation. This location would provide for
voltage maintenance within statutory limits for the remaining
The 22-kV voltage regulator in Magtechs laboratory.
Termination on the 22-kV overhead line.
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the beginning.
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T-line projects weve completed, many have involved voltages as high as 765kv. And
thats something not manyif anyother engineering/EPC firms can say. Whatever
the voltage may be, CG Power Solutions unmatched technical
competence enables us to bring your project on-line following
your unique specifications, on time (or sooner) and on budget.
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44 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
protection&Control
22 km (14 miles) of the circuit.
The voltage regulator, developed by Magtech, was posi-
tioned in the rural community of Ljoerdalen. Although the
22-kV line has been in commission for many years, the existing
condition indicated it was not at its end of life and had ade-
quate thermal capacity. As the downstream power demand was
600 kW, a 1-MW voltage regulator was developed to have some
spare thermal capacity.
Design and Installation
The Magtech-designed voltage regulator includes auto
transformers and controllable inductors employing cross-
magnetization technology. The regulator was designed
with three single-phase units to provide the improved ex-
ibility required for testing and commissioning. Also, it eases
the problem of transportation to the site. With the regulator
mounted in a ground-mounted cabin, the consortium decid-
Christian Hartmann and Joergen Stensberg of Eidsiva Nett commission
the voltage regulator.
The regulator was installed in a ground-mounted enclosure with a
communication link to allow remote monitoring.
S
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8
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45 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
protection&Control
ed a communication system should be installed to establish
a link to the control center so the behavior and signal status
could be monitored. As this voltage regulator was installed for
testing on the 22-kV network, three pole-mounted air-break
switch disconnectors were installed adjacent to the voltage
regulator to give the required exibility to disconnect, by-
pass and ground the unit for measurements and maintenance
purposes.
The Magtech development team responsible for the design
and construction of the voltage regulator assisted Eidsiva Nett
staff with installing and commissioning the unit, and establish-
ing the remote control communication link with the control
center. The worlds rst tailored-design
magnetic voltage regulator (magnetic
voltage stabilizer) for a high-voltage
network was commissioned at Ljoer-
dalen in Trysil in December 2009.
The unit was commissioned initially
in the bypass mode and then made op-
erational through the air-break switch
disconnectors activating the regulation.
This automated regulator can be oper-
ated locally by pushing a single button
or from the control center located in
the town of Elverum.
The unit has operated as required,
delivering corrected voltage during the
decades coldest winter, so the design
principles, based on Magtechs world-
wide patented technology, have been
proven. As this test version includes
additional monitoring equipment, the
unit will be simplied when designed
for mass production. The positioning
of the voltage regulator, with respect
to the line length and circuit loading,
is regarded as important and critical to
ensure the required voltage improve-
ments are realized.
Future Development
and Applications
At present, a large number of small
hydropower plants in Norway are
planned and many already are installed
in mountainous areas and along the
steep Norwegian coastline, as farmers
and landowners take the opportunity
to use small rivers and streams to add
income to their traditional earnings.
This business opportunity is being driv-
en by increased electricity tariffs and
the demand for new green power that
receives economic support.
Often, the energy produced ex-
ceeds, by a signicant margin, the en-
ergy consumption in the area; this can result in the existing
overhead line, originally built for local consumption, having
voltages in excess of the statutory maximum. The generation,
which is linked to water ow rates, is not constant, so this form
of distributed generation can have a signicant impact on the
network voltage levels.
Investment in distributed generation is the responsibility
of the power producer, and the installation of voltage control
equipment at the point of interconnection often forms a major
component of the total cost of small power plants. Similarly, it
is difcult for distribution utilities to decide on the thermal
loading of new overhead lines in the absence of information
46 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
PROTECTION&Control
on the timing and capacity of new distributed generation con-
nections. Looking further into the future, the demand for
green power will result in distributed generation in the form
of photovoltaic and wind power installations.
It is of benet for distribution utilities to defer to invest-
ment decisions on network reinforcement by considering the
installation of high-voltage regulators. This practice will help
more micro and mini power plants to be protable, encourag-
ing the growth of all forms of distributed generation based on
green energy technologies. Thus, creating a cost-efcient dis-
tribution network having minimum interconnection costs will
help to establish and increase societys use of green
energy, thereby creating a smart grid.
The 22-kV voltage regulator will now be further
evaluated and, together with system investigations,
provide the basis for future system solutions and
products that will contribute to making the grid
smarter, controlling the costs incurred by network
operators, developers of distributed generation and
customers.
Collaborative R&D Consortiums
The research, development and installation of
the 22-kV voltage regulator is the result of collab-
orative efforts by the Research Council of Norway,
Magtech, Norsk Trafo Service and the distribution
network operators, Skagerak, Haugaland Kraft and Eidsiva
Nett. It often proves extremely difcult for manufacturers to
secure access to operational grid systems and distribution net-
works to install and test new equipment in view of the cost of
resources and risks to customer supplies.
The development of this new equipment serves to illustrate
the benets of collaborative research and development con-
sortiums. They increasingly are required to meet the challeng-
es electric utilities face as they struggle to improve the quality
and reliability of customer supplies at a time when concerns
about global warming are increasing the use of distributed
The 22-kV network voltage before and after commissioning the voltage regulator.
22.0
21.5
21.0
20.5
Date (2009)
12/15-12/17 12/18 12/20 12/21 12/23-12/24
R
S
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V
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l
t
a
g
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(
k
V
)
Before
installation
After installation
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protection&Control
Eidsiva Nett has taken steps to stabilize the voltage on its
extended overhead line networks by installing the worlds rst
magnetic voltage regulator for installation on a 22-kV distribu-
tion network.
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to acknowledge the support and tech-
nical information provided by the consortium partners, Karl
Borgerud and Christian Hartmann at Magtech AS, and the
staff from Eidsiva Nett, for their roles in the development and
installation of the 22-kV voltage regulator.
Tormod Leistad (tormod.leistad@eidsivaenergi.no) joined
Eidsiva Energy Co. in 1977. Initially, he was employed on the
construction of medium- and low-voltage distribution networks.
Since completing his technical studies in 1997, Leistad has been
a project engineer for the utility.
Ivan Nergaard of Eidsiva Nett pushes the button to energize the volt-
age regulator.
Companies mentioned:
Eidsiva Nett www.eidsivaenergi.no
Haugaland Kraft www.haugaland-kraft.no
Magtech AS www.magtech.no
Norsk Trafo Service www.norsktrafoservice.no
Research Council of Norway www.forskningsradet.no
Skagerak www.skagerakenergi.no
generation from renewable energy sources, creating real-time
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The management of distribution networks will become
even more complex because of the connection of distributed
generation, even though automated management systems,
dynamic energy pricing or the switching of customers on or
off can be used to balance demand with production.
Inevitably, there will be voltage variations on distribution
networks, and several strategies and multiple solutions will be
required to solve these problems.
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50 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
MOBILEDispatch
Web-Based Integration
Streamlines Processes
Truckee-Donner PUD integrates disparate
IT tools to provide collective value.
By Ian Fitzgerald, Truckee-Donner Public Utility District
A
lthough electric utilities may delay, time will not.
Today, it is not about inventing new technologies;
instead, it is time for a utilitys individual informa-
tion technologies to be unied in a single system,
integrating each technologys unique capabilities. On their
own, many of todays technologies provide useful functions to
the business environment:
Business intelligent (BI) software can mine many types of
data storage and display meaningful data and charts in real-
time dynamic dashboards.
Business process management (BPM) software has the
ability to organize data workow, applying rules and roles that
dene how and when information moves through a cyclical
process.
Geographic information system (GIS) software is capable
of dening spatial relationships between people, places and
time using geoprocessing abilities to nd complex associa-
tions no other software has the means of recognizing.
Now it is possible to take service-oriented architecture
(SOA) software and integrate these widely disparate applica-
tions within a single Web-based environment. The result is a
valuable tool with a vast number of functions and abilities that
no consumer off-the-shelf enterprise resource planning soft-
ware can match.
California Electric Regulatory Compliance
Truckee-Donner, a public utility district located north of
Lake Tahoe, in Truckee, California, U.S., decided to think
outside the box when trying to tackle a complex business
requirement. Like all utilities in the state of California,
Truckee-Donner has an obligation to its ratepayers to operate
and maintain a safe electrical environment. This means that
every electrical facility must meet,
at a minimum, the construction
standards laid out by State General
Orders 95 and 128.
To accomplish this, Truckee-
Donner must perform yearly patrol
inspections of every facility (cur-
rently more than 12,000 and in-
creasing), detailed inspections every
ve years and intrusive inspections
of electric poles every 10 to 25 years.
For each and every facility, Truckee-
Donner is required to document
when an inspection is completed,
who completed the inspection and
what, if any, conditions were found
that need correction.
When conditions calling for cor-
rections are identied, the utility
must maintain a historical paper
trail, describing how long it took for
the condition to be corrected, who
corrected the condition and what
work functions were performed to
In addition to being serious work for linemen, recovery from signicant storms is a considerable
exercise for the supporting IT systems.
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52 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
mobileDispatch
Thin Client
BI
BPM
GIS
SOA
Easy access interface
Data organization
Graphic results
Workow logic
Auto-notications
Ticket management
Locations maps
Infrastructure details
Spatial analysis
Automated attribute
dened data transfer
between eld and ofce
facilitate the rectication. Utility staff must be able to access
this data accurately and at a moments notice.
Now imagine doing all of this with only 10 staff members,
part time. The staff also does all-new construction, outage-
management response, tree-trimming management and facil-
ity upgrades, among other duties a lot of work for such a
small amount of available resource.
Solution of Making Technology Work
In order to improve on its past work environment in which
the utility had one full-time employee manually documenting
every condition, in poorly accessible paper binders, Truckee-
Donner decided to let technology automate a majority of the
documentation, notication and reporting of every inspec-
tion. Knowing that no one software had the ability to ac-
complish everything the utility wanted to achieve, it turned
to merging individual technologies, bringing together a vast
number of abilities that can feed and
build on one another, making the tech-
nology sum truly more powerful than
any individual part.
Probably the most tedious and
time-consuming task of any inspection
program is the original documenta-
tion. For Truckee-Donner, this means
more than 12,000 facilities require pa-
perwork recording the who, what and
when every year. Instead of wasting
valuable resources on such a tiresome
task, the utility merged GIS, GPS and
SOA technologies, automating the re-
cord creation process.
Using GPS for vehicle location and
timestamps, GIS for facility location,
user login information and proximity
analysis to the vehicle, and SOA for au-
tomating the transfer of records to the
ofce enterprise database, Truckee-
Donner has facilitated the ability to
process more than 100 patrol inspec-
tion records per hour per user. In addition, facility crews are
spending more time inspecting facilities and much less time
entering data.
Now, as a vehicle passes within a congurable distance of
90 ft (27 m) of a utility pole or 25 ft (8 m) of a utility under-
ground structure, the system automatically assigns a passed
patrol inspection, containing the facility identication, date,
inspector name and status of no conditions identied to ev-
ery facility.
For facilities where conditions are found, the inspector se-
lects the faulty facility and changes the status to a priority-one
or priority-two condition-found status, allowing for correc-
tion work to be followed up in a timely manner. Previously,
inspected facilities were marked as completed and never auto-
matically documented a second time for the year, but could be
manually documented if required.
Sorting Through the Inspections
More than 100 records per inspector per hour is a lot of
records to sift through in a short amount of time. In past
eld documentation setups, this data often had to be ltered
through database tables, cryptic and unreadable to the un-
trained user. Truckee-Donner, again understanding the lim-
ited resources at its disposal for such a menial task, needed a
software interface that made deciphering the data quick, easy
and sensible. Enter technology like BI, BPM, GIS and thin-
client Web interfaces.
Using a well-known technology like a Web browser, Truck-
ee-Donner provided a software interface to the user that was
instantly recognizable and unintimidating. Running BI, BPM
and GIS engines behind the browser, the mined data is now
well organized and easily decipherable, whether in a graph,
table, map or report. Diving deeper into the data is as simple
GPS-enabled software automatically assigns a passed status for patrol inspections of facilities
that are within sight of a vehicle.
By combining technologies, each can bring a unique component.
53 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
mobileDispatch
as mouse clicking on a graph or table
entry.
A user can click on a ticket status
and bring up the number of tickets as-
signed to each user, then view tickets
assigned to individual users, access
the history of that ticket, map the loca-
tion and, nally, assign an outstanding
ticket to a utility crew as a work order.
The nal interface design provides the
maximum amount of data with a mini-
mum amount of effort and is only ac-
complished through the combined ef-
fort of multiple technologies running
behind the Web browser.
Managing the Work
As important as it is to have a simple,
clean and functional interface for of-
ce staff, it is equally important to have
a similarly well-designed interface for
eld personnel. Considering tens of thousands of inspections
are performed yearly, it is more than conceivable that hundreds
of those inspections will result in work orders assigned to eld
crews for rectication.
As a result, Truckee-Donner again applied the notion of
harnessing multiple technologies to simplify the task of its
crews in identifying tickets assigned to them, understanding
what state those tickets were in (priority one or two), show-
ing geographically where those tickets were located and mak-
ing vehicle-routing abilities available to minimize travel time
Field HV Withstand / Proof Tests with onsite
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Diagnostix GmbH ICM Flex PD/TD Measurement Systems,
useful diagnostic cable integrity evaluations can be made.
By using a VLF source instead of power frequency or
resonant technology, tremendous test equipment cost
savings and on-site labor savings are possible while obtaining crucial information on these critical
power delivery circuits. Cable loads up to 3.75 Microfarads can be tested utilizing one of three test
frequencies - .1 Hz., .05 Hz. and .02 Hz.
VLF PD & TD diagnostics can provide cable system infrastructure assessments in terms of quantitative
values for cable age related problems, installation damage, manufacturing defects, future reliability
indicators such as water tree assessments and future performance conclusions to make critical decisions
on replacement, rejuvenation or the need for new cable leg and splice segments.
HV/EHV Power Cables can now be
Field Tested on site with VLF PD & TD
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Data mining with separate BI, BPM and GIS engines helps to organize and provide accessibility
to the data.
54 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
mobileDispatch
to those work orders.
One of the biggest benets
gained by merging multiple tech-
nologies together is how easy it is
to make changes after the project
begins. Because most of the technol-
ogy applied by Truckee-Donner is
congurable, without the need for
software coding, altering the pro-
gram by adding a process stage, re-
moving a retired employee or modi-
fying the information recorded on
a work order form takes under an
hour to develop and deploy.
Since it is inevitable that a proj-
ect will evolve after it begins, this
functionality was critical in the pro-
grams development. It also became
apparent how easy it would be to transcend a general order
inspection program to other business cases within the utility,
like vegetation management, meter replacement, leak identi-
cation and repair, and outage damage assessments, to name
a few.
Ready for the Questions
As hard as every utility tries to maintain and operate a safe
electrical system, inevitably there will be occasions when these
efforts are called into question. Be it something as minor as a
television breaking as a result of a power surge or as signicant
as a loss of life, not only having the ability to know the utility
has done everything in its ability to maintain a safe environ-
ment, but also being able to prove it is critical when questions
to that effect start getting asked.
Truckee-Donner ensured this was possible by combining
one-click data review and analysis of all inspections ever col-
lected within this program, using BPM and GIS for the histori-
cal record archiving of individual locations and a BI engine as
a front-end reporting tool. Be it a canned report showing the
number of conditions identied by facility equipment, deter-
mining the number of priority-one conditions discovered for
the month, or reviewing the entire inspection and rectica-
tion history of an individual facility location, the utility can
quickly and easily prove it is working to maintain a safe electri-
cal environment each and every year.
A Complete System
The resulting system Truckee-Donner implemented encom-
passes a complete cyclical workow that includes the ability
to document, review, manage and report every general order
condition and rectication in the life of a facility. Underneath
the hood, the program can be deemed vast and complex. This
might be true for most, but for an IT professional, the manage-
ment and conguration of the system is straightforward and
simple. The power of combining the technologies is in both
the ability to let the technologies automate much of the work
and, at the same time, provide a simple, easy and sensible in-
terface for non-technical users. It is these users that can make
or break a software systems success in a utility.
Truckee-Donners original perception was to take advan-
tage of differing technologies, unifying them into a system
that takes much of the mundane work out of the users hands
and moves it into high-tech automation. The result is a system
that has proven to do this and a whole lot more. It is no lon-
ger a viable option to spend tens of thousands of dollars for
software to sit on an island and be content to work within its
own abilities. Technology must learn to work together, each
combining its unique capacities, to complete a business envi-
ronment that is truly whole.
Acknowledgment
Truckee-Donner would like to thank TC Technology, Esri,
LogiXML, ProcessMaker and Oracle software for making a
vision a reality.
Ian Fitzgerald (IanFitzgerald@tdpud.org) is the GIS coordina-
tor for Truckee-Donner PUD. He holds a masters degree with
distinction from Manchester Metropolitan University and has
compiled 15 years experience consulting GIS/IT implementa-
tion projects for utilities worldwide. Fitzgerald has presided
on various international and U.S. national professional boards
of directors and has been honored for his efforts at Truckee-
Donner with the Geospatial Information Technology Association
(GITA) Excellence in GIS for Enterprise Electric Utility award, the
Esri Special Achievement in GIS award and the National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) Cooperative Innova-
tors award.
With BPM software, a workow can be customized for every business process imaginable.
Companies mentioned:
Esri www.esri.com
LogiXML www.logixml.com
Oracle www.oracle.com
ProcessMaker www.processmaker.com
TC Technology www.tctechnology.com
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56 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
undergroundFacilities
Building Reliability
Into a High-Prole Area
Underground service and a truly self-healing
distribution system improves customer service
within the automation zone.
By Mark Kimbell, Murfreesboro Electric Department
T
he growth of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S., present-
ed the Murfreesboro Electric Department (MED)
with a unique opportunity. In 2005, the city con-
structed Medical Center Parkway, a 4-mile (6.4-km)
gateway from the interstate to the town center. In addition to
a new hospital with more than 200 beds, many new businesses
were attracted to this location. A new Embassy Suites Hotel
with a convention center was planned, and the area attracted
a 100-acre (40.5-hectare) mall along with many other medical
ofces, shopping venues and restaurants.
To enhance the community and area around Medical Cen-
ter Parkway, city leaders determined the area should be served
by underground facilities. The city installed duct banks for
MED to use to supply the area with electricity. The utility had
never installed underground feeders that served more than
400 A. To provide service to this area, multiple feeder circuits
capable of 800 A would be needed. The major questions were
what routes and cable size could be used to serve this new load
and what protection equipment should be used.
Service Deployment
MED decided to use parallel runs of Okonites Okoguard
ethylene-propylene-rubber 500-kcmil copper 15-kV primary
cable for the main feeders, each of which would supply ap-
proximately 800 A of capacity. In 2006, three feeders and two
substations were available to supply Medical Center Parkway.
The growth in this area dictated feeds from several different
substations. Four circuits now feed this area, with plans for
Medical Center Parkway provides a new gateway to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, attracting customers with high-reliability requirements.
57 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
UNDERGROUNDFacilities
The F4 tornado of April 10, 2009, presented many challenges for Murfreesboro Electric Department customers and staff. The automation zone
had a hard workout on this day, and there were some lessons to be learned.
three more circuits and a new substation.
Underground distribution protection is different than
overhead distribution protection. An outage on overhead
lines generally can be located by sight.
With underground lines, equipment
that isolates the problem to a smaller
area is used and sections are tested one
at a time. Fault detectors can help lo-
cate the fault, but unless sectionalizing
devices are in the line, underground
outages can take hours to locate. Auto-
mation helps the fault location process
by sectionalizing the line automatically,
greatly reducing outage time and not
impacting reliability index numbers.
MED then turned to the question of
protection. The utility found that below-
grade equipment at the 800-A to 900-A
range was not readily available; only a
few vendors were able to provide the re-
quired switching equipment. MED de-
cided on S&C Electric Co.s Vista equip-
ment, which is submersible and rated
for 900 A. Vaults manufactured by CDR
Systems Corp. were large enough to ac-
commodate Vista equipment with up
to six switches or fused sections. When
the lid tops are open, one can treat the
equipment as open air, eliminating the
need to provide forced air for conned
spaces. MED then decided to look at
the possibility of distribution automa-
tion for the Medical Center Parkway.
Automation Decisions
The decision to automate distribution is both hard and
easy. The quantitative justication is difcult, but the qualita-
58 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
UNDERGROUNDFacilities
tive improvements to customers and the community are signif-
icant. The challenge is cost justication. Since one automated,
padmounted switch can cost more than US$100,000, the chal-
lenge is not trivial. Lost revenue from a 30-minute outage of a
500-A primary circuit is about $100 to the utility. Clearly, this
is not the determining factor.
However, customer losses can be signicant. The cumula-
tive effect of a 30-minute outage that impacts 150 commercial
customers, each of whom loses only $100 in revenue during
the event, creates a community cost of $15,000. The actual lost
revenue cost is most likely much higher than this gure, which
makes cost justication for automation easier. Payback for that
$100,000 equipment is probably close to four to ve events.
Payback for an overhead switch can be one to two events.
The decision was made to begin automating the area
around the hospital. Once MED decided to install distribution
automation, an initial plan was made for ve Vista switchgear
locations along the Medical Center Parkway. The CDR vaults
were installed at critical locations and a Vista 642 (six bays,
Kirk
Jones
PITTS
East
MBoro
Primary
Church St.
Lynch
197 259
97
148
270
523
523 525
523 525
414
414
414
424
424
NO
NO
NO
112 MW @ 65C
SEL
SEL
SEL
ABB
ABB
Need controls for
5 breakers
10 switches
PRI 414 TM1
PRI 414 TM1
EM 934 TM5
PRI 424 TM1
EM 934 TM2
EM 934 TM4
EM 934 TM3
PRI 424 TM3
PRI 424 TM2
LYN 414 TM3
LYN 414 TM1
LYN 414 TM2
100 MW @ 65C
100 MW @ 65C
46-kV Automation System
(255) (256)
(253)
(252)
(250)
(251)
(260) (261)
(259)
(257)
(258)
(262)
(263)
(264)
(254)
(xxx) RTU #
934
EM 934 TM1
With much success with automation, Murfreesboro Electric Department plans to expand
the use of automation equipment to protect all of its customers from power outages. The
46-kV transmission loop is an ideal place to get great value for automation dollars.
four switches, two fault-interrupting bays)
and Vista 633 (six bays, three switches, three
fault-interrupting bays) were ordered.
MED also made plans to install ve over-
head S&C Scada-Mate switches and one pad-
mounted switch with motor operators in the
surrounding area. Five breakers at two dif-
ferent substations were equipped with S&C
Universal Interface Modules, which allowed
the breakers to communicate with the other
distribution automation switches and work
together to create automation zones of pro-
tection on the distribution system. All this
equipment included the S&C 5800 Series
Automatic Switch Control with IntelliTEAM II
Automatic Restoration System software. The
communications medium was Landis+Gyrs
spread-spectrum UtiliNet radios that hopped
communications from one radio to another.
Each switch location communicates with its
neighbors to form a mesh network, so each
switch knows what the next switch in the zone
is doing.
As new customers have been added to
the electric system in the Medical Center
Parkway area, MED has added to the auto-
mation system. Some of the locations along
Medical Center Parkway were preplanned,
but an automation system almost always has
a natural growth progression. The more area
that is covered, the easier it is to see where the
next piece of automated switchgear could be
placed.
Communications
Communications is a key part of distribu-
tion automation technology. MED has gone
through one complete change to newer, faster S&C SpeedNet
radios. These new radios help speed up communications,
which is important to the speed of response of the distribution
automation equipment. The utility is making plans to replace
some of the radios with Ethernet ber ports that will make
communications almost instantaneous. All the radios report
back to a head-end radio at MEDs Primary substation, con-
nected to MEDs main ofce with ber. In turn, this connec-
tion supplies information to a proxy server that collects all the
current switch data and reports it to an EFACEC Advanced
Control Systems supervisory control and data acquisition
(SCADA) system.
MED operations staff can observe, record and operate
all the automatic switches from the operations center in the
main ofce through the EFACEC Advanced Control Systems
SCADA system. Engineers or operations staff also can access
the equipment remotely using the conguration and diagnos-
tic software. This is a valuable engineering tool for mainte-
nance and troubleshooting.
Utility Division, Valmont Industries, Inc.
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60 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
undergroundFacilities
Murfreesboro Electric Department crews install a concrete manhole
on Medical Center Parkway for the main underground feeder with dual
runs of 15-kV ethylene-propylene-rubber 500-kcmil copper primary.
Lessons Learned
To date, there have been ve automation events where por-
tions of the distribution feeder had to be recongured to keep
the power on for customers. Two of the events occurred when
two separate tornadoes swept through the city. All of the events
to date have been weather related on the overhead distribu-
tion system. The largest automation event occurred in August
2010 when a violent lightning storm came through the city.
MEDs Primary and Blackman substations are the two cur-
rent substations that feed into the Medical Center Parkway
area. Primary substation has three breakers that feed into the
automation area and Blackman has one breaker that feeds
into the area. The August 2010 storm caused an event that
tripped the whole yard at Primary substation, including Ten-
nessee Valley Authoritys 161-kV switchyard. MED lost three
feeds into the automation area, the worst-case scenario. The
one circuit feeder that was left picked up almost 60% of the
circuits that were out in less than two minutes. The outage to
the substation was more than 45 minutes long.
The process worked as planned. As another section ener-
gized, the system kept up with how much new load was be-
ing added. When the Blackman feeder got to around 760 A,
the automatic switching stopped because no more capacity
was left. The automation logic looks at available spare capac-
ity when making restoration decisions, so the alternate feeder
will not overload. Without automation, this event would have
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62 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
undergroundFacilities
left the new Middle Tennessee Medical Center hospital in the
dark. Since the automation was in place, the hospital was out
of power for less than a minute. The lesson learned is that with
automation, feeder capacity is very important. Excess capacity
is necessary for feeders that supply the automation zone.
A month before the August event occurred, another light-
ning storm caused the same type of event where the Primary
substation and Tennessee Valley Authority switchyard were
tripped. All the automation switches opened on the primary
circuits, but the backfeed operation failed because of a bad
battery on the motor operator at the open point between
Primary substation and Blackman substation. Battery main-
tenance is critical to
keeping the automation
system ready to operate at
a moments notice. Equip-
ment continues to evolve
where battery tests are
now performed automati-
cally, which would have
prevented this failure.
Data Needs
Real-time data in the
automation zone is of ut-
most importance. If auto-
mation teams are not ready to switch, then automatic opera-
tions will not take place. When crews are working on sections
of line in the automation zone, automation must be shut down,
but care must be taken to get the automation teams back to
ready mode after work is complete. Without SCADA informa-
tion or network connection or both, keeping up with the sta-
tus of the automation system can be difcult. Personnel radio
verication at each physical location is quite time consuming.
SCADA alarms ag when problems are present (automation
teams are not in ready mode).
A network connection with a head-end radio is a much
smoother way to look at each switch. The only real barriers on
the network were radio settings issues and information tech-
nology rewall issues allowing the correct Internet protocol
addresses to punch through.
MED has three 161/46-kV substations that feed the 46-kV
transmission system around Murfreesboro, with ve 46/12.47-kV
distribution substations to supply customers. During one of the
tornadoes, a section of the 46-kV transmission line tripped.
Before the utility could re-energize the line, a crew was dis-
patched to the eld to check for trouble. The crew was pulled
away from other work and customers were without power for
about 45 minutes while the line was checked, even though
there was no actual problem with the line. The line could have
been re-energized in less than a minute with automation.
MED has decided to use its automation expertise to auto-
mate the 46-kV loop around Murfreesboro. By automating
this loop, MED will get a lot of bang for the money spent. Since
motor operators, which work in conjunction with the EFACEC
ACS SCADA system, have been installed previously on key
transmission switches, the only real issues to automate the
transmission loop are the installation of controls and commu-
nications. Due to the importance of the transmission system,
MED will install a ber loop to all these control points and
will use the latest S&C controls and software. With automation
installed, the tornado outage could have been limited to a few
seconds instead of 45 minutes.
Crew Acceptance
One big lesson learned has been how to get the line crew
to accept distribution automation technology. The line crew at
MED has been included in the installation of and training on
Control cabinet for a below-grade S&C 532 Vista Switchgear with motor operators, using two 5802 controllers
(left). Control settings are critical to proper operation of automation equipment. Chief Engineer Mark Kimbell
and Distribution Engineer Jerry Onwu check controls to insure that the automation controls are READY to
operate (right).
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64 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
UNDERGROUNDFacilities
complete success of an automation project depends on the
understanding all operating personnel have of the project.
Future Improvements
The scale and experience with automation continues to
grow at MED. The more the utility uses its distribution auto-
mation system, the more the system is rened. The capabilities
of the distribution automation equipment, software and com-
munications continue to improve.
Mark Kimbell (mkimbell@medtn.com) joined Murfreesboro
Electric Department in 1999 and was appointed chief engineer
in 2000. Prior to MED, he worked for the Gallatin Department of
Electricity for 12 years. Kimbell has a BSEE degree from Tennes-
see Technological University and a MBA from Middle Tennessee
State University. He is a member of the IEEE, and serves on the
R&D Committee of Tennessee Valley Public Power Association
and Murfreesboros Board of Electrical Examiners. all the automated equipment. Ongoing training is an essential
part of automation acceptance. The line crew needs to know
what to expect if an automatic operation takes place. They
need to know what process has to occur to return a circuit to
normal after an automated event. They need to be aware of
what controls have to be disabled so they are safe as line work
is done in an automation zone.
The line crew at MED has come a long way to accept what
distribution automation can do for the electric utility. The
Companies mentioned:
CDR Systems www.cdrsystems.com
EFACEC Advanced Control Systems www.efacec-acs.com
Okonite www.okonite.com
S&C Electric Co. www.sandc.com
Tennessee Valley Authority www.tva.com
Chief Engineer Mark Kimbell and Distribution Engineer Jerry Onwu
check a substation breaker retrotted with an S&C Universal Interface
Module, which allows the breaker at the substation to communicate
with the automation equipment in the eld.
For more information on Promethean Devices or other Alcan Cable products and solutions, contact your
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2011 Alcan Cable. All rights reserved.
2011 Promethean Devices. Promethean Devices is a registered trademark of Promethean Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
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66 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
FACILITYPlanning
Wood Pole Inspection
Extends Service Life
Knowledge of pole condition is crucial for decision
making in managing distribution facilities.
By Adriano Gabiatti and Pedro Montani, AES Sul Distribuidora Gacha de Energia S.A., and
Flvio Vidor, Marcal Pires and Berenice A. Dedavid, Pontical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul
T
he wood poles commonly used to support overhead
line conductors in Southern Brazil are produced
from eucalyptus, an exotic tree species widely culti-
vated in the country. Unfortunately, wood is subject
to deterioration, which can occur as a result of the action of
physical, chemical and biological agents. Biological agents are
the most important decay factor, and wood poles can be at-
tacked by bacteria, insects, fungi and marine drills. In South-
ern Brazil, special attention is given to fungi, organisms whose
forms and lifestyles vary from simple yeast to a mushroom.
The attack of wood-decaying fungi can be rapid, resulting
in a dramatic loss of pole strength. Fungi mostly occurs about
0.5 m (1.6 ft) above to 0.5 m below ground line, where the pres-
ence of oxygen and moisture (greater than 20%) enables met-
abolic activity and growth of aerobic microorganisms. A large
number of insecticides and fungicides are used to treat wood,
but the efciency, in terms of extended service life obtained
from the application of these wood preservatives, varies greatly.
Wood Pole Population
In the electrical networks of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazils
southernmost region, more than 2 million wood poles are in
service to support distribution and transmission lines. AES Sul
supplies some 1.15 million consumers in 118 cities in an area of
some 99,268 sq km (38,328 sq miles). The overhead networks
are supported by 760,000 poles, of which approximately 90%
are wood.
The common treatment for wood poles is a water-based
chromated copper arsenate (CCA) preservative applied un-
der pressure, as the use of pentachlorophenol and creosote
are forbidden. In accordance with the CCA treatment, treated
wood poles must have a lifetime of at least 15 years. Alternative
preservatives have been proposed in Brazil as a substitute or to
complement the CCA treatment. Special attention has been
given to a boron-uoride preservative, used in the retreatment
of in-service poles, because of its high efciency and lower tox-
icity for humans and the environment.
For the past three years, research has been conducted with
the aim to inspect about 10,000 wood poles distributed over
23 cities in Southern Brazil. The main objective is to estab-
lish a practical, reliable and low-cost inspection procedure for
in-service poles.
Materials and Methods
Approximately 10,000 in-service poles were selected at
random from a population of 760,000 poles, located in the
AES Sul area. From 2002-2004, inspectors visited 23 cities,
representing AES Suls ve enterprise subregions. These cit-
ies were chosen because they present differences in soil and
climatic conditions. In each city, several low-voltage lines were
randomly sampled in urban and rural areas. The majority of
poles (52%) were located in the largest urbanized metropoli-
tan region, while poles located in rural areas were predomi-
nantly in the North and South Frontier regions.
The pole inspections involved three steps:
Visual assessment
Hammer test
Quantitative test of the decay.
The visual assessment of wood surface determined the
Map of Rio Grande do Sul state showing the ve regions of the AES
Sul electrical power distribution network area.
facilityPlanning
extent of defects such as cracks,
holes, and burned or rotten points.
The hammer sound test was used to
detect a hollow core caused by inter-
nal decay in the pole portion from
the ground line up to 2 m (6.6 ft). A
clear sound and hammer rebound
conrms the internal condition of
the wood is sound.
As the visual inspection and
hammer test assessments are rather
subjective, measurements of internal and exter-
nal decay also were performed. The external
pole inspection included digging out the critical
region below ground line. As external decay can
reduce the pole circumference, this parameter
is measured in two different positions, 0.10 m
(0.33 ft) above and 0.10 m below ground line.
The difference in the pole circumferences is
used to estimate external decay.
The internal pole decay is assessed by drilling
a small hole parallel to the ground line, then in-
serting a probing rod with a hook into the hole
to determine the thickness of the wood. The rod has measure-
ments used to indicate the shell thickness and estimate the
internal decay. All inspection drilling holes are treated with
inspected in-Service Poles in five aES Sul Regions
Region Number
of cities
inspection
Number of poles
in each region
Percent
inspected
Central 2 976 9.1
North Frontier (extended rural areas) 2 859 8.0
South Frontier (extended rural areas) 3 1,583 14.8
Metropolitan 11 5,540 51.8
Valley 5 1,734 16.2
Total 23 10,692 100
in-Service classication Based on Decays and Procedures
inspection
class
Procedure
internal External Evaluation action
Healthy wood Rotten wood
> 0.10 m
(> 0.328 ft)
Without 1 Good None
0.07 m to 0.10 m
(0.23 ft to 0.328 ft)
maximum 0.01 m
(maximum 0.03 ft)
2 Initial decay Retreat internal/
external
0.03 m to 0.70 m
(0.01 ft to 0.23 ft)
maximum 0.02 m
(maximum 0.06 ft)
3 Advanced decay Retreat internal
< 0.03 m
(< 0.01 ft)
Total 4 Failure Replace
a boron-uoride water-diffusible Polesaver Rod preservative
from Preschem and plugged with a polyvinyl chloride dowel
to prevent subsequent decay.
68 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
FACILITYPlanning
The inspection data registered in the database are pole lo-
cation, the address and GPS coordinates (which are put in a
map), decay evaluations, pole classication and recommended
action.
Results and Classication
Among the 10,692 inspected poles distributed over ve
AES Sul regions, 90.7% were wood poles. The rst important
a b
c d
Steps for external (a-b) and internal (c-d) inspection of in-service poles.
observation is the signicant number of poles (58%) without
identication tags. The metal tags may have been lost during
transport or pole installation or, simply over the in-service pole
life, affected by weathering or vandalism. The loss of identi-
cation tags reduced the information about in-service poles to
only 4,075 of the inspected poles (42%).
Results indicated that 48% were regarded as Class 1 (in
a good state of preservation), 24% were classied as Class 2
(partial decay but still serviceable; internal/external retreat-
ment is recommended), 15% were rejected as Class 3 (rejected
pole with advanced decay; rehabilitation reinforcement/
retreatment should be made) and the remaining 13% were
regarded as Class 4 (in need of immediate replacement).
The results conrmed a higher level of pole conservation
in rural areas (63%) compared to urban areas (51%). In addi-
tion, the North Frontier region had three times fewer danger
Inspection Results
Region Number
of poles
ID tag
(%)
Decay classication (%)
1 2 3 4
Central 909 39 63 12 13 12
North Frontier 827 51 54 19 14 13
South Frontier 1,501 38 42 33 16 9
Metropolitan 4,654 45 46 25 16 12
Valley 1,355 30 46 19 16 18
Total 9,246 42 48 24 15 13
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FACILITYPlanning
poles in rural (6%) than in urban (17%) areas. These results
are probably due to the recent expansion of the rural network
in Brazil, motivated by federal government support.
Preservative Type
From the inspected poles with an identication tag, it was
only possible to identify the wood treatment used on poles
treated with CCA or creosote. Pentachlorophenol was used in
Brazil until 1970; the number of in-service poles with this pre-
servative should not be signicant, but the presence of creo-
sote was expected because its use was only banned in 1995.
For some poles without an identication tag, it was possible
to assess the preservative type by visual inspection (CCA was
a green color while creosote was a black color). However, this
kind of identication has been taken with caution, because
weathering can change a poles color, making visual identica-
tion difcult and inaccurate.
The distribution of the poles preserved with CCA or creo-
sote in the ve regions was studied. The greater occurrence
of poles preserved with CCA in the North Frontier was 93%,
while the highest percentage of creosote-treated poles was
in the Valley region (49%). These differences are signicant
compared to the global mean values (69% for CCA and 31%
for creosote) and seem to be related to the differences in the
replacement rates and pole distribution over rural and urban
areas in each region.
Pole Lifetime
The aging proles of the inspected poles for each region
were studied and the in-service time divided into four time pe-
riods: less than 5 years; 6 to 10 years; 11 to 15 years; more than
15 years.
These periods were used to simplify the data analysis and
to take into account the Brazilian standard that establishes 15
years as the minimum in-service lifetime for a treated pole.
The majority of poles (60%) had an in-service time of less
than 10 years, with the Central region having the highest level
(75%) of young poles (less than 5 years), and the Metropolitan
and North Frontier regions having the oldest pole networks
(mean age of 11 to 15 years). This differ-
ence is probably associated with the more
intense replacement rate and construc-
tion of new networks, especially in rural
areas, in specic regions during the last
decade.
The pole-aging proles observed in
this study differ from other countries. In
Europe and North America, the average
pole age generally ranges from 25 to 50
years, but the wood species and treatment
used differ from that in Brazil. In Austra-
lia, where the poles are mostly eucalyptus
timber treated with CCA, the durability
for these structures ranges from 35 to 45
years.
The durability of the in-service wood
pole is related to several factors:
The quality of new wood poles going
into service
The environmental factors
The effectiveness of the inspection
and maintenance programs.
All these factors are very different in
Brazil compared to other countries, and
the use of fast-growing eucalyptus species
is probably one of the most important
aspects for the shorter in-service lifetime
observed.
The inuence of preservative type has
0 20 40 60 80 100
North Frontier
South Frontier
Creosoto
74%
93%
75%
66%
51%
26%
7%
25%
34%
49%
Central
Metropolitan
Valley
CCA Creosote
Type percentage of preservative used (CCA or creosote) on the poles
with identication tags.
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72 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
FACILITYPlanning
a marked impact on pole decay as shown by the results. CCA-
treated poles deteriorated at a relatively steady rate during the
four lifetime periods, whereas poles treated with creosote were
noted to exhibit an improved level of conservation. The re-
sults indicate a fast and signicant decrease in the life of poles,
probably because of the quality of white wood and the CCA
treatment process. The results further suggest that creosote
offers better protection against fungi decay in Brazilian condi-
tions, probably due to its higher toxicity and a more efcient
treatment process.
Companies mentioned:
AES Sul www.aessul.com.br
Preschem http://preschem.com
Quality-Control Standards
Although the study results are prelimi-
nary, it will be possible to use them to estab-
lish a more realistic replacement pole rate.
In addition to introducing quality-control
standards for the white wood preservative
impregnation process, the implementa-
tion of a periodic and systematic inspec-
tion program of all wood pole networks is
recommended.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank AES Sul for funding
this work through its research and develop-
ment program, Preschem Pty for the pre-
servative donation and John Hellier for his
support on the eld tests.
Adriano Gabiatti (adriano.gabiatti@aes.com) received bach-
elors degree in mechatronics and a masters degree in energy
systems from Pontical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Currently, Gabiatti is working with management of the mainte-
nance program for distribution lines on AES Sul Distribuidora
Gacha de Energia S.A.
Pedro Daniel Bach Montani (pedro.montani@aes.com)
received his BSEE degree from Pontical Catholic University of
Rio Grande do Sul. Since 2006, Montani has been working with
management of the research program for AES Sul.
Maral Pires (mpires@pucrs.br) is professor of the program of
engineering materials at the Pontical Catholic University of Rio
Grande do Sul in Brazil. He received his Ph.D in environmental
chemistry from Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne,
Switzerland, in 1995. Pires is active in research projects about
wood pole inspection, retreatment, and timber waste analysis
and disposal.
Berenice Anina Dedavid (berenice@pucrs.br) holds a bach-
elors degree in physics and a Ph.D. in materials science from
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. She is a
professor of the program of engineering materials at the Pon-
tical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and is
active in research projects on wood mechanical proprieties.
Flavio L.R. Vidor (avio.singepla@terra.com.br) received a
bachelors degree in biology from the University of Vale do
Sinos in Brazil and a masters degree in materials engineering
from the program of engineering materials at Pontical Catholic
University of Rio Grande do Sul, where he is pursuing a Ph.D.
Inuence of the preservative type (CCA or creosote) on pole-decay classication at different
in-service lifetime ranges.
1 2 3 4
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CIREDConference
Frankfurt to Host CIRED
The 21
st
International Conference and Exhibition
on Electricity Distribution will be held June 6-9.
By Gerry George, International Editor
T
he 21
st
International Conference and Exhibition on
Electricity Distribution (CIRED 2011) will be held
in Frankfurt, the lively city in the heart of both
Germany and Europe.
CIRED 2011 will be staged in the Frankfurt Congress Cen-
ter (Messe Frankfurt), a central geographic location that of-
fers delegates and visitors easy international road, rail and air
connections via Frankfurt Airport. Delegates are guaranteed
a warm welcome in Germanys most international city, which
has the largest nancial centre on the continent and is home
to Germanys only true downtown skyline featuring attractive
high-rise architecture.
The city center offers a range of sightseeing opportuni-
ties, ranging from interesting historical buildings on one side
of the River Main and a collection of 13 museums devoted
to different works of art from classical paintings to modern
media on the opposite bank. In Frankfurt, delegates will en-
joy the hospitable atmosphere, the restaurants and shopping
opportunities.
CIRED 2011 will focus on all aspects of the electricity busi-
ness, covering every topic that continues to confront the indus-
trys professional staff. Therefore, the conference is structured
to address the global interest in the supply of sustainable en-
ergy from renewable resources and the need to establish smart
grids while addressing the industrys core activities of asset,
system and business management.
Senior representatives from electricity distribution com-
panies, regulators, consultants, universities, research centres
and major energy users are contributing to the technical
programme. All delegates will benet from this programme,
which will be presented based on the successful format that
CIRED organising committees continue to develop and
expand.
This years conference and exhibition is expected to attract
an international delegate attendance in excess of 1,200 travel-
ling from every corner of the globe. This international event
has a reputation for creating a relaxing atmosphere and envi-
ronment that encourages a freedom of information exchange
between the contributors and delegates. The technical exhibi-
tion will be sited adjacent to the conference halls, and once
again, it has attracted a record number of exhibitors who will
display the latest technologies, new products and services now
The Frankfurt Congress Center (Messe Frankfurt) is a unique location
for congresses. The multi-story venue includes ofce suites and is
directly connected to the Maritim Hotel.
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CIREDConference
available for distribution network applications. Delegates and
visitors will have the opportunity to see and discuss their tech-
nical requirements with the international exhibitors.
Conference Programme
The four-day conference begins on Monday, June 6 with a
series of six tutorials:
Smart distribution systems for a low-carbon energy future
IEC 61850 for distribution system basic concepts and
application guidelines
Regulation models for DNOs in Europe
Standardization activities regarding smart grid, electric
vehicles and charging stations
Medium- and low-voltage distribution feeder design using
probabilistic approaches to load and distributed generation
Trends in harmonics below and above 2 kHz.
This is followed by a three-day programme that includes six
special subject technical sessions, roundtable discussions, and
research and innovation forums led by invited speakers. Daily
interactive poster sessions are also scheduled.
The opening forum on Monday will include four keynote
presentations by speakers representing different sectors of the
industry:
Challenges in power grid business in Germany
German aspects of European energy regulation
E-Car: project, billing, charging, integration, technology
Tomorrows energy supply: local, sustainable intelligent
These presentations will be followed by a welcome recep-
tion in the exhibition hall.
Technical Programme
CIRED 2011 received a record number of paper abstracts
(1,317), from which the technical committee has selected 813
for presentation at the conference. Contributions for this con-
ference were received from potential authors from more than
50 countries, conrming CIREDs increasing international
reputation.
The six technical sessions extend over a three-day period,
each session being well managed to ensure the author contri-
butions on the selected papers allow sufcient time for del-
egate questions and answers. The following is a brief descrip-
tion of the sessions that will be presented:
Session 1 Network Components. This session covers all com-
ponents that comprise a distribution network, from power
transformers, switchgear, cables and joints, insulators and
metering. In addition to design changes, the introduction of
new materials, asset monitoring disciplines and the introduc-
tion of green technologies are included. Representatives from
manufacturers, utilities and research establishments have all
contributed to this session.
CIRED 2011 List of Exhibitors (Current as of April 19, 2011)
ABB Ltd.
A. Eberle GmbH & Co. KG
Alstom Grid GmbH
Altea B.V.
BAUR Prf- und Messtechnik GmbH
BCP Busarello + Cott + Partner Inc.
Belden Electronics GmbH
b2electronic GmbH
Cable Cure
CEDRAT
Cellpack GmbH
Cesi
Cisco Systems GmbH
Cooper Power Systems
CYME International T&D Inc.
Deba Components NV
DIgSILENT GmbH
Doble Lemke GmbH
DOW EUROPE GmbH
Dutch Power
EA Technology Ltd.
EFACEC
EFEN GmbH
EMG Elektro-Mechanik GmbH
Europoles GmbH & Co. KG
GE Digital Energy
Haefely Test AG / Hipotronics Inc.
HDD Handels- und Vertriebs GmbH
Hedrich Group
Helmut Mauell GmbH
Hexaformer
High Voltage Inc.
Horstmann GmbH
iGrid T&D
IPEC
IPS Intelligent Process Solutions GmbH
IPSA Power
KEMA
KEPCO Pavillion
Kelvatec Ltd.
Kingsine Electric Automation Co. Ltd.
Kocos Messtechnik AG
Locamation
Lumasense Technologies GmbH
Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH
Megger GmbH
Netcontrol
Neuhaus Telekommunikation GmbH
Noja Power
Nortech
OMICRON electronics GmbH
Ormazabal
Petra Solar
Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG
PNU Power
PowerGrid International
Power Plus communications AG
PowerSense A/S
Protecta Ltd.
PSI AG
Qualitrolcorp
Relab Software
RT Measurement Technologies
RuggedCom
RWE Rhein-Ruhr Netzservice GmbH
S&C Electric Europe Ltd.
Schneider Electric
Schniewindt GmbH & Co. KG
Seba Dynatronic GmbH
SecuControl GmbH
SERGI France
SGC SwitchGear Co.
Siemens AG
Smarter Grid Solutions Ltd.
Sprecher Automation GmbH
Streamer Electric Inc.
STRI
Transmission & Distribution World
Tecnalia
TEKLA Corp.
Telvent
THE IET
Thytronic SpA
Vaisala
Vamp Ltd.
Vattenfall Europe Distribution
VDE e.V.
Yucoya Energy Safety GmbH
Zenergy Power
77 www.tdworld.com | May 2011
CIREDConference
Session 2 Power Quality and EMC. Power quality in terms of
system reliability, low voltage, icker, frequency variations and
waveform distortion will be the focus of this session. Papers
covering subjects including safety issues, intelligent substa-
tions, power line communications and the integration of wind
farms also will be featured in this session.
Session 3 Operation, Control and Protection. The operation,
control and system protection used on distribution networks
has attracted the largest number of selected contributions.
Smart grids, distributed generation, system reliability, protec-
tion, network monitoring and control are the topics likely to
dominate the discussion in this session.
Session 4 Distributed Energy Resources
and Efcient Utilisation of Electricity. Distrib-
uted generation in the form of wind power,
micro-CHP plants, photovoltaic and en-
ergy/heat storage systems and their impact
on existing distribution networks will be
featured in this session. Delegates opting to
attend this session will have the opportunity
to benet from more information on smart
grids and the smart metering technology
that are now the subject of pilot studies in
many utilities.
Session 5 Planning and System Develop-
ment. All aspects related to short- and long-
term development of high-voltage and low-
voltage networks to meet the changing and
challenging demands placed on distribu-
tion networks will be presented. Investment
strategies for aging networks, optimisation
of system losses and planning for active dis-
tribution networks are included for a discus-
sion in a session, which is dominated by con-
tributions from distribution utilities
Session 6 Distribution Business and Impact
of Regulation. The role of electricity distribu-
tion companies continues to evolve as it de-
velops into a marketplace for consumers and
small-scale power producers. Issues relating
to regulation and the changes being intro-
duced take into consideration distributed
generation, smart grids and smart metering
are among the topics scheduled for discus-
sion in this session. Therefore, delegates
attending this session will have the oppor-
tunity to share experience and benet from
the papers presented on current and future
developments.
Roundtable and Research
and Innovation Discussions
The 16 roundtable discussions have be-
come a popular and well-supported feature
of this event. Linked to the main technical
sessions, a panel of eminent speakers pres-
ent the topics, which then generate a lively two-way debate
with the delegates in attendance. The planned six research
and innovation forums are staged in a similar manner, but the
content is linked to the new technologies under development
that will serve the industry in the future.
Poster Sessions
The poster sessions at CIRED offer delegates the opportu-
nity to meet and discuss the content of the technical presenta-
tions with the contributing authors. The CIRED organising
committee has taken a refreshing and proactive approach to
these sessions by implementing guided interactive tours of the
BURNDY

developed
and manufactured
transmission connectors
for the original grid.
Now we are leading the
way for 21st-century
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ACSS and ACCC

connectors that meet


the proposed ANSI high-
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of the future;
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Dies with embossed
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Experience. Technology. Answers.
TM
2011 BURNDY LLC
From the Ground Up
1-800-346-4175 USA | 1-603-647-5299 International | 1-800-387-6487 Canada
011-52-722-265-4400 Mexico | 011-55-11-5515-7200 Brazil | www.burndy.com
Transmitting
the Future
78 May 2011 | www.tdworld.com
CIREDConference
posters displayed. In accordance with a prearranged schedule,
the main session chairman hosts the tour to introduce and
offer each contributing author the opportunity to present a
short summary of their paper to the assembled delegates. This
feature of the poster session has been successful in attracting
large delegate support.
International Technical Exhibition
The conference will be supported by a large technical ex-
hibition located adjacent to the conference halls. This years
event already has attracted almost 100 leading manufacturers,
utilities and service providers from around the world.
The CIRED 2011 exhibition will include displays showing
a wide range of distribution equipment incorporating the lat-
est technologies and services now available for utilities. This
will give delegates a hands-on opportunity to witness demon-
strations of the latest software programs developed for the
design, protection, control and management of distribution
systems.
Experts from manufacturers, contractors and research or-
ganisations will be available to ensure all delegates have the
opportunity to share knowledge and experience. The demand
for a sustainable and an environmentally acceptable supply of
electrical energy shows no sign of diminishing, so it is vitally
important that industry professionals
seize this opportunity to receive an up-
date of the latest cost-effective technolo-
gies now on the market.
Two technical visits have been arranged
for Friday, June 10 for delegates remaining
in Frankfurt after the conclusion of the
technical programme. One tour will be of
the underground transformer and switch-
gear station Hochstrasse, which supplies
large parts of the inner city of Frankfurt.
The second tour will be of the model city
of Mannheim, lead by MVV Energie AG
in the model region of Rhein-Neckar.
CIRED, one of the leading interna-
tional conferences on electricity distribu-
tion, is held every two years in a different
European venue. The 21
st
CIRED in
Frankfurt is again set to establish new
records in terms of the quality and con-
tent of the technical programme, and the
number of exhibitors participating in the
exhibition.
Frankfurt is an ideal city in which to
stage CIRED 2011 in view of its strategic
position to attract delegates from Europe
and the well-established intercontinen-
tal links that provide delegates easy air
travel from around the world. Delegates
and visitors to CIRED 2011 are assured of
a warm reception from their fellow pro-
fessionals from all sectors of the electric-
ity distribution business, keen to expand
their knowledge base and establish global
business opportunities.
The CIRED organising committee and
the German CIRED committee look for-
ward to welcoming you to Frankfurt.
For complete conference
and registration information for
CIRED 2011, visit
www.cired20011.org.
Strength Lies

True
in our
Reputation

2
0
1
1

F
W
T
,

L
L
C
.


A
l
l

R
i
g
h
t
s

R
e
s
e
r
v
e
d
.
s dedication to knowledge, innovation and
service has helped FWT to develop a reputation as strong
as the products we manufacture. With the current demands
for a smarter and more efficient grid, FWT has expanded
our catalogue of products to include SCADA poles to meet
the unique requirements for monitoring and controlling your
utility system. Our extensive selection of transmission,
distribution and substation structures are custom-designed
and engineered to suit any application.
Let FWT be the solid foundation your next
project is built upon. Call us today or visit our
website and experience how...
E S T A B L I S H E D 1 9 5 9
8 0 0 - 4 3 3 - 1 8 1 6 WWW. F WT I N C . C O M
True Strength Lies in our Reputation.
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 80
Products&Services
Warning Solution for Less Critical Transformers
GE announces the Intellix GLA 100, a cost-effective transformer warning solution
using dissolved gas-in-oil analysis, specically tailored for monitoring less critical
transformers. With the Intellix GLA 100, utilities, operators and industrial users can
extend their transformer monitoring strategy to include a broader range of transformer
assets, further decreasing the chance of unplanned outages and improving network
reliability.
The Intellix GLA 100 is a compact, lightweight device installed on a 1-inch (25-mm)
valve. It continually monitors the key fault gas and triggers an alarm when a preset gas
level is reached. Two levels of alarms can be set with outputs in the form of colored
light indicators at the transformer and SPDT relays through to control rooms. Alarm
levels can be set or changed without the need of a computer or interfacing software,
and the device comes ready to use with default settings.
GE | www.ge.com
RFID Equipped Tools
Lincoln Hoist, the originator
of the lever ratchet winch hoist
or come-along, is introducing
improved models that include RFID
tags, serialization and more visible
markings.
Regular inspection by a qualied
person is one of the best ways to
prevent accidents with this or most
other tools used for lifting or pulling heavy loads. RFID tags help reduce the paperwork
burden of performing and maintaining inspection records. Lincoln Hoists newest
improvement embeds a small 8-mm (0.3-inch) RFID chip directly into the main hoist
housing to facilitate the task.
In addition, Lincoln Hoist has reached an agreement with Infochip Systems to
provide free inspection, certication and tracking software.
Lincoln Hoist | www.lincolnhoist.com
Thermal Imaging Technology
Utility Risk Management Corp. introduces Thermal Direct, a thermal imaging
technology capable of enhancing the reliability and efciency of the electric grid.
The technology precisely measures conductor temperatures, enabling utilities
to: improve system reliability and capacity; enhance the security of transmission
assets; demonstrate compliance with applicable regulatory requirements; and reduce
mitigation costs associated with compliance by as much as $2 billion over a period of
three years. In recent testing conrmed by Electric Power Research Institute sensors,
Thermal Directs accuracy presented a 95% condence level, with residual error of only
3.75F (2.09C).
Utility Risk Management Corp. | utilityrisk.com
Epoxy Bushings
Electro Composites Bushings
by Hubbell Power Systems protect
waterways from oil spilling by
transformers or breakers in the event of
a bushing failure. These solid dielectric
capacitor (SDC) epoxy bushings are 100%
oil-free.
Electro Composites specializes in
high-voltage solid dielectric epoxy
capacitance-graded bushings, offering
solutions for applications up to 170 kV, as
well as a variety of insulators and custom-
moulded parts.
Hubbell Power Systems | www.hubbellpowersystems.com
Conned-Space
Video Inspection
Zistos manufactures a submersible,
self-illuminated color zoom camera to
safely inspect vaults and conduits from
above ground while displaying the video
on a tripod-mounted 5-inch (127-mm)
weatherproof LCD monitor. The optional
thermal camera allows the operator to
remotely articulate the pole and switch
between a thermal imager and self-
illuminated B&W video camera.
Zistos | www.zistos.com
Microgrid System
Controller

Encorp, LLC announces the launch of
its Microgrid System Controller, which
connects separate generator sets with
such inverter-based renewable sources
as photovoltaics, fuel cells, advanced
energy-storage devices, and wind and
micro turbines to create an onsite energy
system. The system controller can
interconnect the combined generation
source to the utility grid or operate in
island mode.
The new Encorp offering is based
on the companys Gold Box and
related software technology offerings.
The Microgrid System Controller can
be congured and modied for any
combination of power generators in
smaller applications, such as ofce
buildings, laboratories and apartment
buildings.
The Microgrid System Controller
can be customized for a variety
of applications, including peak
shaving/sharing, demand response,
cogeneration, full-load generator
testing (using the grid) and prime-power
generation.
The heart of the control system is the
Encorp Generator Power Controller, or
Gold Box. With over 1,000 MW under
the control of these devices around the
world, end users, speciers and installers
are assured that critical loads will be
protected from unintended power loss
due to control failure.
Encorp, LLC | www.encorp.com
Check out the latest news and information related to
Vegetation Management with Transmission & Distribution
Worlds Vegetation Management Resource Center, sponsored
by DuPont Land Management. Inside this resource center youll
be able easily nd content related to Vegetation Management
Programs, Reliability and Safety, Tools and Technologies,
Regulations and Standards, and the Environment.
In addition, you can receive updates sent directly to your inbox
with Vegetation Management Insights, a monthly newsletter
from the editors of T&D World, covering the latest Vegetation
Management information and news. Visit us online today to
learn more!
Find Vegetation Management Content in One Easy Location
http://tdworld.com/vegetationmanagement
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 82
sensethepower.com
The world needs to rethink power...
With new energy sources the power companies
are facing new challenges in their power
distributions grids - new energy sources will be
applied and the need for control and supervision
of the grids is a necessity.
PowerSense can help the power distribution
companies to be ready for the future with our
DISCOS

solution.
...SmartGrid is a reality
The DISCOS

System from PowerSense is a modular and retrohttable system


for supervision of the power distribution network. The system is based on optical
sensor technology with a 2-way communication technology. Using the DISCOS


System, you will be able to get control over your grid and make it smart!
For further information, please visit www.sensethepower.com or send an e-mail to
sales@sensethepower.com.
PowerSense participates in CIRED 2011 Conference and Exhibition
in Frankfurt, Germany 6-9 June - visit us on booth A 150
High-Voltage
Insulation Diagnostics
Featuring rugged yet lightweight
construction and designed to work
reliably in high-interference areas like
substation switchyards, Meggers
DELTA4000 series 12-kV insulation
diagnostic system offers time-saving,
fully automatic power factor/tan delta
and tip-up testing. Also provided are
facilities for manual measurements
where the operator has full control to set
the test parameters for special testing
requirements.
Accurate and dependable intelligent
temperature correction, based on the
actual condition of the test object, can
be applied to results using a patented
technique that works with data acquired
from a separate dielectric frequency-
response test.
Meggers DELTA4000 series test
sets offer comprehensive facilities for
assessing the condition of electrical
insulation in all types of high-voltage
equipment, including transformers,
bushings, circuit breakers, cables,
lightning arrestors and rotating
machinery. They also can be used for
measuring the excitation current of
transformer windings.
To ensure accurate results are
obtained even when the instrument is
powered from a supply with poor voltage
and frequency stability, the test sets
generate their own test voltage, which is
independent of supply quality. A further
benet of this approach is that it allows
the test voltage to be varied in frequency
from 1 Hz to 500 Hz.
DELTA4000 series measure quantities
include voltage, current, power loss, tan
delta, power factor and capacitance. Test
results are stored in the unit and can be
sent directly to a printer via USB.
Megger | www.megger.com
Products&Services
Crimping and Cutting Tools
BURNDY introduces its lithium-ion (Li-ion) line of PATRIOT
battery actuated crimping and cutting tools. By
incorporating Li-ion technology, the company has
enhanced electronics and rened hydraulic systems,
advancing the PATRIOT line of crimping and cutting
tools for performance, speed and reliability.
The advantages of the new 18-V 3.0 Ah Li-ion
technology over Ni-Cd and Ni-MH are no memory
effects, no self discharge, no conditioning required and a
longer battery life 2.5 times more charge/discharge cycles
than traditional Ni-Cd batteries and provides 430% more
lifetime work. The charge time is only 30 minutes, twice as fast
as Ni-Cd, and the battery weights 40% less than Ni-MH batteries.
BURNDY | www.BURNDY.com
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 84
SUSAN SCHAEFER
p: 484 478 0154 f: 913 967 6417 susan.schaefer@penton.com
For more information about classied
advertising, please contact:
SOFTWARE
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m
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Marketing Opportunities
Production Specications
Salesperson Information
2011 Media Kit
2011 Rates
Editorial Calendar
JobZone
A vital source of industry
information with
breaking news and feature
archives from the
pages of Transmission &
Distribution World
is just one click away!
www.tdworld.comm | May 2011 85
SOFTWARE HELP WANTED
System Protection O&M Supervisor
PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, an electric
generation and transmission cooperative serving
Alabama and Northwest Florida, is seeking a System
Protection O&M Supervisor for the Headquarters
Ofce in Andalusia, Alabama. The purpose of this
position is to supervise the functions and activities
related to the operation, maintenance, construction,
installation, and commissioning of protective
relaying equipment at all transmission, distribution,
and generation facilities on the PowerSouth system;
provide direct supervision of system protection
technicians, oversight and direction of maintenance
program, management of construction projects,
and administration of section budget; and provide
engineering support and technical expertise for all
activities and functions of the System Protection
O&M Section. This position requires a bachelors
degree in Electrical Engineering and eight or more
years (seven years with a PE license) in one or
more areas of protective relaying or a minimum
of ve years directly related experience in the
operation, maintenance, testing, installation, and
commissioning of protective relaying systems;
solid technical understanding of protective relaying
concepts with extensive knowledge of protective
relaying principles applications, and methods for
transmission, distribution and generation systems;
ability to work cooperatively with others and to
supervise both exempt and non-exempt personnel;
strong oral and written communication skills; and
organizational skills and abilities. Employment is
subject to a negative drug test, background check,
and completion of a comprehensive application
for employment. PowerSouth Energy Cooperative
offers a competitive salary and comprehensive
benets program. Interested persons who meet
the above qualications should send a resume
including salary requirements to:
PowerSouth Energy Cooperative
Human Resources Department
Position: System Protection O&M Supervisor
P. O. Box 550
Andalusia, AL 36420
AN EEO/AAP EMPLOYER
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 86
Search for products...
Compare specs...
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TD Compare
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is a newly launched resource of up-to-date
product information and new technologies for the power
delivery industry, which allows users to compare up to ve
products side-by-side. With almost 300 vendors and 12,500
detailed product listings, TD Compare
TM
is the Go To online
marketplace to buy transmission and distribution products.
Produced by industry experts, our mission is to provide a free,
time saving service to power delivery professionals, allowing
them to nd and learn about products and technologies
that drive discovery. Specialized search tools, articles and
technology spotlights ensure that TD Compare
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trusted and comprehensive source or product information.
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES
RECRUITING
Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic,
New England, Eastern Canada:
Stephen M. Lach
13723 Carolina Lane
Orland Park, IL 60462
Phone: 708-460-5925 Fax: 913-514-9017
E-mail: steve.lach@penton.com
Southeastern, Mid-Atlantic,
New England:
Douglas J. Fix
590 Hickory Flat Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004
Phone: 770-740-2078 Fax: 770-740-1889
E-mail: dx@bellsouth.net
Southwest:
Gary Lindenberger
7007 Winding Walk Drive, Suite 100
Houston, TX 77095
Phone: 281-855-0470 Fax: 281-855-4219
E-mail: gl@lindenassoc.com
West/Western Canada:
Ron Sweeney
303 Johnston Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903
Phone: 415-499-9095 Fax: 415-499-9096
E-mail: wnjsr@comcast.net
Craig Zehntner
15981 Yarnell Street, Suite 230
Los Angeles, CA 91342
Phone: 818-403-6379 Fax: 818-403-6436
E-mail: wnjla@aol.com
Western/Eastern Europe:
Richard Woolley
P.O. Box 250
Banbury, OXON, OX16 5YJ UK
Phone: 44-1295-278-407
Fax: 44-1295-278-408
E-mail: richardwoolley@btclick.com
Japan:
Yoshinori Ikeda
Akutagawa Bldg., 7-7,
Nihonbashi Kabutocho,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0026, Japan
Phone: 81-3-3661-6138
Fax: 81-3-3661-6139
E-mail: pbi2010@gol.com
Korea:
Y.B. Jeon
Storm Associates Inc.
4F. Deok Woo Building
292-7, Sung-san dong, Ma-po ku,
Seoul, Korea
Phone: 82-2-755-3774
Fax: 82-2-755-3776
E-mail:stormybj@kornet.net
Classied Sales:
Susan Schaefer
870 Wyndom Terrace
Secane, PA 19018
Phone: 484-478-0154
Fax: 913-514-6417
E-mail: susan.schaefer@penton.com
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87 www.tdworld.com m | May 2011
3M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 www.3m.com/accr
Aclara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 www.aclara.com
Acrt Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 www.acrtinc.com
Aevenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 www.aevenia.com
Alcan Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 www.cable.alcan.com
Alcatel-Lucent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 www.alcatel-lucent.com
*Arbormetrics Solutions Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72o www.arbormetricssolutions.com
Asplundh Tree Expert Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC www.asplundh.com
*Baur Pruf-und Messtechnik GMBH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33b www.baur.at
Black & Veatch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 www.bv.com
Burndy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 www.burndy.com
Burns & McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC www.burnsmcd.com
CG Power Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 www.cgpowersolutions.com
*Crosslink Technology Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72h www.crosslinktech.com
Doble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 www.doble.com
Dow Wire & Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 www.dowinside.com
DuPont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 www.countondupont.com
EDM International Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 www.edmlink.com
Engineering Unlimited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 www.sterlingpadlocks.com
FWT Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 www.fwtinc.com
GE Digital Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 www.gedigitalenergy.com
Hastings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 www.hfgphighvoltage.com
High Voltage Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 www.hvinc.com
Hubbell Power Systems Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 www.hubbellpowersystems.com
*Hubbell Power Systems Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72g www.hubbellpowersystems.com
Hughes Brothers Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 www.hughesbros.com
Huskie Tools Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 www.huskietools.com
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 www.hyundai-elec.com
IEEE/Sustainable Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 www.mc.manuscriptcentral.com
Institution of Engineering & Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 www.theiet.org/rtdn
*Intec Services Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72n www.intecservicesinc.com
ISA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 35 www.isatest.com
Itron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 www.itron.com
Krenz & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-39 www.krenzvent.com
LumaSense Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 www.lunasenseinc.com
MacLean Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 www.apex@macleanpower.com
McWane Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 www.mcwanepoles.com
Mears Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 www.mears.net
Merrick & Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 www.merrick.com
Michels Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 www.michels.us
NEN Power LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 www.nenpower.com
Nesco Sales & Rentals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 www.nescosales.com
NLMCC/NECA-IBEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 www.thequalityconnection.org
Nordic Fiberglass Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 www.nordicberglass.com
*Novatech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17a www.novatechweb.com
Omicron Electronics Corp. USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 27 www.omicronusa.com
Ormazabal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 www.ormazabal.com
*Osmose Utilities Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72i www.osmoseutilities.com
Petra Solar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.petrasolar.com
Power Engineers Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 www.powereng.com
PowerSense A/S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 www.sensethepower.com
Quanta Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 www.quantaservices.com
Rainbow Technology Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 www.rainbowtech.net
S&C Electric Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC www.sandc.com
*S&C Electric Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17b www.sandc.com
SAIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 www.saic.com
Schweitzer Engineering Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 www.selinc.com
Sediver Canada Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 www.seves.com
*Sherman & Reilly Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72b www.sherman-reilly.com
*Siemens AG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1b www.siemens.com
*Siemens Energy Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1a www.siemens.com
*TDCompare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72k www.tdcompare.com
TDW Vegetation Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t 81 www.tdworld.com/vegetationmanagement
*Thomas & Betts Corp./Meyer Steel Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33a www.tnb.com
Time Mfg. Co./Versalift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 www.versalift.com
Underground Devices Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 www.udevices.com
URMC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 www.utilityrisk.com
*Utilicon Solutions Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72e www.utiliconltd.com
*Valmont/Newmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . k 59a/b www.valmont-newmark.com
Verizon Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 www.verizonwireless.com
Zistos Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 www.zistos.com
May 2011 | www.tdworld.com 88
StraightTalk
Then theres the unpredictability of wind output, or what I
call its lack of dispatchability. A few years ago, I did an infor-
mal survey of operating managers I know in various parts of
the country. I asked each of them how much wind penetration
they thought their system could handle, given winds lack of
dispatchability. Independently, their answers all fell within a
20% to 25% range.
It wont be practical to move wind generation long distances
over the grid, either. Thats because of winds low availability,
as discussed above, coupled with the increased incremental
IR losses incurred for transfers. Again, without energy stor-
age, wind capacity will not be economic over long distances.
Those who are promoting massive transmission construction
to accommodate remote and widely dispersed wind resources
have a totally different agenda. As I said above, 1,000 MW
spread over hundreds or thousands of miles would have the
same 11% availability as 1,000 MW in one location.
Following the variations in wind output will be another
problem. The amount of generation that control areas (a.k.a.
balancing authorities) now devote to regulation following
the ever-changing load in my opinion, will be inadequate to
follow the ever-changing output of the wind turbines and the
load. This is critical, of course, as any load/generation imbal-
ance on the grid causes changes in grid frequency and even
minor deviations from 60 Hz can be disastrous.
About a year ago I visited the smart grid lab of a major man-
ufacturer. My impression after listening to and talking with
the researchers was that a lot of people are planning to use
what amounts to high-speed load management through smart
grid chips in appliances to perform regulation function, and
thereby keep load and generation in balance and thus main-
tain 60 Hz. I think its highly questionable whether customers
will tolerate this for very long. But there may be a more fun-
damental problem: I doubt that smart grid technology will be
able to act quickly enough to effectively regulate the system.
If Im right, blackouts are inevitable.
Like most things, wind capacity has its pluses and minuses.
We all need to be careful lest we embrace the former while ig-
noring the latter and wind up with a shipload of tribbles
and no Klingon vessel by which to transport them.
By George C. loehr, Management Consultant
The Trouble With Wind
M
any of you will remember the original Star Trek epi-
sode, The Trouble With Tribbles. The Enterprise
is transporting grain to a planet with the unlikely
name of Shermans Planet, which is in dispute between the
Federation and the Klingon Empire. But Kirk et al discover
their ship has been invaded by thousands of cute, furry, purr-
ing little critters called tribbles. They do no harm, except they
eat voraciously and reproduce prodigiously. Theyre so cute
that no one has the heart to do them any harm, but pretty
soon, theyve eaten all the grain and threaten to take over the
ship. (Without going into plot details, Kirk and crew escape
this predicament when Scotty, ever the resourceful engineer,
beams the tribbles from the Enterprise onto a Klingon ship.)
Wind turbines are a little like tribbles. Theyre appealing,
they can displace kilowatt-hours from carbon generators,
and they seem to do no harm; but they consume prodigious
amounts of money, and theyre reproducing all over the coun-
tryside. Everybody seems to think theyre wonderful, but are
they going to contribute anything to our energy requirements?
And, if they do, what are the downsides, if any?
Unfortunately, whatever wind turbines can do to reduce
carbon emissions, wind capacity is not the silver bullet that
will solve all our future electric supply needs. First, theres the
concept that wind generation can eliminate other sources; this
can be explicitly rebutted by the fact that it has a very low prob-
ability of being available during peak load periods.
For example, an independent study done for New York state
in 2004 found that wind capacity has only a 10% to 11% prob-
ability of being available during summer peak hours (2 p.m.
to 5 p.m.). And geographical diversity doesnt change that a
bit 1,000 MW spread over hundreds (or thousands) of miles
would have the same 11% availability as 1,000 MW in a single
location. Thats not from a study, thats the laws of probability.
Perhaps more important, the more wind capacity an area
has, the higher its Installed Reserve Requirement must be. To
quantify this, I extrapolated sensitivity ndings from a recent
Loss of Load Expectation (LOLE) study, which used the 11%
noted above. I discovered that, for every 1,000 MW of wind
capacity, installed reserves would have to be increased by 80%
(800 MW) to maintain the same one day in 10 years LOLE.
Putting that another way, to displace 500 MW of thermal ca-
pacity, youd need 2,500 MW of wind capacity.
The only way around this problem is major energy storage,
but of course that would greatly increase the cost and could
have environmental impacts of its own.
George C. Loehr (gloehr@eLucem.com), the former executive
director of a Regional Reliability Council, works as a consultant
and expert witness, serves on several industry boards, teaches,
writes and lectures on power system planning and reliability.
Game Changers Webinar Lineup
Feb. 24 Phasor Measurement Units
March 23 Large Battery Storage
April 20 Smart Metering/AMI
May 25 Distribution Optimization
(Volt/VAR Control)
June 23 Asset Optimization
(Monitoring and Diagnostics)
July 27 Workforce and Engineering
Design Optimization (GIS)
Aug. 24 Smart Grid Telecom
Sept. 21 Software Giants and the
Home Area Network
Oct. 19 Distributed Energy Resources
Nov. 16-17 Symposium in Atlanta
TECHNOLOGIES, STRATEGIES AND BIG IDEAS THAT ARE RESHAPING OUR WORLD
E n g i n e e r i n g , A r c h i t e c t u r e , C o n s t r u c t i o n , E n v i r o n m e n t a l a n d C o n s u l t i n g S o l u t i o n s
GAME CHANGERS
Burns & McDonnell and GE, in partnership with Transmission & Distribution
World, are hosting a series of webinars in 2011 exploring innovative
technologies and ideas that will truly change how power is delivered and
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Join Burns & McDonnell, GE and their clients on June 23 for an online
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