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DepartmentofEnergy|December2012

TableofContents
ExecutiveSummary.................................................................................................................ii
1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................1
1.1 1.2 1.3 PurposeandScope....................................................................................................... 1
BackgroundonElectricDistributionReliability............................................................2
OrganizationofthisReport.......................................................................................... 3

4
2. OverviewofSystems,Devices,andExpectedBenefits...................................................... 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4
CommunicationsNetworks.......................................................................................... 4
InformationandControlSystems................................................................................. 5

FieldDevices................................................................................................................. 8

ExpectedBenefits....................................................................................................... 11

3. SGIGDistributionReliabilityProjectsandDeploymentProgress....................................14
3.1 3.2
DeploymentProgress................................................................................................. 16

ProjectExamples........................................................................................................ 17

4. AnalysisofInitialResults................................................................................................20

4.1 4.2 4.3

AggregatedResults..................................................................................................... 20

21
FeederGroupSpecificResults....................................................................................
SummaryofObservations.......................................................................................... 23

5. NextSteps......................................................................................................................25

A1
AppendixA.ReliabilityIndices..................................................................................................... B1
AppendixB.IEEEReliabilityBenchmarkData.............................................................................. C1 AppendixC.SupplementaryAnalysisResults..............................................................................
1
AppendixD.SGIGElectricDistributionReliabilityProjects.........................................................D AppendixE.OverviewofFeederSwitchingOperations..............................................................E1

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ExecutiveSummary
TheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy(DOE),OfficeofElectricityDeliveryandEnergyReliability(OE),is implementingtheSmartGridInvestmentGrant(SGIG)programundertheAmericanRecovery andReinvestmentActof2009.TheSGIGprograminvolves99projectsthataredeployingsmart gridtechnologies,tools,andtechniquesforelectrictransmission,distribution,advanced metering,andcustomersystems.1 Ofthe99SGIGprojects,48areseekingtoimproveelectricdistributionsystemreliability.In general,theseprojectsseektoachieveoneormoreofthefollowingdistributionreliability objectives:(1)reducingthefrequencyofbothmomentaryandsustainedoutages,(2)reducing thedurationofoutages,and(3)reducingtheoperationsandmaintenancecostsassociated withoutagemanagement. Achievingthesedemandsideobjectivesresultinthefollowingbenefits: Higherlevelsofproductivityandfinancialperformanceforbusinessesandgreater convenience,savingsfromlessfoodspoilage,andavoidanceofmedicalandsafety problemsforconsumers Enhancedsystemflexibilitytomeetresiliencyneedsandaccommodateallgeneration anddemandsideresources Lowercostsofelectricityandmoreopportunitiestokeepratesaffordable

Thisreportpresentsinformationabouttheseprojectsonthetypesofdevicesandsystems beingdeployed,deploymentprogressasofJune30,2012,expectedbenefits,andinitialresults. Thereportdiscussesthenewcapabilitiesbeingimplementedincludingenhancedoutage detection,automatedfeederswitching,andremotediagnosisandnotificationofthecondition ofdistributionequipment.Ofthe48SGIGelectricdistributionreliabilityprojects,42are implementingautomatedfeederswitchingmakingitthemostprevalentapproachintheSGIG programforachievingdistributionreliabilityobjectives.

AnalysisofInitialResults
Mostofthedistributionreliabilityprojectsareintheearlystagesofimplementationandhave notfinisheddeploying,testing,andintegratingfielddevicesandsystems.However,four

Forfurtherinformation,seetheSmartGridInvestmentGrantProgramProgressReport,July2012,whichcanbe foundatwww.smartgrid.gov.

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projectsreportedinitialresultstoDOEOEbasedonoperationalexperiencesthroughMarch31, 2012.Theyarecalledinitialresultsbecausethefourprojectsarestilloptimizingtheirsystems andtheyrepresentonlyabout10%ofthe42SGIGdistributionreliabilityprojectsthatare deployingautomatedfeederswitching.Additionaldatareceivedoverthenexttwoyearswill beneededtoobtainabetterunderstandingoftheimpacts. TableES1providesasummaryoftheinitialresultsfromthefourprojects,andcoversatotalof 1,250distributionfeeders.Thetableshowsthechangesinthemajorreliabilityindicesdue primarilytoautomatedfeederswitchingandisbasedonarangeofresultsthatweremeasured duringsummerandwinterperiodsfromApril1,2011toMarch31,2012.2 Thereliabilityindicesshowninthetablearetheonescommonlyusedbytheelectricpower industrytoestimatechangesinreliability.3Thechangeswerecalculatedfrombaselinesthatthe projectsestimatedusingatleastthreeyearsofhistoricaldata.Negativechangesindicatethe reliabilityindicesareimprovingwhilepositivechangesindicatethereliabilityindicesaregetting worse.Theresultsshowarangeofobservedreliabilitychangesfromautomatedfeeder switching,withSAIFIandMAIFIshowingimprovementsinallcases,andSAIDIandCAIDIshowing mixedresults.
Reliability Indices SAIFI MAIFI SAIDI CAIDI Description SystemAverageInterruptionFrequencyIndex(outages) MomentaryAverageInterruptionFrequencyIndex(interruptions) SystemAverageInterruptionDurationIndex(minutes) CustomerAverageInterruptionDurationIndex(minutes) RangeofPercent Changes 11%to49% 13%to35% +4%to56% +29%to15%

TableES1.ChangesinReliabilityIndicesfromAutomatedFeederSwitching

Observations
Additionalinformationwillbecollectedandanalyzedacrossmoreprojects,feeders,andtime periodstodevelopamorecomprehensiveunderstandingofthechangesinreliability. Observationsfromtheinitialresultsinclude:

ProjectsusedtheIEEEGuideforElectricPowerDistributionReliabilityIndicesStandard1366TM2003and excludedmajorevents. AppendixAprovidesdefinitionsandtheformulaforcalculatingthereliabilityindicesandAppendixBprovides benchmarkinformationfortheseindices.

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Projectswithautomatedfeederswitchingwereabletoreducethefrequencyof outages,thenumberofcustomersaffectedbybothsustainedoutagesandmomentary interruptions,andthetotalamountoftimethatcustomerswerewithoutpower(as measuredbycustomerminutesinterrupted).Ingeneral,thesechangeswereinlinewith theexpectationsoftheprojects. Projectsaregenerallyapplyingautomatedfeederswitchingtotheirworstperforming feeders.Theresultsshowthatthegreatestpercentageimprovementsinreliabilityfrom automatedfeederswitchingoccurwhenappliedontheworstperformingfeeders. Inmostcases,theprojectswerenotyetusingthefullsetofautomatedcapabilities.For example,manyprojectsalsoplantousedistributionmanagementsystemsfor accomplishingautomatedfeederswitching,andnoneofthefourreportingprojectshad thisfeaturefullyoperationalyet.Thisunderscorestheneedforfurtherdataand analysisasmanyoftheprojectsplantousethisfeatureinthefuture. Severaloftheprojectshadmorepriorexperiencewithautomatedfeederswitchingthan others.Theprojectsreportasubstantiallearningcurveforgridoperators,equipment installers,andfieldcrewsinfiguringoutthefullsetofcapabilitiesandhowtousethem totheirbestadvantage.Theprojectswithmoreexperiencereportedhavingmore confidenceinthegridimpactsandreliabilityimprovementstheyobserved. Projectspursuedbothcentralizedanddistributedformsofcontrolsystemsfor automatedfeederswitching,dependingontheircircumstancesandobjectives.The relativemeritsofthesetwoapproaches,andthecircumstanceswhentheybestapply, areimportantconsiderations. TheinitialresultsraisequestionsabouttheusefulnessofCAIDIasanindexfor measuringtheeffectsofautomatedfeederswitchingonthedurationofcustomer interruptions.Thisisbecauseautomatedfeederswitchinggenerallyreducesthenumber ofcustomersexperiencingsustainedoutages(reducingthedenominatoroftheindex), relativetothedurationofthesustainedoutages(expressedinthenumerator.)

NextSteps
Asdiscussed,thefocusofthisreportisontheimpactsofautomatedfeederswitching.Future reportswillanalyzeautomatedfeederswitchingingreaterdetailandwithmoredata.In addition,theimpactsofotherdistributionreliabilitycapabilitieswillalsobeanalyzedincluding faultandoutagedetectionandnotification,andequipmenthealthmonitoring.Improvements inoperationsandmaintenancecostsfromdistributionreliabilityupgradeswillalsobeassessed. DOEOEwillcontinuetoworkwiththeprojectsandotherindustrystakeholderstoassessthese smartgridapplicationsandtheireffectsonthereliabilityindices.

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Whileallofthe48SGIGdistributionreliabilityprojectswillultimatelyhaveimportant informationandfindingstoshare,DOEOEwillfocusitsanalysisontheonesthataremostable toprovidequantitativedataandresults.Inthenextyear,manymoreoftheprojectswillbe measuringchangesindistributionreliability,includingthefourincludedinthisreport.DOEOE planstoconductfollowupanalysispresentingadditionalresultsfromSGIGdistribution reliabilityprojectsinthefuture.Inthemeantime,updatesondeploymentprogressandcase studieshighlightingprojectexamplesarepostedregularlyonwww.smartgrid.gov.

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1.

Introduction

TheU.S.DepartmentofEnergy(DOE),OfficeofElectricityDeliveryandEnergyReliability(OE),is implementingtheSmartGridInvestmentGrant(SGIG)programundertheAmericanRecovery andReinvestmentActof2009.TheSGIGprograminvolves99projectsthataredeployingsmart gridtechnologies,tools,andtechniquesforelectrictransmission,distribution,advanced metering,andcustomersystems.DOEOErecentlypublishedtheSmartGridInvestmentGrant ProgramProgressReport(July2012)toprovideinformationaboutthedeploymentstatusof SGIGtechnologiesandsystems,examplesofsomeofthekeylessonslearned,andinitial accomplishments.4 DOEOEisanalyzingtheimpacts,costs,andbenefitsoftheSGIGprojectsandispresentingthe resultsthroughaseriesofimpactanalysisreports.Thesereportscoveravarietyoftopics, including: Peakdemandandelectricityconsumptionreductionsfromadvancedmetering infrastructure,customersystems,andtimebasedrateprograms Operationalimprovementsfromadvancedmeteringinfrastructure Reliabilityimprovementsfromautomatingdistributionsystems Efficiencyimprovementsfromadvancedvolt/voltamperereactive(VAR)controlsin distributionsystems Efficiencyandreliabilityimprovementsfromapplicationsofsynchrophasortechnologies inelectrictransmissionsystems

1.1

PurposeandScope

Thisimpactanalysisreportpresentsinformationonthe48SGIGprojectsseekingtoimprove electricdistributionsystemreliability,specificallythetypesofdevicesbeingdeployed,systems beingimplemented,deploymentprogress,expectedbenefits,andinitialresults.Ingeneral,the SGIGelectricreliabilityprojectsseektoachieveoneormoreofthefollowingdistribution reliabilityobjectives:(1)reducingthefrequencyandcustomersaffectedbybothmomentary andsustainedoutages,(2)reducingthedurationofoutages,and(3)reducingtheoperations andmaintenancecostsassociatedwithoutagemanagement.Inachievingtheseobjectives,the projectsareapplyingavarietyofnewcapabilitiesincludingenhancedfaultandoutage detectionandnotification,automatedfeederswitching,andremotediagnosisandnotification oftheconditionofdistributionequipment.
4

DOEOE,SmartGridInvestmentGrantProgramProgressReport,July2012,www.smartgrid.gov.

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Mostofthe48SGIGdistributionreliabilityprojectsareinearlystagesofimplementationand havenotfinisheddeploying,testing,andintegratingthesmartgriddevicesandsystems.The datainthisreportrepresentthefirsttimetheprojectshavereportedimpacts.Fourofthe projects,representing1,250feeders,havereportedtoDOEOEaboutinitialresultsbasedon operationalexperiencesthroughMarch31,2012.Thefourprojectsupgraded870,185,120, and75feeders,respectively.Theinitialresultspresentedinthisreportincludefeedersthat haveautomatedfeederswitchinginstalledandoperational,buttheequipmenthasnotyet beenfullyintegratedwithdistributionmanagementsystems. GridimpactinformationisreportedtoDOEOEbytheprojectsasaveragesoversixmonth periodsandiscomparedwithpreestablishedbaselines.Baselineswerecalculatedbyeach projectusingthreeormoreyearsofhistoricaldataandcoveringtimeperiodsbefore distributionautomationdevicesandsystemswereimplemented.

1.2

BackgroundonElectricDistributionReliability

Thereliabilityofelectricdistributionsystemsiscriticallyimportantforbothutilitiesand customers.Electricreliabilityaffectspublichealthandsafety,economicgrowthand development,andsocietalwellbeing.Manyutilitiesestimatethevalueofelectricservicesto consumerstoassessthebenefitsofinvestmentstoimprovereliability.5 Mostpoweroutagesarecausedbyweatherrelateddamagetooverheadpowerlines.High winds,ice,andsnowcancausetreestotouchpowerlines,andsometimescancauselinesand polestobreak.Animalcontact,vehicleaccidents,equipmentfailure,andhumanerroralso contributetopoweroutages. Poweroutagesinelectricdistributionsystemsaredocumentedandclassifiedbythenumberof customersaffectedandthelengthoftimethatpowerisout.TheInstituteofElectricaland ElectronicEngineers(IEEE)specifiesthreetypesofoutages: MajorEventsarethosethatexceedthereasonabledesignand/oroperationallimitsof theelectricpowersystemandaffectalargepercentageofthecustomersservedbythe utility.6

LawrenceBerkeleyNationalLaboratory,EstimatedValueofServiceReliabilityforElectricUtilityCustomersin theUnitedStatesLBNL2132E,June2009.

TherecentlypublishedIEEEStandard1366TM2012containsthepreferredapproachfordeterminingmajor events.However,thisstandardwasnotavailableatthetimetheanalysispresentedinthisreportwasconducted.

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SustainedInterruptionsincludeoutagesnotclassifiedasmomentaryeventsandthat lastformorethanfiveminutes. MomentaryInterruptionsinvolvethebrieflossofpowertooneormorecustomers causedbyopeningandclosingofinterruptiondevices.

Reliabilityindicesarecommonlyusedtoassessoutagesandevaluatetheperformanceof electricsystems.FortheSGIGprogram,DOEOErequestedthattheprojectsusethedefinitions andcalculationmethodslistedintheIEEEGuideforElectricPowerDistributionReliability IndicesIEEEStandard1366TM2003.7Thesearethestandardindicesusedbytheelectric powerindustryandprovideauniformmethodologyfordatacollectionandanalysis.Major eventdaysareexcludedfromtheindicestobetterrevealtrendsindailyoperations. Theindicesusedfortheanalysisinclude: SystemAverageInterruptionFrequencyIndex(SAIFI) MomentaryAverageInterruptionFrequencyIndex(MAIFI) SystemAverageInterruptionDurationIndex(SAIDI) CustomerAverageInterruptionDurationIndex(CAIDI)

1.3

OrganizationofthisReport

Section2ofthisreportprovidesinformationonthetypesofdevicesandsystemsbeing deployedbytheSGIGelectricdistributionreliabilityprojectsandtheirexpectedbenefits. Section3providesinformationonthestatusofdeploymentincludingdetailsaboutthespecific reliabilityobjectivestheprojectsaretryingtoachieve.Section4providesasummaryofthe DOEOEanalysisofthefourdistributionreliabilityprojectsthatreportedinitialresults.Section5 discussesnextstepsforDOEOEanalysisoftheSGIGelectricdistributionreliabilityprojects. Fourappendicesprovidesupplementaryinformation.AppendixAprovidesinformationonthe definitionsofthereliabilityindices.AppendixBprovidesbenchmarkdataonthereliability indicesfromtheIEEEDistributionReliabilityWorkingGroup.AppendixCprovidesanalysis detailsoftheresultsforthefourprojects.AppendixDprovidesatableofthe48SGIGelectric distributionreliabilityprojects,summariesofdeploymentprogress,andcertainoftheplanned implementationactivities.AppendixEprovidesanoverviewofautomatedfeederswitching operations.

Goingforward,IEEE1366TM2012willbeused.

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2.

OverviewofSystems,Devices,andExpectedBenefits

ThissectionprovidesanoverviewofthedevicesandsystemsthattheSGIGdistribution reliabilityprojectsaredeploying,aswellasthebenefitsthesedevicesandsystemsareexpected toprovide,including: Communicationnetworks, Informationandcontrolsystems, Fielddevices,and Expectedbenefits.

Toimplementautomateddistributioncapabilitiesproperly,itisnecessarytointegrate communicationsnetworks,controlsystems,andfielddevices.Inaddition,testingand evaluationisrequiredtodeterminewhethertheequipmentisperformingasdesigned.Training ofgridoperatorsandfieldcrewsisalsorequiredtoensuresafeandefficientuseofthe technologies. Forexample,smartrelays,automatedfeederswitches,anddistributionmanagementsystems canbecoordinatedtoimplementfaultlocation,isolation,andservicerestoration(FLISR) operations.Itisthusimportanttounderstandhowthedevicesandsystemsworktogether,in additiontounderstandhowtheyworkontheirown,asutilitiestypicallypursueapproaches thatinvolvevaryingdegreesofcoordination.

2.1

CommunicationsNetworks

Communicationsnetworksfordistributionsystemsmakeitpossibletoacquiredatafrom sensors,processthedata,andsendcontrolsignalstooperateequipment.Theapplicationof communicationsnetworksforthesepurposesenhancesthecapabilitiesofgridoperatorsto managepowerflowsandaddressreliabilityissues. Mostutilitiesusemultilayeredsystemstocommunicatebetweeninformationandcontrol systemsandfielddevices.Inmanycases,twolayercommunicationsnetworksareused. Typically,thefirstlayerofthenetworkconnectssubstationsanddistributionmanagement systemsatheadquarterlocationsandconsistsofhighspeed,fiberopticormicrowave communicationssystems.Someutilitiesuseexistingsupervisorycontrolanddataacquisition (SCADA)communicationssystemsforthislayer.Thesecondlayerofthenetworktypically connectssubstationswithfielddevicesanduseswirelessnetworksorpowerlinecarrier communications.

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2.2

InformationandControlSystems

EquipmentAutomationApproaches Automatedfeederswitchingisaccomplishedthroughautomaticisolationandreconfiguration ofsegmentsofdistributionfeedersusingsensors,controls,switches,andcommunications systems.Automatedfeederswitchescanopenorcloseinresponsetoafaultconditionidentified locallyortoacontrolsignalsentfromanotherlocation.Whencombinedwithcommunications andcontrols,theoperationofmultipleswitchescanbecoordinatedtoclearfaultedportionsof feedersandreroutepowertoandfromportionsthathavenotexperiencedfaults.These coordinatedactionsarecalledfaultlocation,isolation,andservicerestoration. FLISRactionscanreducethenumberofcustomerswhoexperiencesustainedoutagesandthe averagedurationofoutages.TheperformanceofFLISRsystemsdependsonseveralfactors, including(1)thetopologyofthefeeders(i.e.,radial,looped,andnetworked),(2)loading conditions,(3)thenumberoffeedersegmentsaffected,and(4)thecontrolapproaches implemented.AppendixEprovidesexamplesoffeederswitchingoperations. Ingeneral,therearetwomaintypesofautomationapproaches:centralizedanddecentralized. CentralizedswitchinginvolvesdistributionmanagementsystemsorSCADAtocoordinate automatedequipmentoperationsamongmultiplefeeders.Decentralizedswitching(also sometimescalleddistributedorautonomousswitching)useslocalcontrolpackagestooperate automatedequipmentonspecificfeedersaccordingtopreestablishedswitchinglogics.Many projectsareusingacombinationofcentralizedanddecentralizedapproaches. TheamountoftimeittakestoaccomplishFLISRactionsdependsonthesequenceofevents, fielddevices,andtheextentoflatencyinthecommunicationssystems.Centralizedsystems takemorefactorsintoaccountwhendeterminingswitchingstrategiesandtakelongerto performFLISR,buttheyincludemoreswitchingoptionsifthereareloadingissuesorother complications.Decentralizedsystemstypicallyswitchbetweenafewpredeterminedfeeders andareabletoperformFLISRmorequickly. Thedifferentfeederswitchingdevices,systems,andapproachesdependontheprojects objectives,legacyequipmentandsystems,longtermgridmodernizationgoals,andinvestment timetables.Projectsthatseektoaddressasmallgroupoffeedersthatarehighlyvulnerableto outagesmayfavoradistributedapproach,whileprojectsthatseektoimprovereliabilityfor largeportionsoftheirserviceterritoriesmaychooseacentralizedapproach.Otheraspectsof distributionsystemmodernization,suchasvoltagecontrols,reactivepowermanagement,and assetmanagementalsoaffectinvestmentdecisionsinfeederswitchingapproaches.

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AutomatedControlPackages Someutilitiesareretrofittingexistingdistributionswitcheswithautomatedcontrolpackages,or installingnewswitchesequippedwiththesecontrols.Thecontrolpackagesincludecomputers, userinterfaces,andcommunicationssystemsthatenableequipmenttobeprogrammedand controlledremotely.TwoexamplesareshowninFigure1.

Figure1.ExamplesofAutomatedControlPackages Thesedevicesusevoltageandcurrentsensorstodetectfaults.Thecontrollersopenandclose theswitchesindependently,orincombinationwithotherswitches,dependingonthe programmedlogicandsystemconditions.Thiscapabilityisessentialtobalancingfeederloads duringFLISRoperationswithoutdamagingequipment. Controlpackagescanalsobeoperatedremotelybyoperatorsordistributionmanagement systems.Dependingonthespecificneeds,controlpackagescanhavemorecomplexalgorithms thatcanrespondtochangingsystemconditionsoroperationalobjectives.Forexample,with severestormsapproaching,switchescanbeprogrammednottoreclosebasedonthe expectationthatmostfaultscouldnotbeclearedwithreclosing.Thiscapabilitycanavoid problemsthatarisefromunnecessaryreclosingandfromfaultcurrentsonportionsofthe systemthatwouldultimatelygooutofservicebecauseofstormdamage. DistributionManagementSystems Distributionmanagementsystems(DMS)integratedifferentsourcesofdatafromsensors, monitors,andotherfielddevicestoassessconditionsandcontrolthegrid.Theyactas visualizationanddecisionsupportsystemstoassistgridoperatorswithmonitoringand controllingdistributionsystems,components,andpowerflows.DMSaretypicallyusedto monitorthesystemforfeederandequipmentconditionsthatmaycontributetofaultsand

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outages,identifyfaults,anddetermineoptimalswitchingschemestorestorepowertothe greatestamountofloadornumberofcustomers. ADMScontinuouslyupdatesdynamicmodelsofthedistributionsysteminnearrealtimeso gridoperatorscanbetterunderstanddistributionsystemconditionsatalltimes.Changesin systemloads,outages,andmaintenanceissuesarepresentedtooperatorsthroughdashboards andvisualizationtools.DMScanalsobeusedassimulatorsfortraininggridoperatorsandas toolstoanalyzerestorationresponsestovarioustypesofoutagescenarios.DMScanalsobe usedtoautomateorsupportvoltageandvoltamperereactive(VAR)controls,aswellasother activitiesthatincreasetheefficiencyofdistributionoperationsandmaintenance. OutageManagementSystems Outagemanagementsystems(OMS),asshowninFigure2,areinformationmanagementand visualizationtoolsthatanalyzeoutagereportstodeterminethescopeofoutagesandthelikely locationofproblems.AnOMScompilesinformationonthetimesandlocationsofcustomer calls,smartmeteroutagenotifications,andfaultdatafromsubstationsandmonitoringdevices onfeederlines.Typically,OMSincorporategeographicinformationsystemsthatarelinkedto computersusedbyrepaircrewssotheycangettopreciseoutagelocationsmorequicklyand oftenwithabetterideaoftheproblemtheywillneedtosolve.Inthepast,mostOMSoperated withinformationlimitedtocustomercallsandgeneralinformationaboutsubstationoutages andbreakerpositions.Byfilteringandanalyzingoutageinformationfrommultiplesources, modernOMScanprovidegridoperatorsandrepaircrewswithmorespecificandactionable informationtomanageoutagesandrestorationsmorepreciselyandcosteffectively,resulting inimprovedoperations.

Figure2.ExampleofaVisualDisplayfromanOutageManagementSystem

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UtilitiesalsouseOMStocommunicateoutageinformationtocustomers,includingthelikely causesandestimatedrestorationtimes.AnOMSmaybeintegratedwithDMStoprovide additionalinputsforvisualizationanddecisionsupportthatcanbebeneficial,particularlywhen addressinglargeoutagesandmajorevents.

2.3

FieldDevices

Fielddevicescompriseasuiteoftechnologiesthatareinstalledalongfeederlinesandin substationsandareusedtomanagepowerflowsonthegrid.Fielddeviceoperationscanbe coordinatedwithinformationandcontrolsystemstoachieveelectricdistributionreliability objectives. FaultDetectionandAutomatedFeederSwitches SmartrelaysandfaultanalysisapplicationsincorporatedwithDMSprovidegreateraccuracyin locatingandidentifyingfaultsandtheircauses.Remotefaultindicatorsnotifygridoperators andfieldcrewswhenfaultsoccurandvoltageandcurrentlevelsareoutsidenormaloperating boundaries.Smartrelayscollectelectricalinformationaboutfaultsandusemoresophisticated algorithmstohelpgridoperatorswithdiagnosticanalysisofthelocationsandcausesoffaults. Thesedevicesandsystemstypicallyusehigherresolutionsensorsthatarebetterabletodetect faultsignaturesandidentifyandaddressmomentaryinterruptions.Throughanalysisoffault detectiondata,utilitiescanimplementcorrectiveactions(e.g.,automatedfeederswitchingor vegetationmanagement)andreducethelikelihoodofsustainedoutages.Recentadvancesin sensorandrelaytechnologieshavealsoimprovedthedetectionofhighimpedancefaults. Thesefaultsoccurwhenenergizedpowerlinescomeincontactwithforeignobjects(e.g.,tree limbs),butthecontactproducesalowfaultcurrent.Currentsfromthesetypesoffaultsare difficulttodetectwithconventionalrelays. Faultindicators,suchastheexamplesshowninFigure3,aresensorsthatdetectelectric signaturesassociatedwithfaults,suchashighcurrentsorlow/novoltages.Faultindicatorscan havevisualdisplaysinstalledwiththemtoassistfieldcrewsandcommunicationsnetworksthat areintegratedwithSCADAorDMS.Bymonitoringfaultsandtheirprecursors,utilitiescan identifyproblemswithequipmentortreecontactswithpowerlines,andinitiatecorrective actionstopreventsustainedoutages. Automatedfeederswitchesopenandcloseinresponsetocontrolcommandsfrom autonomouscontrolpackages,DMS,orgridoperatorcommands.Switchescanbeconfiguredto isolatefaultsandreconfigurefaultedsegmentsofthedistributionfeedertorestorepower. Switchesarealsoconfiguredtoopenandcloseatpredeterminedsequencesandintervalswhen

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Figure3.ExampleRemoteFaultIndicator faultcurrentisdetected.Thisaction,knownasreclosing,isusedtointerruptpowerflowtoa feederthathasbeencontactedbyanobstructionandreenergizeaftertheobstructionhas cleareditselffromtheline.Reclosingreducesthelikelihoodofsustainedoutageswhentrees andotherobjectstemporarilycontactpowerlinesduringstormsandhighwinds. EquipmentHealthSensorsandLoadMonitors Equipmenthealthsensorsmonitorconditionsandmeasureparameters,suchaspower transformerinsulationoiltemperatures,thatcanrevealpossibilitiesforprematurefailures. Thesedevicescanbeconfiguredtomeasuredifferentparametersonmanytypesofdevices. Typically,thesedevicesareappliedonsubstationandotherequipmentwhosefailurewould resultinsignificantconsequencesforutilitiesandcustomers. Whencoupledwithdataanalysistools,equipmenthealthsensorscanprovidegridoperators andmaintenancecrewswithalertsandactionableinformation.Actionsmayincludetaking equipmentoffline,transferringloadorrepairingequipment.Figure4providesanoverviewof anequipmenthealthsensornetworkformonitoringsubstationpowertransformers.
DistributionManagement Distribution Management System
Equipment Health Sensors Power Transformer

Data Retrieval For Analysis Equipment Health Info Retrieval of Monitored Parameters

Figure4.IllustrationofanEquipmentHealthSensorNetworkforPowerTransformers

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Figure5isanexampleofafeedermonitorthatcanmeasureloadondistributionlinesand equipmentinnearrealtime.Whendataiscommunicatedtogridoperators,these measurementscanbeusedtotriggeralarmswhenloadsreachpotentiallydamaginglevels. Loadmonitorsneedtobeintegratedwithcommunicationsnetworksandanalysistoolssothat gridoperatorscaneffectivelyassessloadingtrendsandtakecorrectiveswitchingactions,when necessary.Thesefielddevicesareusedincoordinationwithinformationandcontrolsystemsto preventoutagesfromoccurringduetoequipmentfailureoroverloadconditions.

Figure5.ExampleFeederMonitor OutageDetectionDevicesandSmartMeters Untilrecently,mostutilitiesonlyrealizedthatcustomershadlostpowerwhenthecustomers calledtoreporttheoutage.Notallcustomersreportoutages;thosewhodomaydosoat differenttimesandfewcustomersreportwhenthepowerhascomebackon.Thusutilities havehadincompleteinformationaboutoutagelocations,resultingindelayedandinefficient responses.Newdevicesandsystemsmakeitpossibleforutilitiestoknowwhencustomerslose powerandtopinpointoutagelocationsmoreprecisely.Thiscapabilityimprovesrestoration timesandshortensoutagedurations. Smartmetersareequippedwithoutagenotificationcapabilitiesthatallowthedevicesto transmitalastgaspalertwhenpowertothemeterislost.Thealertincludesthemeter number,whichindicatesitslocation,andatimestamp.Advancedmeteringinfrastructure(AMI) headendsystems(HES)processthesealertsandcannotifygridoperatorsandrepaircrews whichmeterslostpowerandtheirlocations.TheHESisnormallyintegratedwithanOMSto processoutagedatafrommultiplesourcesandhelpoperatorstoassessthescopeofoutages anddeterminetheirlikelycauses. Smartmeterscanalsotransmitpoweronnotificationstooperatorswhenpowerisrestored. Thisinformationcanbeusedtomoreeffectivelymanageservicerestorationeffortsandhelp
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ensurethatnootheroutageshaveoccurredbeforerepaircrewsaredemobilized.Someutilities useanAMIfeaturethatallowsthemtopingmetersinaffectedareastoassessoutage boundariesandverifywhetherpowerhasbeenrestoredtospecificcustomers.These capabilitiesenablefieldcrewstobedeployedmoreefficiently,thussavingtimeandmoney.

2.4

ExpectedBenefits

Therearetwomaintypesofbenefitsfromdeployingsmartgriddevicesandsystemstoaddress distributionreliabilitychallenges:reliabilityimprovementsandoperationalsavings. ImprovedReliability Bothsustainedoutagesandmomentaryinterruptionshavethepotentialtonegativelyaffect publichealthandsafety,economicactivity,andsocietalwellbeing.Fewerinterruptionsfor commercialandindustrialcustomersoftenmeanhigherlevelsofoutputandproductivityand lowerlevelsofscrapandspoilage.Thisaffectstheirfinancialperformanceandabilityto compete.Thebenefitsoffeweroutagesforresidentialcustomersrangefromgreater convenience,tosavingsfromlessfoodspoilage,toavoidanceofmedicalandsafetyproblems. Reducingthefrequencyofoutages,asmeasuredbySAIFIandMAIFI,isgenerallyrelatedtoa combinationoffactorsincludingundergrounding,stormhardening,infrastructure improvements,andtheuseofautomateddistributionsystems.Forexample,diagnosisand notificationofequipmentconditionscanpreventequipmentfailureswhileFLISRactions primarilyinvolvereductionsinthenumberofcustomersaffectedbysustainedoutages.This happenswhenautomatedfeederswitchingisinstalledonafeederandthecircuitisdivided intosections,whichcanreducethecustomersaffectedduringanoutagebyreroutingpower andprotectingnonaffectedsectionsandthecustomerstheyserve. Reducingoutageduration,asmeasuredbySAIDI,isgenerallyrelatedtotheimplementationof distributionautomationandmoreefficientoperatingandrestorationpractices.Isolating, reclosing,orFLISRactionscanreduceoutagedurationforcustomersonsectionsoffeedersthat areisolatedfromdamages.Outagedurationsarereducedprimarilyfortworeasons:automated switchingeliminatesthetimerequiredtodispatchfieldcrewstomanuallyactuateswitches, andautomatedisolationoftheportionsofthefeederthatarenotdamagedreducethenumber ofcustomersaffectedbysustainedoutages.Inaddition,thedurationofoutagescanalsobe reducedbyimprovingmethodsforlocatingandaddressingfaults. Reducingthedurationofoutages,asmeasuredbyCAIDI,isgenerallyrelatedtothe implementationofoutagedetectiontechnologiesandmoreefficientrestorationpracticesfor thosecustomersexperiencingsustainedoutages.Remotefaultindicatorsandsmartmeterscan

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beusedtoimproverestorationtimes.Improvedoutagedetectioncapabilitiesreducethetime toidentifyandlocateoutages.Theyalsoreducethenumberofcustomerswhoexperiencea nestedoutageforprolongedperiodsafterothercustomershavehadpowerrestored. Table1providesasummaryofthevarioussmartgridapplicationsforelectricdistribution reliabilityandtheirexpectedimpactsonthefrequencyanddurationofoutages. OperationalSavings Utilitiesspendsignificantresourceslocatingandrespondingtooutages.TheuseofAMIand smartmeters,faultdetectiontechnologies,andautomatedcontrolscanhelpimprovethe allocationoffieldresourcestorestorepower.Costreductionsarederivedfromfewertruck rollsandlaborresourcestolocateandtroubleshootoutages.Costlyreworkcanbeavoidedby

SmartGridApplications Faultdetectionandautomatedfeederswitching Diagnosticandequipmenthealthsensors Outagedetectionandnotificationsystems

PrimaryImpactsonOutages Reductionsinthefrequencyanddurationof outagesandthenumberofaffectedcustomers Reductionsinthefrequencyofoutagesandthe numberofaffectedcustomers Reductionsinthedurationofoutages

Table1.ApplicationsandImpactsonOutages usingsmartmeterrestorationnotificationstoensureallcustomershavepowerrestoredbefore demobilizingfieldcrews.Itisexpectedthatthelevelofsavingsfromtheseactionswillcorrelate withthesizeoftheoutage.Thegreatestsavingswilloccurduringrestorationfollowingmajor eventsthatrequiremanyfieldcrewsandlongworkperiods,oftenunderextremeconditions. Utilitiesfrequentlyoperateswitchestosupportloadbalancingandtodeenergizefeeder segmentsformaintenance.Beforeautomation,manyoftheseactivitiesrequiredcrewsto traveltomultiplesitesandperformswitchingoperationsmanuallybeforemaintenance operationsbegan.Whenthemaintenanceworkwascompleted,manualswitchingwasagain requiredtoputfeedersbackintotheiroriginalserviceconfigurations.Automatedfeeder switchingcanproduceoperationalsavingsbyeliminatingmanualswitchingandimprovingthe productivityoffieldcrews. Traditionally,distributionequipmentismaintainedmostlybyvisualinspection,onsitetesting, andrepairsaremadebyfieldcrews.Maintenancemayalsoincludereplacementofpartsor entiredevices.Utilitiesnormallymaintainequipmentonpredeterminedschedulesbasedon manufacturerguidelines.Utilitiesarenowbeginningtouseequipmenthealthsensorsandasset
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managementsystemstooptimizemaintenanceschedulesandlowercosts.Referredtoas conditionbasedmaintenance,theseprocessesemployequipmenthealthsensors, communicationsnetworks,andadvancedalgorithmstodetermine(1)theconditionofkey assets,(2)operatingtrendsandthelikelihoodoffailure,and(3)whentonotifyoperatorsand fieldcrewsthatmaintenanceisrequired.Conditionbasedmaintenanceisintendedtodeploy resourcesmoreefficientlywhilemaintainingacceptablereliabilityperformancelevels.

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3. SGIGDistributionReliabilityProjectsandDeployment Progress
The48SGIGprojectsdeployingvariouselectricdistributiontechnologies,tools,andtechniques toimprovereliabilityarelistedinTable2.AppendixDprovidesfurtherinformationonthese projectsandthedevicesandsystemstheyhavedeployedasofJune30,2012. Oncetheseprojectsfinishinstallingequipmentandbeginoperations,theyareexpectedtohave enhancedcapabilitiesforimprovingelectricdistributionreliability.However,mostofthe projectshavenotfinishedinstallingequipment,andmanyarecurrentlyfocusedontestingand preparingtobeginoperationsinthenearfuture.

ElectricCooperatives
DentonCountyElectric Cooperative,Texas NorthernVirginiaElectric Cooperative,Virginia GoldenSpreadElectric Cooperative,Inc.,Texas PowderRiverEnergy Corporation,Wyoming RappahannockElectric Cooperative,Virginia SouthMississippiElectric PowerAssociation, Mississippi SouthwestTransmission Cooperative,Inc.,Arizona TalquinElectricCooperative, Inc.,Florida VermontTransco,LLC, Vermont

PublicPowerUtilities
BurbankWaterandPower, California CentralLincolnPeoples UtilityDistrict,Oregon CityofAnaheimPublic UtilitiesDepartment, California CityofAuburn,Indiana CityofFortCollinsUtilities, Colorado CityofGlendale,California CityofLeesburg,Florida CityofNaperville,Illinois CityofRuston,Louisiana CityofTallahassee,Florida CityofWadsworth,Ohio CumingCountyPublicPower District,Nebraska EPB,Tennessee GuamPowerAuthority, Guam KnoxvilleUtilitiesBoard, Tennessee PublicUtilityDistrictNo.1of SnohomishCounty, Washington SacramentoMunicipalUtility District,California TownofDanvers, Massachusetts

InvestorOwnedUtilities
AvistaUtilities,Washington CenterPointEnergy,Texas ConsolidatedEdisonCompanyof NewYork,Inc.,NewYork DetroitEdisonCompany,Michigan DukeEnergy,Indiana,NorthCarolina, Ohio,SouthCarolina ElPasoElectric,Texas FirstEnergyServiceCompany,NewJersey, Ohio,Pennsylvania FloridaPower&LightCompany,Florida HawaiianElectricCompany,Hawaii IndianapolisPowerandLightCompany, Indiana MinnesotaPower(Allete),Minnesota NSTARElectricCompany,Massachusetts OklahomaGasandElectric,Oklahoma PECO,Pennsylvania PotomacElectricPowerCompany AtlanticCityElectricCompany, NewJersey PotomacElectricPowerCompany DistrictofColumbia PotomacElectricPowerCompany Maryland PPLElectricUtilitiesCorporation, Pennsylvania ProgressEnergyServiceCompany,Florida, NorthCarolina SouthernCompanyServices,Inc., Alabama, Georgia,Louisiana, Mississippi WestarEnergy,Inc.,Kansas

Table2.SGIGProjectsDeployingDistributionReliabilityDevicesandSystems
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Figure6providesasummarythatshowsthenumberofprojectsthataredeployingvarious typesofdevicesandsystemstoimprovedistributionreliability.Asshown,thereisarelatively highlevelofinterestinautomatedfeederswitches.Manyoftheprojectsaredeploying automatedswitchesonasmallnumberoffeederstoevaluateequipmentperformancebefore decidingtoundertakelargescaleinvestmentsindistributionautomationprojects.Severalof theprojectshavealreadygonethroughthisstepandareinstallingautomatedswitchesona largenumberoffeeders.AMIoutagedetectioncapabilitiesandremotefaultindicatorsarealso beingusedinamajorityoftheprojects.

Figure6.NumberofSGIGReliabilityProjectsDeployingCertainDevicesandSystems Figure7providesabreakdownofthe42projectsthataredeployingautomatedfeederswitches toshowtherangeinthenumberoffeedersbeingupgraded.Utilitiestypicallyinstalloneto threeswitchesonadistributionfeederdependingontheconfiguration,length,customers served,andthenumberofdifferentroutes(tiepoints)toalternatepowersources.Asshown, thereareanumberofprojectsdeployingasmallnumberofswitchestotestinteroperability andfunctionalitywithcommunicationnetworksandenterprisesystems.Theseprojectsintend toresolveissuesonspecificfeedersandgenerallyaffectasmallnumberofcustomers.Other projectsareinstallinglargenumbersofswitcheswhichaffectreliabilityforspecificregions,but generallynotforentiresystems.

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Figure7.NumberofProjectsDeployingAutomatedFeederSwitches

3.1

DeploymentProgress

Figure8providesanoverviewoftheprogressofprojectsthataredeployingautomatedfeeder switchesasofJune30,2012.Thechartshowsthatabout32%oftheprojectshavecompleted theinstallationofautomatedfeederswitchesandthatabout30%havenotgottenstartedyet, andtherestaresomewhereinbetween.Intotal,about50%oftheautomatedfeederswitches havebeeninstalledbytheprojects. AppendixDprovidesprojectleveldetailsofthedifferentdevicesandsystemsthatarebeing deployedbythe48projects.Forexample,itlistswhethertheprojectsplantodeploycertain typesofequipment,whetherornottheyplantointegrateapplicationsorsystems,thedevices andsystemsbeingdeployedfordiagnosisandnotificationofequipmentconditionsand detectionofoutages.AppendixDshowsthatthemajorityoftheprojectsaredeployingmultiple typesofdevicesandsystems.

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Figure8.ProgresswithDeployingAutomatedFeederSwitches

3.2

ProjectExamples

Thefollowingexamplesprovidemorespecificinformationtoillustratehowelectricdistribution reliabilityobjectivesarebeingaccomplishedbySGIGprojects.8Theexamplesexplainthe distributionreliabilityobjectivesthattheprojectsarepursuingandhowthedevicesand systemsarebeingappliedtoachievethem. CenterPointEnergyHoustonElectric,LLC(CEHE) CEHEisaregulatedtransmissionanddistributioncompanyservingovertwomillionmetered distributionlevelcustomersina5,000squaremileareaalongtheTexasGulfCoast,including theHoustonmetropolitanarea.CEHEispursuingtwoprimaryreliabilityobjectives:(1)reducing thefrequencyofoutagesduetoequipmentfailuresandotherfactorsand(2)restoringservice morequicklytoreduceoutageduration.Equipmentisbeinginstalledonradialoverhead feederswithadensityofapproximately151customersperdistributionmile.DMSandmulti layercommunicationssystemsconsistingoffiber,Ethernet,microwave,andwirelessmesh networksarebeingintegratedwithAMItoaccomplishtheseobjectives.

DescriptionsoftheseandotherSGIGprojectsareavailableat: http://www.smartgrid.gov/recovery_act/deployment_status/project_specific_deployment

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MonitoringequipmentonsubstationpowertransformerswillbeusedbyCEHEtoprevent equipmentfailurescausedbythermaloverloading.TheDMSwillanalyzeequipmenthealth sensordataandprovideoperatorsandrepaircrewswithinformationtorespondtoabnormal operatingconditions. AdvancedmeteringinfrastructurewillbeusedbyCEHEtotransmitpremiseleveloutageand restorationnotificationstoCEHEsOMSandDMS.Thesedatawillbeusedinconjunctionwith outageinformationfromSCADAandcustomercallstodispatchservicecrewstocomplete repairorders. CEHEisautomatingfeedersbyreplacingelectromechanicalrelaypanelswithmicroprocessors, installingautomatedfeederswitches,andretrofittingexistingswitches.Thesedeviceswillbe integratedwithDMS,whichcompilesinformationfromSCADA,otherdistributionequipment, andsmartmeterstosupportFLISR.Basedonthisinformation,theDMSwillbeabletoremotely assessoperatingconditionsonthedistributionsystem,locatefaults,andreroutepowerfor servicerestoration.CEHEgridoperatorswilloperateswitchesremotelyuntilDMSintegration andautomatedFLISRareoperationalin2014. EPB LocatedinChattanooga,Tennessee,EPBservesapproximately172,000customers,involving approximately309distributionfeedersand117substations.EPBispursuingtwoprimary distributionreliabilityobjectives:(1)reducingoutagefrequencyand(2)restoringservicemore quicklytoreduceoutageduration.EPBisinstallingnewautomatedfeederswitchesonits46 kilovoltand12kilovoltoverheadfeeders.Thesefeedersareacombinationofradialandlooped overheadfeederswithadensityofapproximately48customersperdistributionmile.The projectexpectstorealizetheequipmentsfullpotentialayearafterallequipmentisinstalled andintegrated. EPBhasinstalleddecentralizedautomatedfeederswitchesandcontrolpackageswithfault interruptingandreclosingcapabilitiestoisolatefaultsandreroutepowertotheportionsof feedersthatarenotdamaged.Theimplementationofthisfaultlocating,isolation,andservice restoration(FLISR)capabilitywillbecompletedin2012.Whiletheswitchesoperate autonomously,operationalandoutagedataaresenttotheSCADAsystemandoperatorscan alsocontroltheswitchesremotely.EPBisalsoimplementingDMSthisyear. Theoverallcommunicationsnetworkfordistributionautomationutilizesavirtuallocalarea network(VLAN)onEPBsfiberopticsystem.ThefibernetworkalsoincludesaseparateVLAN thatsupportsAMI.EPBhasinstalledthemajorityofitssmartmetersandhasimplemented outagenotificationcapabilities.EPBisusingAMItoconfirmthatpowerisrestoredtocustomers

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beforedemobilizingrestorationcrews.AMIandanOMSarebeingintegratedattheendofthis year,andtheprojectisusingoutagenotificationdataforbetterdecisionsupportbygrid operatorsandfieldcrews. PhiladelphiaElectricCompany(PECO) HeadquarteredinPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,PECOserves1,600,000customers,involving approximately2,278distributionfeedersand450distributionsubstations.PECOispursuing twoprimaryreliabilityobjectives:(1)reducingoutagefrequencyand(2)restoringservicemore quicklytoreduceoutageduration.Automatedloopschemeequipmentisbeinginstalledmostly onradialoverheadfeederswithacustomerdensityofapproximately73customersper distributionmile.SomeportionsofPECOsundergroundsystemarealsobeingaddressed. ADMSandfiberopticandwirelesscommunicationsnetworksarebeingintegratedwithnew andexistingreclosers.Smartrelaysandloadmonitorsarebeinginstalledatsubstationsto detectdisturbancesandisolatefaults.AMIoutagedetectionisalsobeingintegratedwithOMS tosupportrestorationactivities. Automatedfeederswitchesareoperatinginadecentralizedmannertoaccomplishreclosing, butwillbeintegratedwithaDMStoaccomplishFLISR.Reclosersisolatefaultsandattemptto clearthefaultbyreclosingafterpreconfiguredintervalsandovercurrentsettings.Reclosing actionsareloggedandcommunicatedtotheOMSsoPECOcananalyzetheimpactonoutage durationandthenumberofcustomersaffected.

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4.

AnalysisofInitialResults

ThissectionpresentsanalysisofthefourSGIGprojectsrepresentingfourfeedergroupsthat reportedinitialresultstoDOEOEandincludesresultsthatareaggregatedoverallfourfeeder groupsandalsoanalyzedattheprojectlevel.Observationsbasedontheinitialresultsarealso presented.AppendixCprovidesmoredetailedanalysisofthefourfeedergroups,whichare labeledAthroughDtomasktheidentityoftheprojectsbecausethedataisconsidered confidentialaccordingtothetermsandconditionsofthegrants. Theanalysisresultsincludechangesinthereliabilityindicesthatwerecalculatedbasedon differencesbetweenbaselineforecastsandmeasuredconditionsfromApril1,2011toMarch 31,2012.Thebaselinesweredevelopedbytheprojectsusinghistoricalreliabilitydataforthe feederswhereequipmentwasinstalledandoperational.TheprojectsusedIEEEstandardsfor calculatingbaselinesandexcludeddatafromtimeperiodsthatwereconsideredtobeoutside ofhistoricalaverages.Theinitialanalysisfocusesontheimpactsfromautomatedfeeder switchingandenhancedfaultdetectioncapabilitiesasthiswastheequipmentthatwas installedandoperational.Futureanalysiswilladdressothersmartgridcapabilitiesfor distributionreliability.

4.1

AggregatedResults

Gridoperatorsusedbothdecentralizedandcentralizeddistributionautomationapproachesto isolatefaultsandrestorepowertofeedersegmentsthatwerenotdamaged.Someprojects usedbothapproacheswithintheirsystembasedonthefeederdesigns,customerdensities,and outagehistories.Smartmeternotificationswereusedbyoneprojecttoconfirmpower restorationsandavoidnestedoutages,butwerenotusedtocoordinateautomatedfeeder switchesortosupportgridoperators. Table3providesinitialresultsoftheimpactsfromtheoperationofthedevicesandsystemsfor thefourfeedergroups.Thetableprovidesarangeofresultsbasedonthenumberoffeeder switchesthatwereoperationalduringtheobservationperiod.Therangesincludelowandhigh percentchangesinthereliabilityindicesfromthecorrespondingbaselines.Thebaselinevalues arealsolistedtoprovidereferencepointsofthehistoricalreliabilitylevels.Onlyoneproject trackedMAIFIandreportedresultsinthisarea. Theresultsshowsignificantimprovementinreducingsustainedinterruptions,momentary interruptions,andaveragesysteminterruptiondurationascalculatedbychangesinSAIFI, MAIFI,andSAIDIrespectively.(SeeAppendixAfordefinitionsoftheseindicesandequations

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showinghowtheyarecalculated.)Thegreatestimprovementsintheseindicesoccurforthe feedergroupswiththeworstbaselinereliabilitylevels. Alsoshowninthetableisanadditionalindexusedforassessingreliabilityimpacts,Customer MinutesInterrupted(CMI),thatmeasuresthetotalnumberofcustomersandtheminutesthey werewithoutpower.AsshowninAppendixA,CMIisoneoftheinputsusedtocalculateSAIDI. Table3alsoshowsthataveragecustomerinterruptiondurationindex(CAIDI)worsenedinmost cases,despitethefactthattheextentofsustainedoutageswasreducedbyautomatedfeeder switching.ThisisduelargelytothetermsoftheequationthatisusedtocalculateCAIDI.For example,asthenumberofcustomersexperiencingsustainedoutagesisreduced,the denominatoroftheCAIDIindexalsogoesdownrelativetothevalueofthenumerator,andthus theoverallindexincreases.ReducingCAIDIrequiresreducingrestorationtimesforthose remainingwithoutpowerafterautomatedfeederswitchingoperationshaveoccurred.Itis expectedthatenhancedfaultdetectionandoutagedetectionandnotificationcapabilitieswill contributetoreductionsinthedurationofsustainedoutagesforaffectedcustomers,andthus reduceCAIDI. Reliability Indices SAIFI MAIFI SAIDI CAIDI CMI RangeofImprovement %Change(LowtoHigh) 13%to 40% 28% 2%to43% +28%to2% +8%to35% RangeofBaselines (LowtoHigh) 0.8to1.07 9.0 67to107 67to100 44to20

Units AverageNumberofSustained Interruptions AverageNumberofMomentary Interruptions AverageNumberofSystem OutageMinutes AverageNumberofCustomer OutageMinutes TotalNumberofCustomer MinutesInterrupted(Millions)

Table3.SummaryofChangesinDistributionReliability (April2011March2012)

4.2

FeederGroupSpecificResults

Figure9showsthechangesinreliabilityforthefourfeedergroupsA,B,C,andD.Outage frequency(SAIFI)isgivenonthehorizontalaxisandcustomeroutageduration(CAIDI)isshown

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ontheverticalaxis.Curvesrepresentativeofsystemoutageduration(SAIDI)areheldconstant toshowtherelationshipbetweenCAIDI,SAIFI,andCMI. Thefiguredepictsthereliabilitychangesbythemovementfromthebaseline(solidcircles)to themeasuredresults(opencircles).Asshowninthefigure,reliabilityimprovementsoccurfrom fewerandshorteroutages,whichonthechartareshownbychangestotheleftand/ordown. Thechangeinthesizeofthecirclesrepresentsthechangeinthenumbercustomerminutes interrupted(CMI). Thefigureshowsthatalloftheprojectsareimprovingreliabilitybyreducingthefrequencyand durationofsustainedoutages.Thisreductionisattributabletotheoperationofautomated feederswitchestoisolatefaultsandrestorepowerresultinginareductioninthenumberof customersexperiencingsustainedoutages.FeedergroupAattributedaportionofthe improvementstotheuseofequipmenthealthsensorstopreventoverloadingofpower transformerswhichwouldhaveresultedinasignificantoutageonmultiplefeeders.

Figure9.ProjectLevelChangesinDistributionReliability(April2011March2012)

FeedergroupsA,C,andDshowCAIDIgettingworsewhileSAIDIisgettingbetter.Asdiscussed previously,reductionsinCAIDIwillbeimprovedasthetimetorestorepowertothoseremaining withoutpoweritisreduced.

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FeedergroupB,ontheotherhand,showedCAIDIimprovements,buttheydidnotattributethe improvementstothedeploymentofsmartgridequipmentbutrathertothetypesofoutagesthat occurredandtheconvenientlocationofthefeederandtheabilityoffieldcrewstorestorepower relativelyquickly.Withtheapplicationofoutagedetectionandnotificationsystems,and correspondingimprovementsinservicerestorationpractices,thedurationofoutages experiencedbyaffectedcustomersonallfeedersandlocationscandecrease,andthusCAIDIcan beexpectedtodecrease. Ingeneral,reliabilityimprovedoverallbecauseofreductionsinSAIFIandSAIDI.Theprojects expectthatimprovementsinoutagefrequencyandCMItocontinueasmoreswitchesare installedandgridoperatorsgainexperiencedevelopingautomationschemesanddeveloping actionableinformationfromfaultdetectiondevicesandequipmenthealthsensors.

4.3

SummaryofObservations

Asdiscussed,mostoftheprojectsthathavereportedinitialresultsarestillinstalling equipment,integratingsystems,andrefiningapproachestoachievetheirrespective distributionreliabilityobjectives.Whileimpactshavebeenobserved,manyaretheresultof deploymentsandintegrationeffortsthatarenotcomplete.Becausetheprojectshavedifferent levelsofexperiencewiththevariousautomationapproaches,theyhaveindicatedthatthereis asignificantlearningperiodforgridoperatorsandfieldcrewstounderstandthenewdevices andsystemsanddeterminethebestwaystousethemtoachievedesiredresults.Ingeneral, thecompanieswiththemostpriorexperiencehavebeentheonesmostabletoachievebetter results. Theprojectshavebeenabletoattributereductionsinthefrequencyanddurationofoutagesto theinstallationandoperationoffaultdetectionandautomatedfeederswitchingequipment.In general,theseprojectsreportthattheyhaverelativelyhighconfidencelevelsintheinitial resultsandhaveconfirmedinformationonspecificoutagesandswitchingoperationsto supporttheirpreliminaryfindings. Oneofthecontributingfactorstotheobservedreductioninthefrequencyofsustainedoutages istheprocessofrepairingwornordamagedequipmentaspartoftheoverallinstallation processwhendeployingtheSGIGequipment.Thesepracticeshavecontributedtothereliability improvementsobservedherebutarenotrelatedtotheoperationofthenewdevicesand systems. Thereisarelativelyhighlevelofvariationinthereportedresults.Someofthisisduetothe variationsindevicesandsystemsbeinginstalledandtovariationsinthelevelsofexperience withoperatingautomateddistributiondevicesandsystems.Thereisalearningperiodduring
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whichgridoperatorsandfieldcrewsbecomeacquaintedwithfunctions,capabilities,and strategiesforoperatingautomatedfeederswitchestoachieveperformanceimprovementsand developneededcompetencies.Inaddition,differencesinbaselinesalsocontributetothe variabilityofresults. Theinitialresultsalsoindicateaneedtomonitortheimpactsofautomatedfeederswitchingon CAIDIovertimetoassessitsusefulnessasareliabilityindex.ThisisbecauseincreasesinCAIDI donotnecessarilyindicatethatreliabilityisgettingworse.Infact,becauseofautomatedfeeder switchingfewercustomersareexperiencingsustainedoutages,andthereforereliabilityis gettingbetter.ImprovementsinCAIDIcanbeachievedwithotherapproachessuchas advancementsinoutagedetectionandnotificationandimplementationofimprovementsin servicerestorationpractices. Mostutilitiesdonottrackthefrequencyofmomentaryinterruptions,and/ortheydonothave sufficienthistoricaldatatodevelopappropriatebaselines.Projectsmaynothavethedata measurementsystemsinplace,ortheymaynotberequiredtoprovidethisinformationto regulators.However,thedeploymentofsmartdevicesandsystemsprovidetheprojectswith newandbetterwaystoassessmomentaryinterruptions.Someprojectsreportthattheyplan tousethesedatatoidentifyfeedersthathavehighfrequenciesofmomentaryinterruptions, andthattheywillfollowupanddomoreinspectionsofthesefeedersegments,andwilltake correctiveactions,suchasvegetationmanagement,toavoidmomentaryinterruptions(and sustainedoutages)inthefuture.

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5.

NextSteps

Asadditionaldataontheimpactsbecomeavailable,DOEOEwillconductfurtheranalysisofthe results.CollaborationbetweenDOEOEandtheSGIGdistributionreliabilityprojectsisessential forensuringthatappropriatedataaregatheredandreported,andforunderstandingthe analysisresults.Collaborationincludesreviewsofresultswiththeappropriateprojectteamsto validatethemandsharewhathasbeenlearned. Theanalysishasfocusedsofaronchangesinreliabilityindicesbutwillbeexpandedasmore projectscompleteequipmentdeploymentandbegintointegratethenewdevicesandsystems withdistributionsystemoperations.Forexample,DOEOEplanstoexpandtheanalysisto understandtheroleofdistributionreliabilitydevicesandsystemsinreducingrestorationand operationsandmaintenancecosts. Dependingontheavailabilityandqualityofquantitativedatafromtheprojects,potentialareas forfutureanalysisinclude:understandingtheincrementalimpactofsmartmeterswhen workingtogetherwithdistributionautomationsystems,analyzingresultsoverextendedtime periodstoidentifytrendsandchangesastheyrelatetoincreasedoperationalexperience, trackingtheoperationofautomatedfeederswitchingequipmenttobetterdetermine customersaffectedandoutagedurationimpacts,andassessingtheintegrationofDMSwith existingandnewdevicesandsystemsandtheeffectsofrefinedrestorationalgorithmson reliabilitylevels. TheSGIGprojectsincludingthefourdiscussedinthisreportwillcontinuetoimplement distributionreliabilitydevicesandsystemsandreportactivitiesandresults.DOEOEplansto presentadditionalresultsandlessonslearnedfromtheSGIGdistributionreliabilityprojectsin thefuture.Inthemeantime,updatesondeploymentprogressandcasestudieshighlighting projectexamplesarepostedregularlyonwww.smartgrid.gov.

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AppendixA.ReliabilityIndices
ReliabilityIndex EquationDescription Thesumofthenumberofinterrupted customers(Ni)foreachpoweroutagegreater thanfiveminutesduringagivenperiod,or customersinterrupted(CI),dividedbythetotal numberofcustomersserved(NT).Thismetricis expressedintheaveragenumberofoutagesper year.Majoreventsareexcluded. Thesumoftherestorationtimeforeach sustainedinterruption(ri)multipliedbythesum ofthenumberofcustomersinterrupted(Ni),or customerminutesinterrupted(CMI),dividedby thetotalnumberofcustomersservedforthe area(NT).Thismetricisexpressedinaverage minutesperyear.Majoreventsareexcluded. SAIFI CI = Ni = NTNT Equation

SystemAverage Interruption FrequencyIndex (SAIFI)

riNiCMI

SystemAverage Interruption DurationIndex (SAIDI)

SAIDI=

NTNT

Customer Average Interruption DurationIndex (CAIDI)

Thesumoftherestorationtimeforeach sustainedinterruption(ri)multipliedbythesum ofthenumberofcustomersinterrupted(Ni),or customerminutesinterrupted(CMI),dividedby thesumofthenumberofcustomersinterrupted (Ni).Thismetriciscommonlyexpressedin minutesperoutage.Majoreventsareexcluded. Thesumofthenumberofmomentary interruptions(IMi)multipliedbythesumofthe numberofcustomersinterruptedforeach momentaryinterruption(Nmi)dividedbythe totalnumberofcustomersserved(NT).This metricisexpressedinmomentaryinterruptions peryear.

CAIDI=

riNiCMI
=

NiNi

Momentary Average Interruption FrequencyIndex (MAIFI)

MAIFI = IMiNmi
NT

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AppendixB.IEEEReliabilityBenchmarkData
Since2003,theIEEEDistributionWorkingGrouphassurveyedCanadianandU.S.electric utilitieseachyeartodevelopbenchmarkdataondistributionreliability.Benchmarkdataare providedbymorethan100utilities;coveralltypes,sizes,andregions;andareintendedto provideinformationsothatutilitiescanassesstheirperformancerelativetooneanother. FiguresB1,B2,andB3provideasixyearsummaryofthedifferentperformancelevelsfor SAIFI,SAIDI,andCAIDIandshowthevariabilityamongutilitiesandovertime.Thebenchmarks werecalculatedusingtheIEEEGuideforElectricPowerDistributionReliabilityIndicesIEEE Standard1366TM2003.Thelinesonthechartsrepresenttheminimumvaluesfortherespective quartiles.Additionalinformationonthesurveyandlinkstodetailedresultsforeachyearis listedathttp://grouper.ieee.org/groups/td/dist/sd/doc/. 2005to2010IEEESAIFIBenchmarkingQuartiles
AverageNumberofSustainedOutages 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 1.09 1.63 1.39 1.7 1.36 1.11 1.71 1.6 1.49 1.33 1.06 1.34 1.06 1.12 0.89 1.17 0.93 FourthQuartile ThirdQuartile SecondQuartile 1.46

FigureB1.SummaryofIEEEBenchmarkDataSAIFI

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2005to2010IEEESAIDIBenchmarkingQuartiles
250 SustainedOutageMinutes 200 150 100 50 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 192 145 98 198 146 105 200 143 109 196 154 103 167 116 81 158 128 89 FourthQuartile ThirdQuartile SecondQuartile

FigureB2.SummaryofIEEEBenchmarkDataSAIDI 2005to2010IEEECAIDIBenchmarkingQuartiles
SustainedCustomerOutageMinutes 160 140 120 100 80
60
40
20
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 127 105 83 131 108 82 127 109 85 135 121 110 94 102 83 122 106 88 FourthQuartile ThirdQuartile SecondQuartile

FigureB3.SummaryofIEEEBenchmarkDataCAIDI ThesefiguresshowthatmanyU.S.utilitiesaremonitoringchangesinreliabilitylevelsusingthe IEEEcalculationstodeterminereliabilityindices,andthattheyaredevelopingbenchmarks againstwhichtheycanevaluateandcomparetheirperformance.TheSGIGelectricdistribution reliabilityprojectsareusingcomparableapproachesindevelopingbaselinesforthefeeder groupsanalyzedinthisreport.

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AppendixC.SupplementaryAnalysisResults
TablesC1throughC4providetabularresultsforeachofthefourfeedergroupsanalyzedin Section4andarelabeledAthroughDtomasktheidentityoftheprojects.Eachfeedergroup comprisesasetoffeedersthathavebeenupgradedbytheprojects.Thefourfeedergroups correspondtothefourprojects.Thefeedergroupsincludebothloopedandradialfeeder configurations.

FeederGroupA
TableC1providesinitialresultsforFeederGroupA,whichconsistsof120feeders.Forthis project,gridoperatorsreportedhavingpriorexperiencedeployingandoperatingautomated feederswitchingequipmentandindicatedthattheinitialresultswereinlinewiththeir expectations. GridoperatorsattributeimprovementsinSAIFIandMAIFItotheoperationofdecentralized automatedfeederswitchingandreclosing.Theoperatorsalsoindicatethatsomeofthe impactsonoutagefrequencies,includingMAIFI,arerelatedtotheinspectionandrepairof wornfeedersthatoccurredatthesametimeastheinstallationoftheSGIGequipment. TheoperatorsreportthatimprovementsinSAIDIandCMIarealsoprimarilyrelatedto automatedfeederswitching.Faultdetectioncapabilities,derivedfromsmartrelaysandDMS, wereusedtosupportsomeoftherestorations.ThemajorityoftheSAIDIandCMIimpactswere saidtobeduetoreductionsinthenumberofcustomersaffectedbyautomatedfeeder switchingandreclosing.AMIoutagedetectionwasnotoperational,butitisplannedfor implementationinthenearfuture. TheoperatorsindicatedthatincreasesinCAIDIwereduetotheCAIDIcalculationmethod.The automatedfeederswitchesreducedthenumberofcustomersaffectedbysustainedoutages.
Index SAIFI MAIFI SAIDI CAIDI CMI Units NumberofInterruptions NumberofInterruptions NumberofMinutes NumberofMinutes NumberofCustomerMinutes (Millions) April2011September2011 Baseline 1.0 12.6 72.3 70.4 8.5 % 41% 35% 25% +27% 25% October2011March2012 Baseline 0.6 5.5 37.0 63.3 6.9 % 31% 13% 11% +29% 11%

TableC1.FeederGroupAResults
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FeederGroupB TableC2providesinitialresultsforFeederGroupB,whichconsistsofapproximately95 overheadradialdistributionfeederswithtiepointsinthefirstreportingperiod,and185during thesecond.GridoperatorsforFeederGroupBreportedhavingpriorexperiencedeployingand operatingautomationdevicesandsystemsandSCADAsystemsbutindicatedthatthefull capabilitiesoftheequipmenthadnotyetbeenimplemented.Theoperatorsalsonotedthat weathervariabilitycontributedtoreliabilityimprovements,inadditiontoautomatedfeeder switching,whencomparedtothebaselines. TheoperatorsforFeederGroupBindicatedthatimprovementsinSAIFIwererelatedtothe operationofcentralizedremotefeederswitchinganddistributedreclosing.Switchingenabled operatorstoavoidsustainedoutagesforportionsofthefeederthatwerenotdamaged. ImprovementsinSAIDIandCMIwerealsosaidtoberelatedtoremotefeederswitchingand reclosing.Themajorityofthefeederswitcheswerecapableofremoteoperations,but additionalintegrationandengineeringworkisrequiredbeforeFLISRisfullyoperational. TheoperatorsreportedanincreaseinCAIDIduringthefirstreportingperiodandadecrease duringthesecond.TheysaidthedecreasesinCAIDIweretheresultofafeedersegmentthat happenedtoberelativelyeasytorepair.
Index SAIFI MAIFI SAIDI CAIDI CMI Units NumberofInterruptions NumberofInterruptions NumberofMinutes NumberofMinutes Numberof CustomerMinutes (Millions) April2011September2011 Baseline 1.3 133.2 99.6 20.4 % 41% 35% +11% 35% October2011March2012 Baseline 0.8 79.8 100.0 22.6 % 49% 56% 15% 56%

TableC2.FeederGroupBResults FeederGroupC TableC3providesinitialresultsforFeederGroupC,whichconsistsofapproximately285 overheaddistributionfeederswithtiepointsinthefirstreportingperiodand870inthesecond. Thegridoperatorsreportedhavinglittlepriorexperiencedeployingandoperatingremote feederswitchesandfaultlocationanalysistoolsandtheysaidtheydonotbelievetheyhave realizedthefullpotentialofthedevicesandsystemsyet.

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TheoperatorsreportedthatimprovementsinSAIFIwererelatedtotheoperationofcentralized remotefeederswitchingandreclosing.Distributionfeederswerealsoinspectedbeforethe SGIGequipmentwasinstalled.Portionsofthefeederthatwereoutofspecificationordamaged wereidentifiedandrepaired.Examplesincludevegetationmanagement,fusereplacement,and crossarmreplacement.Theoperatorsindicatedthatsomedeviceswerenotfullyoperational duringthefirstreportingperiodandthattheyweregainingexperiencewiththeequipmentand faultlocationanalysistools,includingDMS.Theysaidthatthelackofexperiencecontributedto measuredincreasesinthedurationofcustomeroutages. Theoperatorsreporteddecreasesinoutagefrequencyanddurationforthesecondperiod,which theyattributedtofeederswitching,relays,andbetteruseofanalysistools.Switchingenabledthe operatorstoavoidsustainedoutagesforportionsofthefeederthatwerenotdamaged.
Index SAIFI MAIFI SAIDI CAIDI CMI Units NumberofInterruptions NumberofInterruptions NumberofMinutes NumberofMinutes Numberof CustomerMinutes (Millions) April2011September2011 Baseline 1.1 84.2 80.0 48.8 % 20% +4% +29% +8% October2011March2012 Baseline 0.6 49.2 84.1 46.4 % 11% 13% 2% 9%

TableC3.FeederGroupCResults FeederGroupD TableC4providesinitialresultsforFeederGroupD,whichconsistsofapproximately75 overheadloopedfeeders. Gridoperatorsattributedreductionsinthefrequencyofsustainedoutagestoreclosingand remotebreakerswitching.ReductionsinSAIDIandCMIwerealsoattributedtoreclosingand switching.Theoperatorsplantoimplementfeederswitchingtoreroutepowerfromalternate sourcesusingaDMS,butthisfunctionalitywasnotoperationalduringthereportingperiods. AMIoutagedetectioncapabilitieswerealsonotoperationalorintegratedwiththeOMSduring thereportingperiods.Operatorsanticipateadditionalbenefitswhenthesefunctionsand capabilitiesarefullyoperational.

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Index Units NumberofInterruptions NumberofInterruptions NumberofMinutes NumberofMinutes Numberof CustomerMinutes (Millions) April2011September2011 Baseline 1.5 139.7 97.0 19.0 % 22% 14% +10% 14% October2011March2012 Baseline 1.5 139.7 97.0 19.2 % 24% 16% +11% 16%

SAIFI MAIFI SAIDI CAIDI CMI

TableC4.FeederGroupDResults

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AppendixD.SGIGElectricDistributionReliabilityProjects
X* Projectinstalled/deployed X Projectwillinstall/deploy N/AProjectwillnotinstall/deploy
AutomatedFeederSwitches Installed (#) 258 N/A 204 0 17 0 0 4 0 7 0 0 0 572 0 Expected (#) 258 N/A 584 17 70 13 5 18 12 7 10 75 24 630 9 Installed (%) 100% N/A 35% 0% 24% 0% 0% 22% 0% 100% 0% 0% 0% 91% 0% Equipment Health Sensors N/A 0 0 7 N/A 0 N/A N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A 0 11,170 N/A DevicesDeployedasof6/30/2012 Load Monitors 102 N/A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N/A N/A 0 274 67 Remote Fault Indicators N/A 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 381 N/A Smart Relays 102 74 155 0 N/A 20 N/A 4 0 12 N/A N/A 0 61 N/A FLISR X X X X X X X X X X* X X X X N/A AMIOutage Detection N/A X* X* X* X X* X* X* X X* X* N/A X* N/A N/A ApplicationsPlanned AMI/OMS Integration N/A X X* X X X N/A X X N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A DMS X X X X N/A X N/A N/A N/A N/A X N/A X X X OtherSystem Integration OMS/DMS MDMS/OMS/DMS/ GIS/SCADA OMS/DMS/GIS N/A N/A AMI/SCADA/DA devices N/A OMS/DMS N/A SCADA/DAdevices N/A SCADA N/A OMS/DMS/SCADA N/A

Project

AvistaUtilities BurbankWaterandPower CenterPointEnergy CentralLincolnPeople's UtilityDistrict CityofAnaheim,California CityofAuburn,Indiana CityofFortCollinsUtilities CityofGlendale,California CityofLeesburg,Florida CityofNaperville,Illinois CityofRuston,Louisiana CityofTallahassee,Florida CityofWadsworth,Ohio ConsolidatedEdison CompanyofNewYork,Inc. CumingCountyPublic PowerDistrict

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AutomatedFeederSwitches Installed (#) 2 5 387 13 1,124 0 230 0 0 29 158 N/A 1 10 254 69 100 146 Expected (#) 2 121 416 13 1,300 30 254 121 34 29 178 N/A 6 14 295 125 100 146 Installed (%) 100% 4% 93% 100% 86% 0% 91% 0% 0% 100% 89% N/A 17% 71% 86% 55% 100% 100% Equipment Health Sensors N/A 2 N/A N/A N/A N/A 2,452 0 0 N/A 0 N/A 0 33 N/A N/A N/A 11 DevicesDeployedasof6/30/2012 Load Monitors N/A N/A 49 6 0 0 108 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1 N/A 254 N/A N/A N/A Remote Fault Indicators 6 N/A 219 8 0 N/A 159 N/A 0 N/A 0 0 N/A N/A 254 N/A 0 N/A Smart Relays N/A 31 251 8 0 0 863 N/A 0 N/A 435 N/A N/A 19 N/A 8 209 30 FLISR X X X* X* X X X* X X N/A N/A N/A X N/A X* X X X AMIOutage Detection X X* X N/A X* N/A X X* X N/A X X* X* N/A N/A X* X N/A ApplicationsPlanned AMI/OMS Integration X N/A X N/A X N/A X X X N/A N/A X X N/A N/A X X N/A DMS N/A X X X X N/A N/A N/A X X* X N/A N/A N/A X X X N/A OtherSystem Integration N/A AMI/DMS/SCADA OMS/SCADA/GIS OMS/DMS MDMS/OMS/DMS N/A N/A OMS/SCADA N/A SCADA/DAdevices N/A SCADA/DAdevices N/A N/A N/A OMS/DMS/GIS N/A EMS

Project

DentonCountyElectric Cooperative DetroitEdisonCompany DukeEnergy ElPasoElectric EPB FirstEnergyService Corporation FloridaPower&Light Company GoldenSpreadElectric Cooperative,Inc. GuamPowerAuthority HawaiianElectricCompany IndianapolisPower&Light Company KnoxvilleUtilitiesBoard MinnesotaPower NorthernVirginiaElectric Cooperative NSTARElectricCompany OklahomaGas&Electric PECO PotomacElectricPower CompanyAtlanticCity ElectricCompany

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AutomatedFeederSwitches Installed (#) 38 67 N/A 213 218 0 N/A 2 N/A 1,537 12 N/A 4 23 31 Expected (#) 51 94 N/A 213 440 31 N/A 153 N/A 2,059 12 N/A 45 144 31 Installed (%) 75% 71% N/A 100% 50% 0% N/A 1% N/A 75% 100% N/A 9% 16% 100% Equipment Health Sensors 14 8 N/A N/A 24 N/A N/A N/A 5 109 99 N/A N/A 7 N/A DevicesDeployedasof6/30/2012 Load Monitors N/A N/A N/A N/A 1,425 11 23 0 28 N/A 0 N/A 1 23 N/A Remote Fault Indicators N/A 65 N/A 0 N/A 11 N/A 0 0 62 54 N/A N/A 13 27 Smart Relays 354 306 N/A 0 N/A 281 N/A 97 39 739 92 N/A 0 151 N/A FLISR AMIOutage Detection X* X* N/A X X N/A X* X* X* X* X* X* X* X* X* ApplicationsPlanned AMI/OMS Integration X X N/A X N/A N/A X* N/A X X* N/A X* X X* X DMS OtherSystem Integration EMS EMS SCADA/DAdevices OMS/DMS OMS/DMS/SCADA DMS/GIS/SCADA N/A N/A GIS/SCADA/AMI/CIS AMI/OMS/DMS N/A AMI/OMS/DMS MDMS/OMS/DMS/ SCADA N/A N/A

Project

PotomacElectricPower CompanyDistrictof Columbia PotomacElectricPower CompanyMaryland PowderRiverEnergy Corporation PPLElectricUtilities Corporation ProgressEnergyService Company PublicUtilityDistrictNo.1 ofSnohomishCounty RappahannockElectric Cooperative SacramentoMunicipal UtilityDistrict SouthMississippiElectric PowerAssociation SouthernCompany Services,Inc. SouthwestTransmission Cooperative,Inc. TalquinElectric Cooperative TownofDanvers, Massachusetts VermontTransco,LLC WestarEnergy,Inc.

X X N/A X X X N/A X N/A X* X N/A X N/A X

N/A N/A N/A X X X N/A N/A N/A X N/A X X X N/A

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AppendixE.OverviewofFeederSwitchingOperations
Automatedfeederswitchesarebecomingkeycomponentsinelectricdistributionsystems. Thesedevicescanbeopenedorclosedinresponsetosensingafaultcondition,orbyreceiving controlsignalsfromotherlocations.FiguresE1andE2showhowthiscanbeaccomplished.
Smart Switch
Customers served by Substation A
(Normally Open)

Smart Switch
(Normally Closed)

Substation A

Fault

Substation B

A A
Smart Switch
(Normally Open)

B B B
Customers served by Substation B

C C C
Substation C

FigureE1.ConfigurationofFeederBeforeSwitching

Customers now served by Substation C

A A A A C

Fault

B B B

C C C

FigureE2.ConfigurationofFeederAfterSwitching
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Ingeneral,therearethreemajortypesoffeederconfigurationsthataredeployedbyutilities: (1)radialfeeders,(2)loopedfeeders,and(3)networkedfeeders.Utilitiestypicallyemploy radialfeedersforremoteareaswherepopulationdensitiesarerelativelylow.Loopedand networkedfeedersaremostsuitableformoredenselypopulatedareas. RadialFeeders Radialfeedersoriginateatsubstations,servegroupsofcustomers,andarenotconnectedto anyotherfeeder.Powerflowsalongradialfeedersfromsubstationstocustomersalongasingle path,which,wheninterrupted,resultsinlossofpowertothecustomersservedbythose feeders.Radialfeedersaretypicallyconnectedtoasinglesubstationandcannotbefedfrom othersources. FigureE3illustratesatypicalswitchingsequenceforradialfeeders.Inthisexample,the numberofcustomerswhoexperiencesoutagescanbereducedbyoperatingaswitchonthe feeder.
1 2

Fault 3 4

Fault

Fault

Primaryfeeder Lateralcircuit Fuse CircuitSwitch (closed) CircuitSwitch (open) Substationtransformer Linetransformer

Note:Deenergizedportionofthecircuitand loadswithoutpowerarehighlighted inred.

FigureE3.ExampleofSwitchingOperationsonRadialFeeders
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LoopedFeeders Loopedfeedersinvolveatleasttwofeedersinterconnectedthroughnormallyopentiepoints (i.e.,undernormalconditions,electricitydoesnotflowthroughthetiepoint).Powercanflow onloopedfeedersfromalternatepathsduringoutages.FigureE4illustratesswitching operationsonloopedfeedersandshowshowutilitiescanreducetheimpactsoffaultsby quicklyisolatingthem.

1

Fault

Fault

Primaryfeeder Lateralcircuit Fuse Linetransformer

CircuitSwitch(closed) CircuitSwitch(open) Substationtransformer Directionofpower flow

Note:Deenergizedportionofthe circuitandloadswithoutpower are highlightedinred.

FigureE4.ExampleofSwitchingOperationsonLoopedFeeders NetworkedFeeders Networkedfeedersinvolvemultiplepowerflowsfrommultiplesourcestoallofthecustomers thatareservedbythenetwork.Ifafailureoccursinoneofthelines,powercanbererouted instantlyandautomaticallythroughotherpathways.Forexample,ifonesourceisinterrupted duetoafaultedsegment,thecustomerisautomaticallytransferredtoanothersource. FigureE5illustratesswitchingoperationsonnetworkedfeederstoreducetheimpactsof outages.

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Primary Disconnect

Secondary Disconnect

Fault

Fault

Fault

FigureE5.ExampleofSwitchingOperationsonNetworkedFeeders

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