POWER-GRID.

COM : AUGUST 2017

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
JANUARY 23-25, 2018 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

Dotting and Crossing

Finding our way in the World of IoT

20 A Segment of One
24 Cozying up to Customers

26 Testing in the Digital Substation

YOUR POWER DELIVERY MEDIA SOURCE

1708pg_C1 1 8/3/17 5:12 PM

 Intelligent solutions for
reliable power supply
Connecting grids for higher grid stability

An increasing demand for power and the growing share of renew-

able energies are creating new challenges for grids. Innovative
EMCG-A10031-00-7600

technologies and solutions from Siemens enable existing grids to

be stabilized for the long term. We look forward to working with
you to help shape the backbone of future energy systems.

siemens.com/connecting-grids

Go to pgi.hotims.com for more information.

1708pg_C2 2 8/3/17 5:12 PM

 AUGUST 2017 VOLUME 22.08

18 The Potential Benefits of Community Energy

There is growing recognition from U.S. and European citizens that
community energy schemes are economically viable.
The FYI on IoT By Craig Cavanaugh, Omnetric Group

20 A Segment of One
Ruling the Smart City World 10 Whether a utility is in a competitive market or a regulated market,
Quiet Conway, Arkansas, might not be the its relationship with each of its customers is increasingly vital to its
biggest city in the technology world, but it future success.
By David DeMaio, Oracle Utilities
embraced smart-city opportunities, developed
a Digital Nervous System and more.
By Michael Wiebe, MW Consulting 24 Cozying up to Customers
The 100-year-old you pay the bill and we keep the power on
Paying Attention to the Signs 13 relationship dynamic between utility companies and consumers no
longer works well.
Nowadays, AMI is positioned as a foundation
for technology to evolve to multiservice
By Mark Konya and Mike Smith, SAS
networks with a multiplicity of applications
that support city infrastructures. 26 Testing in the Digital Substation
By Tony Bogovic, Vencore Labs The widespread implementation of IEC 61850-based substation
protection and the increased interest in digitalization provides an
opportunity to develop and implement protection, automation and
Keys to Starting Your IoT Journey 15 control that can be tested remotely.
When deploying smart applications, its By Alexander Apostolov, Omicrone
important to note that the goals of
municipalities and utilities often overlap.
By Charles Nobles, Sensus 29 Backing up Substations with Batteries
By adopting a battery technology that is compatible with digital
control and communication, operators can better integrate their
essential backup.
From the Editor 2 By Mohamed Fourati, Saft
Notes 4
Products 34 31 Overcoming Challenges on HV Switchgear
Electrical contractors, who often work with high-voltage
Calendar/Ad Index 35 switchgear, face responsibilities and key challenges when
Parting Thoughts 36 conducting transformer work.
By Richard Smith, Smith Brothers

PowerGrid International (ISSN 1547-6723).
PowerGrid International is published 12x times
per year, monthly by PennWell Corporation,
1421 S. Sheridan, Tulsa, OK 74112. Periodi-
cals postage paid at Tulsa, OK 74112 and at
additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION
PRICES: $100 per year (U.S.), $110 (Canada/
Mexico), $265 (international air mail), $48 per
year (Digital). Back issues of PowerGrid Inter-
national may be purchased at a cost of $16
each in the U.S. and $24 elsewhere. Copies
of back issues are also available on microfilm
and microfiche from University Microfilm, a
Xerox Co., 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI
48103. Available on the NEXIS Service,
Mead Data Central Inc., Box 933, Dayton,
OH 45402; (937) 865-6800. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes and other circulation
information to PowerGrid International, P.O.
Box 47570, Plymouth, MN 55447. Return
undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box
122, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6S4. PowerGrid
International is a registered trademark.
PennWell Corporation 2017. All rights re-
served. Reproduction in whole or in part with-
out permission is prohibited. Permission, how-
ever, is granted for employees of corporations
licensed under the Annual Authorization Ser-
vice offered by the Copyright Clearance Cen-
ter Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers,
Mass. 01923, or by calling CCCs Customer
Relations Department at 978-750-8400 prior
to copying. We make portions of our subscrib-
er list available to carefully screened compa-
nies that offer products and services that may
be important for your work. If you do not want
to receive those offers and/or information via
direct mail, please let us know by contacting
us at PowerGrid International, P.O. Box 2280,
Tulsa OK 74101.
Printed in the USA. GST No. 126813153.
Publications Mail Agreement no. 40612608.

August 2017 | 1
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_1 1 8/3/17 5:03 PM

 EDITOR IN CHIEF
FROM THE EDITOR TERESA HANSEN

Renewables:
Not Just California Dreaming SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NORTH AMERICAN
POWER GENERATION GROUP
I recently attended several conferences, including one in Germany, covering the Richard Baker
same common theme: the shift from central station generation to distributed genera-
EDITOR IN CHIEF
tion is happening quickly and its disruptive. Teresa Hansen
918.831.9504 teresah@pennwell.com
Germany, which several years ago committed to promoting renewable energy and
eliminating nuclear and coal-fired power, is transitioning quicker than most. Theres SENIOR EDITOR
Rod Walton
debate about how much this transition has cost, but theres little, if any, argument about 918.831.9177 rwalton@pennwell.com
the need to green electricity supply. Most Europeans (not just Germans) are onboard.
ONLINE/ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Few U.S. states are moving quicker than Germany, but some are moving fast, includ- Jeff Postelwait
918.831.9114 jeffp@pennwell.com
ing California, which often sets the trends for the rest of the country.
In 2007, Californias Public Utility Commission authorized its first Community CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
TransmissionHub Senior Analyst Corina Rivera-Linares
Choice Aggregation (CCA) applications. A UCLA press release describes a CCA as a
utility that provides cities and counties the opportunity to choose the type of energy DESIGNER II
Heather Skeith
that fits their needs. They allow cities and counties to group individual customers 918.831.9176 heathers@pennwell.com

purchasing power within a defined jurisdiction to buy energy. California law defines SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT-AUDIENCE
DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING
CCAs as electric service providers. They compete with investor-owned utilities and a June Griffin
main objective is to reduce CO2 by offering clean energy.
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Today, 10 years after their creation, eight CCAs have been established in California Linda Thomas
918.832.9254 lindat@pennwell.com
and more than a dozen others are in the works.
A new report, released in July by the Center for Climate Protection, explains that AD SERVICES COORDINATOR
Cary Shipley
private utility load forecasts and the corresponding procurement decisions under- 918.831.9438 CShipley@Pennwell.com
estimated the number of customers leaving private utilities for CCAs, creating an
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR
over-procurement of power by private utilities. Sara Jones
918.831.9738 sjones@pennwell.com
A February 2017 Los Angeles Times investigation predicted that traditional
California utilities have contracted to purchase 21 percent more electricity than theyll
need in 2020less than three years from now. The Center for Climate Protection
report backs up the Times with its own predictionby 2020, Californias CCAs will PENNWELL CORPORATION
1421 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK 74112
provide 116,229 GWh of electricity generation sales and its IOUs only 84,967 GWh. PO Box 1260, Tulsa OK 74101
Phone 918.835.3161 Fax 918.831.9834
Another study released on July 26 by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) pgi@pennwell.com
www.pennwell.com
reveals that U.S. residential electricity sales declined 9 percent between 2010 and
2016. Weather is a key driver of year-over-year fluctuations, however, the report says PENNWELL CORP. IN EUROPE
PennWell International Limited
energy efficiency improvements and economic factors were a bigger contributor to the The Water Tower, Gunpowder Mill
Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1BN, United Kingdom
decline in per capita residential electricity sales. In addition, EIA said it has no way phone +44.1992.656600
fax +44.1992.656700
of knowing how much residential load is now being provided by small-scale solar PV. pennwelluk@pennwell.com
These reports not only illustrate utilities need to drastically revamp their traditional busi-
CHAIRMAN Robert F. Biolchini
ness models to offer customers more than just kilowatt-hours, they uncover a problem some
VICE CHAIRMAN Frank T. Lauinger
utilities will face when they must make good on their purchase agreements, even though PRESIDENT AND CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mark C. Wilmoth
theyll have no buyers for all the electricity. In addition, because most CCA electricity
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CORPORATE
comes from distributed renewable generation, grid owners and operators must make the DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGY Jayne A. Gilsinger
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE AND
technology strides necessary to integrate even more intermittent distributed generation. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Brian Conway
I understand things are changing fast. Reports like these, however, stun me. My job
SUBSCRIBER SERVICE
is to provide the best information available to help you with your much harder role of P.O. Box 47570, Plymouth, MN 55447
Phone 1-800-869-6882
ensuring your companies survive and thrive in the new energy world that is ahead. I PGRID@kmpsgroup.com
assure you, Im working hard at it. POWERGRID International is the
official publication of
2 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_2 2 8/3/17 5:03 PM

 IT. OT. We speak
both languages.
Rugged Networks by Siemens

The strength of any industrial network depends on the

collaboration of operations and information technologies.
Siemens not only speaks these languages, we also translate.
We have the expertise, products and services to help you create
dynamic networkssystems that deliver high performance in
terms of security, transparency, flexibility and uptime.

usa.siemens.com/industrial-networks

Go to pgi.hotims.com for more information.

1708pg_3 3 8/3/17 5:03 PM

 NOTES

BY CORINA RIVERA LINARES, CHIEF ANALYST, TRANSMISSIONHUB

AEP TEXAS SEEKS OK FOR TRANSMISSION LINE

CONNECTING ROSEROCK SOLAR FARM
AEP Texas map of Project
American Electric Powers
unit AEP Texas Inc., in an
application received by the
Public Utility Commission
(PUC) of Texas, proposes
to build a new 138-kV
transmission line from the
AEP Texas Solstice substa-
tion to the Roserock point
of interconnection (POI)
in Pecos County, Texas.
The project would pro-
vide service for the new
RE Roserock LLC solar
farm, which will have an
output capacity of 157.5
MW net at the POI,
the company said in its
application to amend its
certificate of convenience
and necessity. AEP Texas added that the approved by the PUC and would inter- the company said. The area lies within
purpose of the transmission project is connect into the Roserock solar farm the Southern High Plains physiographic
to provide a permanent interconnection 138-kV hard tap transmission line, the region of Texas, which forms flat plains
for the solar farm to the transmission company said. The point of interconnec- with many playas and local dune fields
network. tion to the Roserock solar farm from the and is primarily rural and undeveloped
The AEP Texas Solstice substation is 138-kV transmission temporary hard tap open shrubland, the company noted.
under construction for other additional line would be at a dead-end structure According to the estimated schedule,
needs in the area, and is located just north and would be located at one of two loca- right of way and land acquisition, as
of Interstate Highway 10 (I-10) and just tions, the company noted. well as engineering and design, would
east of the existing AEP Texas Barrilla The length of the proposed line route begin in July 2018, and be completed in
Junction substation, the company said. would be between 4.44 miles and 5.07 January 2019. Material and equipment
Until that transmission line is built miles, depending on the route selected procurement would also begin in July
to directly feed the Roserock solar farm by the PUC, the company said. The proj- 2018, and be completed in February
into the AEP Texas Solstice substation, ect would be built using single-pole steel 2019, while construction of the facilities
the Roserock solar farm will directly structures, typically between 80 feet and would begin in February 2019, and be
interconnect temporarily as a hard tap 100 feet high. completed in August 2019, which is
into the existing AEP Texas Barrilla to Ft. The area traversed by the line is when the facilities would be energized,
Stockton 138-kV transmission line. located about 26.5 miles directly west according to the schedule.
The proposed Roserock POI location of the City of Fort Stockton in Pecos The route has an estimated cost of
would be dependent on which route is County, and borders I-10 to the north, about $6.1 million, according to reports.

4 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_4 4 8/3/17 5:03 PM

 BY ROD WALTON, SENIOR EDITOR

MASSACHUSETTS UNITS OF EVERSOURCE, NATIONAL GRID TOP ACEEE REPORT

The ship has come in for the Bay State
when it comes to energy efficiency efforts
by utilities, according to a recent nation-
wide report.
The American Council for an Energy
Efficient Economys (ACEEEs) first-ever
Utility Scorecard has the Massachusetts
wings of two utilitiesEversource
Energy and National Gridtied for first
place. The ACEEE report ranked 51
utilities nationwide for their variety and
impact of energy efficiency programs.
Massachusetts has aggressively sought
advanced energy reduction and budgeted
more than $500 million annually on mea-
sures to achieve those goals, according to
reports. In fact, nine of the utilities are in
states that finished in the top 10 of ACEEEs
earlier state energy efficiency scorecard.
This really highlights the importance of
state and regulatory support for efficiency,
said Grace Relf, lead author on the report.
Rounding out the top 11 ranked by rate structures for EV ownerspeak
ACEEE were Pacific Gas & Electric, demand pricing, time of use and general
Baltimore Gas & Electric, Eversource residential rates.
Connecticut, Southern California
Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric,
Commonwealth Edison, Portland
General Electric and the Xcel Energy
units in Colorado and Minnesota.
Baltimore Gas & Electric (now owned
by Exelon) achieved a reported best
peak demand savings of 2.54 percent.
Relf credited the home state Empower
Maryland Smart Energy Savers program
with helping make possible the energy
efficiency successes by BG&E.
Southern California Edison also was They had 456 subscribers to their
lauded for trying new things, includ- time-of-use rates, much higher than a
ing 12 different pilot projects in 2015. lot of utilities included in the scorecard,
Xcel Minnesota drove to the front of Relf said. And this indicates to me that
the ACEEEs ratings on electric vehicle their extensive education on website may
integration because it offered extensive encourage customers to take advantage
educational material and three different of that rate option.

BY ROD WALTON, SENIOR EDITOR

AES, SIEMENS JOIN FORCES TO CREATE ENERGY STORAGE FIRM FLUENCE

Energy industry sector giants AES
Corp. and Siemens AG have decided that
one is better than two when it comes to
energy storage solutions. The two com-
panies are creating a global joint venture
company called Fluence. It will operate
independently of its two parent firms
and focus on delivering the respective
Advancion and Siestorage platforms to
more than 160 countries.
As the energy storage market
expands, customers face the challenge
of finding a trusted technology part-
ner with an appropriate portfolio and
a profound knowledge of the power
sector, Ralf Christian, CEO of Siemens
Energy Management Division, said in a
statement.
Fluence will fill this major gap in the
market, Christian added.
AES Advancion Platform, meanwhile,
has deployed more than 200 MW of
energy storage in seven countries. Its
collaboration with Indianapolis Power &
Light in 2016 was named POWERGRID
Internationals Project of the Year for grid
optimization.
Partnering with Siemens to form
Fluence will offer both large and small
customers the full gamut of proven,
state-of-the-art energy storage solutions
in over 160 countries, AES CEO Andrs
Gluski said in the release. This will
accelerate the integration of renewables
into the energy network of tomorrow.
Together, AES Energy Storage subsid-
iary and Siemens Energy Management
have deployed or been awarded 48 proj-
ects totaling 463 MW of battery-based
energy storage across 13 nations. One of
those is the worlds largest lithium-ion
project near San Diego.

August 2017 | 5
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_5 5 8/3/17 5:03 PM

 NOTES
DOMINION GETS CORPS APPROVAL FOR CONTROVERSIAL LINE OVER JAMES RIVER
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
has granted Dominion Energy a final
permit to proceed with a towering power
transmission line above the James River
in Virginia. Project opponents say it will
blight the views in one of the countrys
most historic areas.
The utility has said its Surry-Skiffes
Creek transmission line near Jamestown
is urgently needed to provide reliable
electric service to Virginias peninsula
region, where two coal-fired power units
were recently retired. The project, already
approved by state regulators, will include
a 500-kV portion that will cross about 4
miles of the James River lofted by 17 tow-
ers, some rising as high as 295 feet.
The line will traverse the James within
Virginias Historic Triangle, a concentra-
tion of attractions that date to the nations
founding. Besides Jamestown, founded
in 1607, the region includes Colonial
Williamsburg, Yorktown and Carters
Grove, a Colonial-era plantation.
XCEL ENERGY OFFERING POTENTIAL SOLAR
GARDEN CONNECTION FOR LOW-INCOME CUSTOMERS
Xcel Energy has proposed a pilot pro-
gram giving low-income Minnesota cus-
tomers more access to renewable energy.
In what Xcel called a first of its
kind program, the utility will partner
with Energy CENTS Coalition to help
residents in St. Pauls Railroad Island
community subscribe to a local com-
munity solar garden. The proposal for
the community solar garden was filed
6 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_6 6
It is extremely disappointing that the
Army Corps has agreed to let this destructive
project move forward. These transmission
James River
towers, many the size of the Statue of Liberty,
would deface a landscape that has stood for
400 years, Theresa Pierno, president and
CEO of the National Parks Conservation
Association, said in a statement.
The conservation association is among
numerous other preservation and envi-
ronmental groups that oppose the project.
We will continue to fight to protect historic
Jamestown and are considering all options,
including legal action, Pierno said.
Company spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson
said Dominion carefully considered
where the line would cross the James River
June 30 with the Minnesota Public
Utilities Commission. Xcel Energy
will also seek approval to expand the
programs offerings to help residents
in this community save energy and
lower their energy bills.
Were excited to work with Energy
CENTS Coalition and roll out a locally
driven, grass roots project that gives the
community access to solar energy while
to reduce impacts on views and the envi-
ronment. The area also has views of a theme
park, a sewage plant, condominiums and
other commercial facilities, she said.
Dominion also pledged about $90
million in mitigation measures, includ-
ing land conservation, shoreline pro-
tection and environmental initiatives
in an agreement reached with the state,
the Army Corps and the Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation.
The Army Corps sign-off means the
only outstanding regulatory hurdle for the
project is a county-level special use permit
for a switching station.
The project is expected to take 18 to 20
months to complete.
finding ways to reduce their energy usage,
said Chris Clark, president, Xcel Energy-
Minnesota. This program has great poten-
tial to save energy and increase renewable
energy for this community and beyond.
Energy CENTS Coalition and its commu-
nity partner, Daytons Bluff Neighborhood
Housing Services, will work with Xcel
Energy on the project. Xcel Energy also
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
8/3/17 5:03 PM
 STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

CRITTERS CAUSE HAVOC

ACROSS THE GRID WORLD
Mankind may hold dominion over all creatures great and
smallor so he and she thinksbut sometimes the critters
take their crack inside the comfort zone.
Two stories recently show how animals invaded power sys-
tems to cause outages in the U.S. and Africa. A snake slipped
into a substation to cut service to Duke Energy customers in
South Carolina, while a baboon knocked out power to a town
in Zambia.
The baboon interfered with machinery at a power station
in a tourist town near Victoria Falls, knocking out power to
tens of thousands of people for several hours. State broadcaster
ZNBC said the blackout affected residents in Livingstone and
surrounding areas and reports that it was caused by an accident
involving a curious animal.
ZNBC quotes power utility spokesman Henry Kapata
as saying the baboon survived an electric shock and was
handed over to wildlife offi-
cials for care.
People on social media joked
about possible sabotage by the
baboon, recalling that President
Edgar Lungu has announced
extra police powers to deal with
alleged security challenges amid
increasing political tension.
One Twitter user says the
baboon is not believed to be
politically inclined.
Meanwhile, the Associated
Press also quoted utility officials saying a snake caused a power
outage that left more than 4,000 customers without electricity in
Greenville County, South Carolina.
Duke Energy spokesman Ryan Mosier told media outlets
a snake crawled into a substation, disrupted service and
left Greenville County residents in the dark for about 90
minutes.
Mosier says the utility constantly works to improve its
barriers to prevent snakes, squirrels and birds from crawling
into the electrical equipment at substations and causing out-
ages. He said, however, its not uncommon, especially this
time of year. Mosier said small animals remain a big reason
for power outages.

August 2017 | 7 Go to pgi.hotims.com for more information.

www.power-grid.com

1708pg_7 7 8/3/17 5:03 PM

 NOTES
BY ROD WALTON, SENIOR EDITOR
SOUTHWEST POWER POOL DISSOLVING ENFORCEMENT ENTITY TO FOCUS ON RTO
Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is eliminat-
ing its role as a regional enforcer of grid rules
to focus purely as a regional transmission
organization involved in reliability coordina-
tion, market operations and planning.
Bowing to a nationwide movement
among U.S. grid organizations, SPP is dis-
solving its SPP Regional Entity (RE) by the
end of next year. In the meantime, the SPP
Regional Transmission Authority (RTO) has
expanded its oversight from eight to 14 cen-
tral and southwest states in the past decade.
Given that the footprints of the SPP
RTO and SPP RE no longer aligndue to
our significant growth over the last decade
and in light of further potential expansion
opportunities to the west. . . (the orga-
nizations leadership) made the strategic
decision to focus on our core functions of
reliability coordination, wholesale market
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
will work with Thor Construction to
develop a 0.5 MW community solar gar-
den for the Railroad Island community.
Through this program, subscriptions
will be available without a long-term
commitment or a check of a subscrib-
ers credit score, which are common
requirements for most community solar
gardens in Minnesota. In addition, sub-
scribers would not be responsible for any
up-front payments and can terminate the
contract at any time.
8 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_8 8
operations and transmission planning. I
believe this is in the long-term best inter-
est of SPP and our members, SPP CEO
Nick Brown said in a statement.
The North American Electric Reliability
Corp. (NERC) and Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) must
approve the termination of the SPP RE.
NERC already has given its encourage-
ment for the move.
Once formally approved, all sides must
smoothly transition those enforcement
duties over 120 electric utilities to anoth-
er compliance authority.
SPP pledged to keep the REs 24
employees in the 605-person workforce.
The RE will keep its oversight function
until a transition is completed by no later
than Dec. 31, 2018.
The regional enforcement entity was created
Building the community solar gar-
den will be the first step in offering
Railroad Island residents a complete
solution to help with their energy bills.
Xcel Energy will also be working with
the community through the companys
Partners in Energy offering to promote
access to the community solar garden
and energy conservation.
Elements of this part of the pro-
gram will include a free Home Energy
Squad visit for low income customers
10 years ago as part of a FERC-approved
agreement between SPP and NERC. The RE
covered all or part of Arkansas, Oklahoma,
Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri,
New Mexico and Texas.
SPPs dual mandate, however, is a dying
breed, the last from that time to operate both
as an RTO and RE. The Florida Reliability
Coordinating Council is the only registered
entity handling such enforcement duties.
SPP was founded in 1941 when 11
regional power companies pooled their
resources to keep Arkansas Jones Mill
powered around the clock in support
of critical, national defense needs. It
now oversees power supply, transmission
infrastructure and competitive wholesale
electricity prices for a 546,000-square-
mile region including more than 60,000
miles of high-voltage transmission lines.
where experts identify and install low-
cost efficiency measures and provide
energy conservation tips. Pending
approvals, this program is expected to
launch in 2018.
Railroad Island, a community of about
2,200 people, was selected because many
customers qualify for low income home
energy assistance programs, live in older
homes that use more energy and experi-
ence a spike in electrical usage during the
winter months.
8/3/17 5:03 PM
 EYE ON THE WORLD
Blackouts Lasting more than 24 Hours hit Gaza last Month
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
The electricity supply to Gazas 2 million residents has dropped
to unprecedented lows, with blackouts lasting for more than 24
hours, the territorys power distribution company said, prompt-
ing fears of a humanitarian and environmental crisis.
The Palestinian enclave needs at least 400 megawatts of
power a day, but only 70 megawatts were available as of late
Wednesday, July 12, when Gazas power plant shut down after
fuel shipments from Egypt were interrupted following a militant
attack a week earlier.
The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the
power cuts have caused a rapid deterioration in basic services,
especially health and environmental services, including water
and sewage draining.
The coastal strip had already been experiencing the worst
electricity shortage in years, limiting Gazans to about four hours
of electricity per day.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently asked Israel,
the main provider of power to Gaza, to cut shipments as a way
of pressuring the Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized
power in Gaza a decade ago.
Electrify Europe will Charge into Vienna in 2018
BY KELVIN ROSS, EDITOR, POWER ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE
POWER-GEN Europe marked its 25th anniversary by opening a
new chapter in the history of European energy industry trade shows.
The shows owner, Pennwell Corp., unveiled Electrify Europe,
the worlds first event dedicated to the convergence in the
power generation and transmission and distribution sectors.
Embracing the new pillars of the 21st century energy sys-
temdigitization, decentralization, electrification and customer
engagementthe conference and exhibition will be held June
19-21, 2018, at the Messe Wien in Vienna.
Glenn Ensor, managing director of Pennwells International
Division, said the new show was responding to a dramatic shift
in the European power market.
Electrify Europe is an entirely new concept designed to fos-
ter information exchange between established and new players
for the creation of advanced solutions across an entire electricity
value network that has the customer as its focus, Ensor said.
Inspiring thought leadership, collaboration and innovation,
Electrify Europe unites every aspect of the European market to
transform the future of electricity.
Representing an evolution built on 25 years of Pennwells
POWER-GEN Europe Conference and Exhibition and incorporat-
ing DistribuTECHNorth Americas leading event for utilities
1708pg_9 9
Several neighborhoods were without electricity for more than
24 hours on July 13.
Diesel fuel from neighboring Egypt had kept the station run-
ning at half capacity since June 21, but deliveries
were interrupted after a deadly attack on Egyptian
soldiers (the week of July 3) near the border. Gazas
power station has low storage capacity, and requires
new fuel shipments on an almost daily basis.
Abbas has tried to squeeze Hamas financially
in recent months, hoping to force it to cede power.
He slashed salaries of his employees there, stopped
payments for ex-prisoners and reinstated heavy
taxes on the power plants fuel.
Palestinians have been split since 2007, with AP Photo credit
Hamas ruling Gaza and Abbas governing parts of the West
Bank. Repeated reconciliation attempts have failed.
The Egyptian diesel shipments were facilitated by Mohammed
Dahlan, a former leading figure in Abbas Fatah movement who fell
out with the Palestinian president in 2010, went into exile and has
since forged strong ties with the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
transmission and distribution businessesElectrify Europe will
attract key economic sectors in the energy space.
Fundamental change is taking place in Europe in how
electricity will be generated, delivered and consumed, Ensor
added. Essential new relationships with heating, cooling and
transportation are being forged. Digital technology is enabling
this change by empowering consumers, delivering sustainability
and ushering in new participants to
provide innovative energy services. This
is disruptive change, and while it will
bring about some uncertainty, it also
creates exciting opportunities for the
smartest and best prepared.
Featuring a multi-track conference
and simultaneous exhibition, Electrify
Europe will meet a genuine market
need for a platform that provides clar-
ity, facilitates connections, and drives
Viennas Mess Wien center
the industry forward. With more than 12,000 attendees and 450
exhibitors expected, Electrify Europe will offer the continents
largest hub for information, networking and lead generation.
For further information, visit www.electrify-europe.com.
August 2017 | 9
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:03 PM
 BY MICHAEL WIEBE, MW CONSULTING
You Dont Have to be
to Rule the (Smart City) World
Arkansas Community Declares Itself Smartest City in the World
C onway Corp. (Conway, Arkansas) is a leader in
adopting innovative technologies and processes to
enhance the value of the services it provides to its local
community. The company operates the city-owned utility
system and provides electric, water, wastewater, cable,
internet, telephone and security services for the nearly
65,000 residents of the Conway community. It recently
unveiled details of its citywide advanced meter and street-
light upgrade program. The municipal utilitys 1 gigabit
broadband Digital Nervous System (DNS), which it
added to its customer offerings in 2016, was the perfect
foundation to extend the digital meter infrastructure to
the field.
Conway Corp. was incorporated in 1929 and soon
after that began operating the city electric plant. t.
Shortly after incorporation, it took over the city ys
water system and then in 1957 its wastewater plants. nts.
10 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_10 10
BIG
In 1980, keeping pace with Conways
growth, Conway Corp. purchased a 2-per-
cent interest in two coal-fired, steam-gen-
erating plants and completed construction
on the city-owned cable system. In 1995,
the company spent about $5.6 million to
rebuild its hybrid-fiber-coax infrastruc-
ture, making way for the 1997 launch of
cable internet service. The launch made
it the third company in the country and
fifth in North America to offer high-
speed, broadband cable internet ser-
vice. In December 2016, the com-
pany launched a 1 gigabit internet
offering for residential customers
citywide.
In May, Conway Corp. unveiled
Photo courtesy Conway Area Chamber of Commerce
8/4/17 1:12 PM
 details of its citywide advanced meter
upgrade project. In addition to the instal-
lation of advanced metering infrastruc-
ture (AMI) for electric and water meters,
the company will install advanced tech-
nology street light controls. The tech-
nology solution will include a two-way
mesh radio network, enhanced elec-
tric meters, water meter communication
modules and a meter data management
system.
The advanced metering technology
and streetlight controls, coupled with its
existing hybrid-fiber-coax network, pegs
Conway as the smartest city in the world,
per Conway Corp.s recent press release.
This project provides a continued
vision to enhance operational excel-
lence and customer service through an
advanced metering solution, Conway
Corp. CEO Bret Carroll said in the press
release Once fully deployed and in addi-
tion to the obvious immediate benefits,
Conway Corp. will use the platform to
Senior Meterman Preston Glover stands in front of some of Conway Corp.s smart meters. Courtesy Conway Corp.
1708pg_11 11
optimize its infrastructure and resource
planning and provide future enhanced
services to our customers.
The knowledge gained during Conway
Corp.s DNS architecture and program
development and launch would be an
asset during the buildout of the advanced
meter and streetlight upgrade program,
however, the company felt it needed a
consulting partner to assist with project
planning and implementation. Through a
request for qualifications (RFQ) process,
Conway Corp. selected MW Consulting
to be its partner on the project.
MW Consulting helped Conway Corp.
create a smart utility vision, strategy and
business case using a series of workshops
and follow-up activities. A template model
of benefit and cost insights from prior
projects was used to document a business
case looking at cost, benefit and risk. To
ensure precision and a full understanding
of the value of electric and water upgrades
as well as smart streetlighting, standalone
business cases were developed for each
business line. They were then consolidat-
ed to represent total benefits.
During this process, the Internet of
Things (IoT) paradigm was mentioned
only modestly and occasionally. Within a
matter of months, however, IoT became
one of the hottest topics published and
suppliers began fine tuning their mar-
keting messaging around products being
developed to support IoT.
Conway Corp. sought to understand
whether the IoT concept created value
for this project. The company wanted to
know if and how IoT related to Conways
consumers, businesses and associated
city operations.
With our new systems multi-technol-
ogy flexibility and an open IPv6 capa-
ble and standards compliant network,
Conway will be able to integrate with
third-party technologies to expand the
benefits over time as needed.
Conway already has a 1 gigabyte per
second hybrid fiber-coax cable system
used to provide voice, video and data
services in the city of Conway. We will
soon be positioned to look into the
projects next phase where we want to
explore the ability to leverage this infra-
structure in the delivery of electricity,
water and streetlighting services to our
customers, said Carroll.
The company and its partner MW
Consulting concluded its metering and
streetlight upgrade should be viewed as
an extension of its DNS architecture to
create a connected field area comprised
of many thousands of electric, water and
streetlight endpoints.
The business cases included the follow-
ing expected and unexpected benefits:
a. Meter Reading and Billing Improving
meter reading and billing performance
August 2017 | 11
www.power-grid.com
8/4/17 1:12 PM
 reduces customer complaints and
inquiries, staff time spent address-
ing exceptions and the need to dis-
patch field crews to obtain validation
readings. The use of a disconnect/
reconnect switch for single phase
electric meters significantly reduces
the required truck rolls to support
customer move-ins and move-outs
and credit related transactions. This
feature is significant because Conway
is home to three colleges with com-
bined student enrollment of more
than 16,000 students.
b. Water Leak Detection Better leak
detection improves repair and min-
imizes revenue loss by reducing
operating costs for water plants and
improving water conservation.
c. Electric Outage and Restoration
Better outage Identification and assess-
ment allows faster and more efficient
response, which in turn reduces outage
durations and the cost to respond.
d. Tamper and Theft Detection
Identifying theft or tampering situa-
tions or both, reduces non-technical
losses and increases revenue.
e. Unauthorized Use Identifying
unauthorized use of services with
alarms and alerts prevents unbilled
usage and identifies unauthorized
diversion of electric power, again
reducing non-technical losses and
increasing revenue.
f. Meter Maintenance Utilizing data
monitoring capabilities to detect and
respond to malfunctioning or failed
meters quicker minimizes technical losses.
The company also found the value of
12 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_12 12
smart streetlighting, and could document
operational benefits in addition to energy
savings by converting to LED luminaires.
Once the benefits and business cases
were identified, the next step was the
request for proposal (RFP) process to
select a vendor. Each suppliers solu-
tions were viewed in terms of network,
endpoints, IT/OT and services that met
vision strategy and business case goals.
Landis+Gyr was selected as the solu-
tion partner. Conway Corp. is deploy-
ing an RF mesh network that connects
electric and water meters, as well as
streetlight controls. These will be used
in conjunction with Conway Corp.s LED
streetlight upgrade program.
With the data available from the new
endpoints, Conway Corp.s technology
department is working on new custom-
er applications that will use the knowl-
edge gained from this additional data.
The company is designing business
processes to detect usage patterns that
suggest potential water leaks and back-
flow conditions. The new volumes of
endpoint information such as usage,
demand, voltage and outage data will
be used to feed engineering system
models for more accurate analysis and
prediction results.
Landis+Gyrs Gridstream AMI solution
is being implemented to provide Conway
Photo courtesy Conway Area Chamber of Commerce
Corp. with the foundation to optimize
its operations and enhance customer
service. In addition, becoming a smart
IoT city is important to the community
and its important to Conway Corp. that
it be seen as a technology leader. This
project is, therefore, an important one.
The company believes an IoT powered
city can help the community retain busi-
nesses, attract new ones and increase job
satisfaction for employees.
We are excited to have this project
underway and are thankful to be working
with MW Consulting and Landis+Gyr to
help us accomplish our goals, Carroll
said. We believe Conway, Conway Corp.
and our customers will benefit for years
to come.
Michael Wiebe is presi-
dent of MW Consulting and
author of A Guide to Utility
Automation. Since 1996,
MW Consulting has created
value for utilities by helping
them excel in enhancing operational, financial,
environmental, and customer programs. Wiebe
leads the companys team that includes:profes-
sional engineers and ex-utility managers with
expertise in customer service, IT, OT, networks
and security. MW Consulting has supported
utilities in 15 countries,creating industry-leading
visions and projects. For more information, visit
www.mwconsultingcorp.com or contact Wiebe
at 404-915-4991 or mwiebe@mwconsulting-
corp.com.
8/3/17 5:03 PM

Stay
Alert
BYLINE
Headline
deck
Paying
@1708PG13-14-w01.docx@
Attention
ti
to the Signs
Situational Awareness is key to
Operating the Emerging Smart City Infrastructure
BY TONY BOGOVIC, VENCORE LABS
U tilities at the forefront of advanced
technology are moving beyond the
smart grid to a more advanced connect-
ed infrastructure, as smart city initiatives
are becoming the norm for cities around
the world. From city infrastructure to the
grid, internet-connected devices are now an
important part of communities. With such a
wide range of use for these Internet of Things
(IoT) devices, it is the utility grid operators,
city officials and ultimately citizens them-
selves who rely on this technology.
The utilities-driven advanced metering
infrastructure (AMI) technology was one
of the first steps to a connected city. It
was created by smart electric, gas and
water meters connected to the smart grid
1708pg_13 13
Risk
Ahead
and the communication between the util-
ities and the customer. Nowadays, AMI
is positioned as a foundation for technol-
ogy to evolve to multiservice networks
with a multiplicity of applications that
support city infrastructures.
These multiservice networks and
applications include smart meters, smart
streetlights, urban sensors, tolling, intelli-
gent vehicles and moreall applications
used daily. For cities to understand the
need and business value of smart devices,
utility IT and OT teams must know what
is on the network and be able to identify,
analyze and respond to any anomalous
events detected. With the ability to mon-
itor in real-time, utilities and cities can
Pay
Attention
gain a better understanding of the net-
works health to keep devices connected
and private information secure.
As smart city infrastructure continues
to evolve and grow, continuous monitor-
ing of IoT health and security is needed
to ensure visibility and situational aware-
ness of the networks. If one device expe-
riences an outage or cyber-attack, then
the all network devices could be at risk.
SMART CITY INFRASTRUCTURE
EVOLUTION
From public transportation that relies
on the smart grid to move from loca-
tion to location to streetlights turning
on at dusk, everyday events and their
August 2017 | 13
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:03 PM
 supporting devices are connected to the
network. Intelligent technology to support
city infrastructure is not new. What started as
AMI networks to support utilities has led to a
range of IoT devices that connect to the smart
grid and support a range of city services.
What makes smart city devices unique
is their ability to send small amounts of
data over long distancesacross networks
of cities, counties and municipalities of all
sizes. The devices s low-power consump-
tion enables them to produce the requisite
amount of data to keep the network
running, while also lso sending and receiv-
ing data payloads ds at the same time. A
plethora of differentent devices and sensors
are connected to the smart city infrastruc-
ture. Because these se devices are relatively
inexpensive to implement,
mplement, theyve been
deployed in largee numbers. When con-
nected to the grid, rid, these devices allow
quick decisions too be made based solely
on data.
Even though devices collectively pro-
duce high volumes of data onto the
network, only a small percentage of the
data reaches the backend systems in the
operations center, including local data
centers. In fact, 80 to 90 percent of the
pertinent data stays within the mesh net-
work. With such a high volume of data
remaining on the network and out of the
data center, monitoring is the only true
way to analyze the data from each device.
Utilities have some of the largest
deployments of connected devices. As
more devices are connected, more data
is produced and collected. More data
brings more opportunities for utilities
and cities to gain intuitive insights. This
influx of information, however, can be
overwhelming for utility grid operators,
and, correspondingly, more challeng-
ing to manage and secure. This leads
to higher risks for cyberattacks as the
14 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_14 14
attack surface grows. Every new device
and connection represents a potential
vulnerability, making real-time network
monitoring increasingly important.
IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING
Grid operators can create significant
benefits with real-time grid and IoT
device monitoring and actionable intel-
ligence. Detection, analysis and
an response
These multiservice networks and applications
include smart meters, smart streetlights,
urban sensors, tolling, intelligent vehicles
and moreall applications used daily.
to both operational and cybersecurity
cyb
anomalies can mitigate or even
eve prevent
problems. The benefits of continuous
c against utilities technology could lead to
monitoring span across operat
operations, trou-
bleshooting and security, and iinclude:
Improved awareness: With con-
tinuous monitoring, grid operators
can achieve visibility over the net-
work, ensuring they know whats
happening at all times and gaining
independent ground truth, which
leads to quicker troubleshooting of
network problems.
Enhanced optimization: In support
of an expanding set of utility/city
services, monitoring and making
the appropriate network/IoT adjust-
ments helps ensure smooth and effi-
cient operations.
Quicker response time: In the
case of a cyberattack or a mal-
functioning device, operators can
respond more quickly to threats on
the networkresponding as soon
as a threat is detected.
More secure networks: Because
threats can be mitigated quickly with
continuous monitoring, networks
that are continuously monitored
tend to be more secure than those
that are not.
Real-time monitoring of the grid and all
connected devices can guard data integri-
ty, while also protecting citizens personal
information. This activity ensures, for
example, that sensitive credit card data
from smart parking meters is secure,
while electricity around the city remains
on. Without monitoring, cyberattacks
much more than a power outage. It could
lead to hackers taking control of the grid
and causing critical infrastructure failure.
With proper monitoring and analysis,
grid controllers can ensure the right data
is encrypted to ensure security. This not
only increases the network protection,
it improves overall network operations.
Monitoring also allows each device
connected to the grid to be measured
for effectiveness. If one device is under-
performing and hurting the network, or
even if a device is helping the network,
monitoring can detect and report this.
Real-time dashboards, for example, can
observe unusual and recurring periods
of decreased field traffic due to network
radio frequency interference. Real-time
monitoring technology can pinpoint a
malfunctioning device that is interfer-
ing with the networks success. Because
most of these AMI systems operate in
the public ISM band of 902 to 928MHz,
the particular devices impacted by this
interference can be the smart meters and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
8/3/17 5:03 PM
 BY CHARLIE NOBLES, SENSUS
Key Considerations
When Starting Your IoT Journey
I n a short time, the Internet of Things
(IoT) has gone from being a blip on the
horizon to an industry game-changer, and
municipalities and utilities are rushing to get
in on the action.
Realizing an opportunity to harness
smart applications to improve the lives
of citizens, municipalities and utilities
have begun to explore investments in
technology make IoT a reality. In doing
so, they have laid out visions for a con-
nected infrastructure to enhance safety,
communication and service in their cities
and communities. In many cases, those
who have invested in technologies like
advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)
are realizing that the technology to bring
IoT to life has been there all along.
For those who havent begun their IoT
1708pg_15 15
journey, beginning the process can seem
daunting. Which applications should
they start with? What factors should they
consider when looking to deploy?
The following are some key steps
municipalities and utilities should con-
sider when beginning to explore an IoT
implementation to help start their jour-
ney off on the right foot.
OPEN THE LINES OF
COMMUNICATION
First, its important to note that, when
deploying smart applications, the goals of
municipalities and utilities often overlap.
Both seek to extend advanced capabilities
to as many citizens as possible and to use
these capabilities to meet their unique
needs. Therefore, its critical that these
entities are in continuous communication
about how to best make this happen.
Utilities and municipalities should
understand the diverse requirements of
their constituents so they can make
certain that applications are deployed in
areas where they will do the most good.
The instinct may be to direct benefits to
population-dense locations where they
will reach the most people. Yet these
might not be the ideal areas for those
deployments for any number of reasons.
Think, for example, of a rural area with
a high crime rate. Smart lighting applica-
tions including enhanced dimming and
flashing capabilities could help lower
crime and improve community safety.
Without officials asking for IoT technolo-
gies to be installed in their municipality, the
likelihood is that smart lighting and other
smart applications could be deployed in
more urban or population-dense areas.
August 2017 | 15
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 Think squeaky wheel.
Municipalities of all sizes should be
contacting their utilities regularly to make
their voices heard. Likewise, utilities
should incorporate feedback from all of
their customers, not just those in the
areas with the greatest population density.
Regular communication between these
entities will help ensure smart city imple-
mentations are reaching those customers
best positioned to benefit from them.
DETERMINE THE RIGHT
APPLICATIONS
The next step is to determine which
applications will be the first ones deployed
in the IoT initiative. This does not have to
be an all-or-nothing proposition. Any new
investments should first be deployed in a
pilot with desired outcomes and a mech-
anism to collect data and measure the
pilots success. With that data in hand, the
utility can then determine whether a full
rollout should take place.
SO WHICH APPLICATIONS OFFER
THE MOST IMMEDIATE BENEFIT?
For many utilities, smart lighting offers
the best test case for an IoT implemen-
tation for several reasons. First, smart
lighting can leverage existing assets (i.e.,
streetlight poles), so it doesnt require large
investment in new infrastructure. Next,
lighting can offer benefits to the communi-
ty that are easily and quickly recognizable
to citizens, such as in the streetlight safety
scenario mentioned earlier. Finally, IoT
deployments for smart lighting can have
tremendous cost benefits from reduced
energy and maintenance costs. Like flip-
ping on a switch to turn on a light, they
can demonstrate bottom-line impactfast.
By simply adding IoT sensors to street-
light poles in a specified vicinity, you can
turn those poles into smart assets that
16 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_16 16
help monitor everything from the weather
and air quality to traffic. They can even
help police detect the location where gun-
shots were fired. While there are myriad
other potential IoT applications available
across the power grid, lighting solutions
produce a fast return on investment (ROI)
that can help build a business case for a
full IoT rollout and future deployments.
CHOOSE THE BEST
COMMUNICATION NETWORK
The right communication network is
critical to the success of a smart city imple-
mentation. This technology has evolved in
recent years, resulting in multiple options
for municipalities and utilities. Making the
right choice is essential, and it starts with
education to understand which network
will provide the greatest ROI.
Public mesh networks are sometimes
considered the answer, but they come
with several drawbacks that can leave
many residents underserved. These short-
comings include difficulty connecting end
points in more rural areas or locations
with diverse terrain, such as mountains or
coastlines. In addition, public mesh net-
works frequently carry latency and device
battery life issues due to the high number
of device-to-device transmissions.
As an alternative, many utilities and
municipalities have deployed private net-
works that offer two-way communication
over a licensed spectrum that uses a STAR
network design. This type of network can
offer point-to-multipoint connectivity for
faster data transmission and more flexibil-
ity for deploying various IoT applications.
When combined with smart meters and
sensors, it can leverage existing assets like
streetlights to transform current infrastruc-
ture into smart infrastructure. In addition,
these two-way networks offer the ability to
transmit to and from hard-to-reach areas
that mesh systems struggle with. Finally,
flexible deployment options provide bet-
ter scalability than mesh, opening the
door for the ability to integrate new uses
and connectivity options to meet a citys
population growth and future needs.
Taken together, the benefits offered
by point-to-multipoint, licensed com-
munication networks make them worth
consideration for any municipality or
utility struggling with how to deploy
smart infrastructure.
CONNECT THE RIGHT DEVICES
The next thing to consider is which
devices to connect to the network to
power the applications being deployed.
For IoT, this means any device that can
communicate with the network either
continually or at fixed intervals.
Utilities and municipalities must
first decide whether they will use bat-
tery-powered devices, mains-powered
devices or a mix of both. For most smart
lighting scenarios, battery devices are
ideal as they can affix to streetlight poles
without having to connect to a prima-
ry power source. There may be some
instances where mains-powered devices
are needed, such as those when contin-
uous communication with the network is
required. Regardless of which devices are
implemented, its important that the net-
work in question is designed to efficiently
manage both types of devices.
Another important consideration is
simply what utilities need the device to
do, and what the vision may be for future
applications that leverage it. They may
want to use the sensor device to remotely
monitor systems and retrieve datasuch
as temperature and power levelsbut
have other uses in mind for which they
might want to extend it. In this case, they
should think about how they might want
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 to expand the functionality of the device
and make sure to invest in a device that
will support this added use.
Finally, the devil is in the details. Its
important to consider specific features
offered in a device to get the most out
of the investment, particularly if the
utility plans to deploy a large number of
devices. Does a device prevent theft and
tampering by communicating user-con-
figured alarms? Does it facilitate flexible
and scalable installation through the sys-
tem, including remote locations? These
types of considerations are critical when
looking for an IoT sensor, as they can be
necessary differentiators that will help
n third party. Moreover, once the network is
maximize the value of an investment.
max
WHAT A ABOUT SECURITY?
High-profile data breaches occurring in
High-pro
recent years have driven considerable press
coverage, and many utilities and munic-
ipalities, as w
well as their customers, are
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
collectors. With monitoring, the mal-
function can be quickly repaired with
minimal disruption.
The tremendous growth of smart grid
and smart city technology is another rea-
son to monitor networks. Our increas-
ingly connected world makes growth in
these areas inevitable. The fast pace at
which networks are evolving, along with
their sheer complexity and size, often
leads to device misconfigurations, expos-
ing unencrypted AMI and Distributed
Network Protocol (DNP3) trafficthe
communication protocols between auto-
mation systems. When not properly con-
figured, these communication protocols
can lead to security issues that negatively
impact operations. To help mitigate this
risk, grid operators and IT/OT sup-
port teams must continuously validate
1708pg_17 17
justifiably concerned about the potential
for data theft and loss. With so much data
being transmitted between IoT sensors and
the communication network, its critical
to ensure that the network in question
uses end-to-end security to help protect
against possible breaches, theft or tamper-
ing. These kinds of outcomes can wreak
havoc on a system and cause customers to
quickly lose faith in the utilitys or munici-
palitys ability to harness technology.
Because of this, municipalities and
utilities must consider a network with
industry-standard AES-256 encryption
that has been audited by an independent
deployed, the administrator must set poli-
cies to protect data from loss or theft. Those
policies should include restrictions around
which data individual operators in the data
center can access. Finally, municipalities
and utilities must invest in authentication
and firewall capabilities to provide further
controls security as they continue to
expand the number of devices in the
network.
THE FUTURE OF THE SMART CITY
INFRASTRUCTURE
The future for electric utilities is bright
with the technological innovations that
can help growth and operational effi-
ciency. The smart grid will continue to
connect with smart devices, building up
more information and insights that will
help power the infrastructure of cities
of all sizes. Continuous monitoring is
one key in achieving greater situational
awareness and ensuring the grid is oper-
ating correctly and remains secure.
With proper monitoring, utility grid
operators, city officials and citizens can
be sure that data and the technology that
peace of mind and add those extra layers of
protection to the solution.
CONCLUSION
For all the benefits IoT stands poised to offer,
its no wonder that some municipalities and
utilities are reticent to deploy it, as all the fac-
tors to consider can seem daunting. By asking
the right questions and considering the right
factors, such as the communication network,
applications and devices being deployed and
security of the infrastructure, municipalities
and utilities will take the right first steps
toward realizing these benefits and improv-
ing the lives of the citizens they serve.
Charlie Nobles is marketing director for light-
ing solutions at Sensus and leads all related
marketing and commercialization efforts. He
has a bachelors degree in engineering and
a masters degree in mechanical engineering
and control theory, both from Duke University.
Charlie also holds an MBA from Kenan-Flagler
Business School at the University of North Car-
olina at Chapel Hill.
houses the data remains secure, effective
and functional to support the critical
infrastructure relied on by many.
Tony Bogovic is vice pres-
ident, advanced consult-
ing and engineering, at
Vencore Labs. Bogovic is a
seasoned management
and technology leader,
having held multiple positions within Bellcore,
Telcordia, Applied Communication Sciences
and Vencore Labs. As head of the advanced
consulting and engineering group, he directs
the development and delivery of solutions and
services across a wide spectrum of telecom-
munications operations, security and network
management technologies and integrated
systems. Bogovic has held leadership industry
positions in areas ranging from next genera-
tion networking to operations support systems.
He holds a Master of Science degree in electri-
cal engineering from Columbia University.
August 2017 | 17
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 BY CRAIG CAVANAUGH, OMNETRIC GROUP

Community Energy
The Pull of Potential Economic Benefits
WHATS FUELING COMMUNITY ENERGY?
C ommunity energy initiativescoali-
tions of consumer groups, business-
es, local governments or simply groups of
Energy technologies, such as solar PV and storage have matured and proliferated in less
than half a decade, bringing down the related costs. We are seeing growing recognition
neighbors dedicated to generating and dis- from U.S. and European citizens that community energy schemes are economically via-
tributing their own energyhave increased ble. OMNETRIC Groups analysis shows that the cost savings from a community energy
rapidly in recent years and will likely con- scheme already could be enough to prompt consumers to make the switch. OMNETRIC
tinue to do so. At least 5,000 community Group estimates that a single household could make a one-off saving of nearly $4,000
groups in the UK explored the opportunity from a community energy scheme compared to going it alone, while also effectively
between 2009 and 2015, while the Rocky hedging against rises in energy prices. While the sum is not life-changing for most con-
Mountain Institute (RMI) estimated that the sumers, it makes the switch a choice of reason, rather than principle.
community-scale solar market for munici- The potential for economic benefitcost savings realized and new value generated
pal and cooperative utilities could exceed 10 is targeted by a group of partners working on a smart ggrid project
p j in Rotterdam,, the
gigawatts through 2020. Netherlands.
Current media and industry noise
would suggest that this rise in com-
munity energy groups is driven by
sustainability aspirations. OMNETRIC C
Groups recent research study high- igh-
lighted, however, that while sustain- tain-
ability is important, and often n the
initial impetus to considering ng a
community energy scheme, me,
the primary goal of com- om-
munity energy initiatives ives
is economic. The peo- eo-
ple involved in these ese
initiatives cite the
potential for more ore
affordable energy, as
well as the oppor- or-
tunity to keep the
value generated by
their local energy rgy
system inside the he
community.

18 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_18 18 8/3/17 5:04 PM

 The city of Rotterdam, Dutch system operator Stedin, independent aggregator Lyv
Smart Living and Siemens are working with OMNETRIC Group to implement a dis-
tributed energy management system across the city starting in the Merwe-Vierhavens
harbor area. The system will enable more flexible management of energy demands
and generation across the district, reducing congestion on the electricity grid and
providing savings in energy and distribution cost.
The smart grid will also stimulate investment in more sustainable electricity genera-
tion and innovation related to electricity storage, as well as lower investments related to
future grid build-out. The citys aldermen believe that in addition to the emission reduc-
tions it brings, there is an opportunity to build economic and sustainable value for the
district and to expand the model more broadly across the city and surrounding areas.
WHERE DO UTILITIES FIT IN?
The economic ambitions of many community energy initiatives cannot be achieved
without energy expertise and dedicated resource. This can drive the creation of new
roles. For example, Lyv Smart Living, the aggregator in the Rotterdam project, will
manage the solution that will enable the creation of new energy-related services for
the citys residents and local businesses, as well as for the regulated network operator,
Stedin, with which they are closely collaborating. Stedin brings deep technical com-
petence around how to safely and reliably manage the smart grid.
petenc
Some communities
com are attracting experienced professionals from the energy
sector to make the new energy economy a reality. While consumers
enthusiasm for community energy is growing, however, a
enthusi
lack of in-depth technology and business knowledge
has h
held some schemes back.
One source of such support could be the
On
traditional utility providers. There could
tradi
be bbenefits to getting in front of this
new model.
There are, broadly speaking,
T
three possible models utili-
thre
ties can employ to help them
adapt to the rise of communi-
ada
ty eenergy:
1.C
1.Collaborative Community
Partnerparticipating as
Par
a technical observer and
sounding board
sou
2.Community
2.C Service
Providerconsulting to
Pro
communities and providing
com
eco-system solutions that
eco
meet their unique energy
me
needs
nee
1708pg_19 19
3.Community Energy Platform Provider
acting as a market maker, utilities can
develop and package a suite of solu-
tions for communities designed to
enable communities active participa-
tion in energy distribution
Some utilities are already actively pur-
suing the first two roles. The third offers
an additional step and a way for utilities
not only to play a role in growing the
emerging community energy market, but
also to shape it.
A new energy economy is emerging,
driven by the economic benefits on offer.
This focus on energy affordability, com-
bined with technological advancements
and growing expertise, means that ener-
gy supply is no longer the reserve of the
traditional players.
By getting closer and sharing the knowl-
edge needed for community energy initia-
tives to grow, utilities will be able to benefit
from the opportunities that unfold.
Craig Cavanaugh is regional
CEO of OMNETRIC Group for
the Americas. He leads a grow-
ing team of experts dedicated
to developing and delivering
integrated smart grid solutions across North
America and Latin America. Cavanaugh is
focused on growing the companys market
share, responding to utility companies needs
to use data intelligence to improve their grid
and business performance. Previously, he
was vice president, leading the North America
Sales team. He started with OMNETRIC Group
in 2014, moving from Siemens, one of the
companys shareholders. During his time at
Siemens, Cavanaugh was responsible for ac-
tivities such as strategic planning and ecosys-
tem design. He was instrumental in Siemens
acquisition of eMeter.
Craig is based in Raleigh, North Carolina,
which is one of four OMNETRIC Group loca-
tions in the U.S.
August 2017 | 19
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 BY DAVID DE MAIO, ORACLE UTILITIES
A Segment of One
Using Integrated Analytics, Process Automation and
More to Deliver a Highly Personalized Customer Experience
E lectric utilities face transformative
pressures from nearly every angle.
Consumer expectations continue to evolve
swiftly as available technology drives new
trends and makes information more acces-
sible. Conservation efforts and changing
markets around the world continue to influ-
ence regulations and utility challenges. In
addition, utilities faced with flat, or even
declining, demand must find new revenue
sources and explore new business models.
Modern consumers expect more than a
bill from their electricity providers: they
want a consistent and valuable experience
through a variety of channels. They want
more choice in how they interact, and
Welcome to Utility
Contract Anniversary
Outage
Extreme Weather
Rate Change
Peak Day
New Smart Meter
20 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_20 20
they want more access to information on
demand. This new energy consumer has
fluid expectations of its utility service pro-
vider, basing those expectations with the
increasing ease with which they engage
with service providers in other industries.
Whether a utility is in a competi-
tive market or a regulated market, its
relationship with each of its custom-
ers is increasingly vital to its future
success. Utilities must help customers
manage demand, while at the same
time building satisfaction and loyalty
and reducing the operational costs of
doing business. Todays increasingly cus-
tomer-centric service industries, which
HIgh Bill Coming
Bill Receipt
Call Into Call Center
Utility Report Arrives
Seasonal Change
include utilities, must change the way
they engage their customers. They must
allow for more flexibility and agility as
customers expectations change.
Todays consumer wantsand expects
a highly personalized experience from
his or her utility. Recent research by
Accenture Consulting validates this.
Accenture completed nearly 10,000
interviews with utilities end customers
in 18 countries for its 2017 report on
the new energy consumer. When these
customers were asked what would make
them willing to buy additional products
and services from their energy provider,
products and services that are person-
alized to fit my needs and preferences
topped the list at 82 percent, followedwed
by a seamless customer experience
ience (81
percent) and products and nd services that
are specific to my lifestyle
festyle (79 percent).
Taking a comprehensive platform
approach h to the customer experience can
provide
ovide a win-win for both the utility and
for its modern customers. For the utility,
a platform approach allows streamlining
of each stage of the customer lifecycle
across the enterprise, from billing and
back office operations to customer p pro-
grams and deep custom
customer engagement.
This approa
approach h requires departments and
teams across the utility to work in sync
and leverage enterprise data to deliv-
er improved customer experiences and
more personalized programs.
What does this mean for the customer?
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 It allows utilities to take a more personal-
ized approach to their customer offerings
and experiences. One popular type of
utility offeringenergy efficiency pro-
gramsis described here. It shows how
the use of enterprise data and analytics,
along with process automation can help
utilities take a more personalized approach
to customer offerings and experiences.
CUSTOMIZED ENERGY EFFICIENCY
PROGRAMS BETTER MEET
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
Energy efficiency is being used in many
states for both electric utility resource
planning and as a compliance mecha-
nism to meet emission targets. Electric
lectric
utilities are working hard to amplify
the value of every efficiency
iency dollar they
spend to meet the he goals of constrained
budgets. To do this, they are turning to
behavioral
ioral EE (BEE) programs to engage
participants across their entire customer
base, meet their (utilities) goals, and
transform customer experiences.
Utilities arent under pressure just to
deliver greater energy savings with con-
strained funding. Theyre also striving to
meet increasing customer expectations.
Customers want their utilities to deliver
greater insights into energy use, effort-
less tools to access that information, and
more programs to help them manage
consumption year-round. BEE programs
are helping utiliti
utilities conquer these chal-
lenges by delivering the information cus-
leng
tomers want, raising awareness of other
energy savings programs, and attaining
significant cost-effective results. In addi-
tion, theres even more potential than is
currently being tapped.
Nearly four years ago, McKinsey & Co.
reported on the results of a consumer
behavior study it conducted to deter-
mine how residential energy-efficiency
1708pg_21 21
might benefit from behavior adjustments
that dont impact lifestyle. What it found
was astounding: behavioral interventions
could reduce Americas total residential
energy use by as much as 20 percent.
In addition, the report pointed out that
providing improved information and
feedback to customers, what it called
behavioral nudges, building on ener- ner-
gy efficiency programs alreadyy in place
increased their impact evenen more.
Customer experiences
iences continue to
improve as utility technologies have
evolved to better support customer-cen-
tricc programs. Not all BEE programs are
created equal, however. Designing the
right programs and using the right tech-
nology are essential for success. Without
these ingredients, utilities can end up
with inflexible point solutions that deliv-
er stale customer experiences and fail to
get credit for energy savings.
An enterprise platform approach to
the customer experience enables utilities
to use enterprise data and integrated
analytics to more quickly analyze data
Customers want their utilities to deliver
greater insights into energy use, effortless
tools to access that information, and more
programs to help them manage consumption
year-round.
based upon numerous criteria including,
demographics, usage data, behavioral
data and psychographic factors. This
allows utilities to deliver more personal-
ized program experiences to customers.
This type of analysis allows utilities
to: a) design highly-specific customer
segments and targeted marketing cam-
paigns; and b) categorize customers
by their energy habits and use that
information to generate insights and pro-
vide relevant programs during moments
that matterthose critical moments in
the customer lifecycle when a utility
has the greatest opportunity to increase
customer satisfaction, reduce customer
service costs and introduce new services.
M
MAKING THE MOST OF MOMENTS
THAT MATTER
THA
Content quality is critical when engag-
Conte
ing with u utility customers. Messaging
thats generic and redundantwith no
personalizationfails to provide much
personalizationf
value. BEE programs tthat follow that same
formula often will realiz
realize a similar fate:
ineffectual results. To captur
capture customers
attention and achieve long-ter
long-term energy
savings, program managers must ttalk to
their customers as individuals, shar sharing
highly personalized content that mirrors
their own experiences and preferences.
Timing is also critical. Customers dont
often notice or think about their electricity,
unless it isnt there. They notice it when the
lights dont go on, or when they receive an
unexpectedly high bill for their usage.
Oracles research has shown that cus-
tomers want more from communications
sent to them by their utilities, and more
from the touchpoints they already have
with their utilities. With this information,
Oracle worked to try to identify the exist-
ing moments of utility-customer interac-
tion, and the existing moments of stress
and anxiety created from customers
August 2017 | 21
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 experiences and relationships with their Again, a complete customer platform DESIGNING BEE PROGRAMS THAT
utility. What were these key moments allows utilities to deliver flexible and cus- ARE PERSONAL
that matter in the utilitys relationship tomized engagement through all channels. There has been a lot of discussion
with its customers and, more impor- Using communication preference man- about customer segmentation for utili-
tantly, in customers relationships with agement tools, customers can define how ty program planning over recent years.
utilities? The moments that matter are: and when they want to receive commu- Of these, attitudinal segmentation (con-
when the bills arrive, when theres an nications from their utility, and what type sumer perception of the utility or offer-
outage, when the seasons change, and of information. With these preferences ing) and psychographic segmentation
when customers move into new homes. clearly indicated, teams across the utility (defined by lifestyle, activities and inter-
Moving into a new home or apart- can work together to offer customers via ests) have been effective.
ment, for example is a good opportunity the channels they prefer, the best new val- The utility that can integrate this cus-
for customers to change their energy ue-added services, from energy efficiency tomer data with demographic data (age,
habits. This moment is a golden window programs to prepaid billing and more. gender, income, etc.), electricity usage
data from its meter data management
system, and call center and billing data
With a lot of the work being handled by col- on a common enterprise platform will
lection, integration and analytics processes have an advantage. It can then analyze
that provide the utility with a 360-degree the integrated data and begin to offer
view of each customers needs and wants, highly personalized recommendations
for utility value-added programs and
the utility can support customers in the same
services in a unified manner.
ways they are supported by retail, banking, This is the type of seamless engage-
transportation and other service sectors. ment a utility wants with each of its
customers. With a lot of the work being
not only to set customers on a path to In turn, this more personalized engage- handled by collection, integration and
savings with helpful tools, insights and ment tends to drive customer sentiment analytics processes that provide the util-
personalized energy savings or energy and satisfaction, as well as customer ity with a 360-degree view of each cus-
efficiency programs, but also to start off stickiness in competitive markets. tomers needs and wants, the utility can
their relationship with their new utility BEE programs also boost customer support customers in the same ways they
on the right foot. sentiment and satisfaction. An analysis are supported by retail, banking, trans-
of home energy report, or HER, pro- portation and other service sectors.
DRIVING MORE THAN ENERGY SAVINGS grams at several dozen utilities found
The most effective BEE programs drive that statements such as my utility helps
David De Maio is group
more than just energy savings. By cap- me manage my monthly energy usage
vice president, custom-
turing customers interest across differ- raise customer sentiment, as well as J.D.
er solutions, for Oracle
ent content channelspaper, email, web Power metrics by 5 percent on average. Utilities. De Maio is re-
and otherseffective BEE programs also Finally, in addition to driving offline sponsible for guiding
prime customers to notice subsequent behavior, BEE programs also motivate the ongoing direction
and strategy of Oracles
utility communications and participa- customers to engage onlineraising their
utility customer-focused solutions. Previously,
tion opportunities in other EE programs. likelihood to log into the utilitys web
De Maio was group vice president for Oracles
Coupled with the highly targeted messag- portal or complete an online audit. These professional services team, and has spent the
ing described above, the result is a pow- tools give customers more information past 22 years driving innovation in the utility
erful marketing engine that improves a about programs and ways to save energy, industry. Prior to his work with Oracle, he held
consulting delivery leadership positions with
utilitys entire demand-side management and they benefit the utility by shifting cus-
Black & Veatch, Accenture and more.
(DSM) portfolio. tomer interactions to lower-cost channels.

22 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_22 22 8/3/17 5:04 PM

 13,500+ ATTENDEES 326 UTILITIES REPRESENTED 520+ EXHIBITORS
78 COUNTRIES 41 UTILITY PARTNER PROGRAM UTILITIES 14 CONFERENCE TRACKS

January 23-25, 2018

Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center | San Antonio, TX
DISTRIBUTECH.COM
#DTECH2018

SAVE $200 IMMEDIATELY

WITH EARLY BIRD PRICING
REGISTER BY NOV 1, 2017!
RATHER PAY FULL PRICE? HATE TO SAVE MONEY?
NO PROBLEM. JUST WAIT UNTIL AFTER NOV 1, 2017.

Owned & Produced By: Official Publication of DistribuTECH: Supported By:

Go to pgi.hotims.com for more information.

1708pg_23 23 8/3/17 5:04 PM

 BY MARK KONYA AND MIKE SMITH, SAS
Cozying up to Custo
Utilities Fight Disruption with Data and get Closer to Consumers Along t
T he 100-year-old you pay the bill and
we keep the power on relationship
dynamic between utility companies and
consumers doesnt work well today. Always
connected consumers and a portfolio of
energy choices that cut into tradition-
al revenue streams (were looking at you,
renewable energy sources) mean utilities
must evolve like the banking and telecomm
industries did a few years ago.
Change is painful no matter what. But
progressive utilities have started strategically
using their data to stay connected to custom-
ers and prospects and thrive as businesses.
WHY UTILITIES LOOK FROM THE
OUTSIDE IN
There are many disruptions to the
traditional utility company-consumer
24 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_24 24
relationship. In addition to renew-
ables and connected consumers, other
disrupters include: carbon footprints,
global warming, new government reg-
ulations, distributed energy resources
(DER), advanced metering infrastructures,
plug-in electric vehicles, blockchain and
time-of-use pricing. The list grows annually.
Lynn Good, Duke Energy CEO, may
have summarized it best when she said,
That [utility] culture is not a custom-
er-centric culture. Its one that has been
built on great engineering expertise.
Its one that cares about assets. Its one
that cares about miles, kilowatt-hours,
capacity factors, [and is] very system
oriented.
This traditional mindset is fine for an orga-
nizations operational integritylooking
inside out. Its not so good for an organi-
zation that needs to focus on customers
firstlooking outside in.
Whats the response to this shift?
Consumers might be saying: Confusing
changes have been forced on me, and Im
paying more for my energy.
Utilities are probably saying: Revenue
is eroding because of disruptive technol-
ogy and regulations, and its forcing me
to accommodate the new competitive
energy marketplace.
For both sides of the equation, main-
taining the relationship requires lots
more effort. Is there common ground
for consumers who want energy faster,
cheaper and on their preferred terms and
the utility companies that must become
customer centric to survive?
8/3/17 5:04 PM

tomers
ng the Way
WHAT CAN UTILITIES DO?
Customers are beginning to embrace the
change in the relationship. The 2016 J.D.
Power utility survey reports an increase in
overall consumer satisfaction over the pre-
vious year. In addition, survey results make
clear that an on-going commitment to high
customer satisfaction is financially reward-
ing for utilities. A 2015 J.D. Power/SNL
Energy white paper reports that utilities in
the top quartile of overall customer satis-
faction earned 0.6 percent higher return on
equity than utilities in the bottom quartile.
The impact of ongoing disruptions will
largely reside in the hands of utilities as
customers seek affordability and reliability
from their trusted energy provider. There
are a few things utilities can do to manage
future disruptions:
1708pg_25 25
1. Create a vision and a plan to get there.
A utility cannot successfully manage cus-
tomer relationships in a disruptive envi-
ronment without first creating a vision
of that relationships future. The vision
doesnt have to be complicated. A concise
statement defining how the utility will
relate to its customers and help guide
them through unfamiliar territory is suf-
Is there common ground for consumers who
want energy faster, cheaper and on their pre-
ferred terms and the utility companies who
must become customer centric to survive?
ficient. Something like, For better or
worse, for richer or poorer, our company
will meet our customers valid expecta-
tions until death do us part might work.
2. Place customers at the heart of operations.
This means understanding the voice of the
customer in more detail than ever before
and delivering whats important to the cus-
tomer, not whats important to the utility.
Applying advanced analytics to segment
and understand customers will provide an
efficient means for accomplishing this goal.
To be successful, utilities must pay atten-
tion to the differences between groups.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
The era of the traditional utility/cus-
tomer relationship is ending. Its no
longer acceptable for customers to have
contact with their energy providers only
through a monthly bill. Instead, utilities
must anticipate communicating with
customers personally about value-added
programs, products and services based
on individual needs and wishes. Again,
this capability is enabled by advanced
analytics that offer market optimization,
multi-channel communications and
real-time decision support.
4. Become process-oriented to enable
continuous improvement.
Business processes are neither under-
stood nor governed to efficiently deliver
on valid customer expectations. Utilities
must embrace process-orientation as a
business strategy to meet customer needs
efficiently and to become more agile.
Doing so builds a platform that eases
timely, targeted responses in times of
service disruption.
The challenges of achieving good cus-
tomer relationships in a disruptive ener-
gy marketplace are daunting but man-
ageable with the right mindset. Charles
Darwin foreshadowed the essence of
todays utility-consumer dynamic when
he said, It is not the strongest of the
species that survives, nor the most intel-
ligent that survives. It is the one that is
the most adaptable to change.
Mark Konya is a principal indus-
try consultant at SAS. With over
35 years of experience in apply-
ing analytics to derive business
value, Konya shares his expertise
with customers on integrating SAS into utility
operations. Konya is a professional engineer,
a Six Sigma Black Belt and a member of IEEE.
Mike Smith is a principal industry
consultant with SAS. He has over
27 years of experience in the
utility IT, automation, smart grid
and analytics markets. He has led numerous
industry research initiatives, and has founded
and co-founded numerous industry-leading
research, media and event initiatives and or-
ganizations, providing insights and forums for
thought leaders and market participants.
August 2017 | 25
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 BY ALEXANDER APOSTOLOV, OMICRONE

Testing in the Digital Substation

IEC 61850-based Systems Lead to More Efficient Substations
T he transition of the electric power industry toward a smarter grid is characterized with
significant efforts to perform all tasks more efficiently and reduce outage duration,
including those related to the operation of multifunctional protection IEDs. The widespread
been implemented. It is critical to ensure
that the testing will not result in any
undesired operation, making isolation of
implementation of IEC 61850-based substation protection and the increased interest in dig- the test object from the rest of the ener-
ital substations (based on the sampled values interface with the substation process) provides gized substation extremely important.
an opportunity to develop and implement protection, automation and control systems that
can be tested remotely. REQUIREMENTS FOR ISOLATION
Maintenance testing of hardwired protection and control systems often requires a DURING TESTING
crew to drive to a remote location to perform it. By replacing hardwired interfaces with Functional testing requirements for
IEC 61850-based communications interfaces, utilities can have remote access to the devices and distributed functions also
substation for remote testing. determine the methods for testing both
The replacement of part or all the hardwired interfaces with communication links types of systems. The order in which
requires development and implementation of methods and tools that maintain the system components should be tested are:
same level of security during the testing process, while at the same time take advan- 1. Functional testing of individual IEDs
tage of the benefits that IEC 61850 provides. used in a protection scheme
It is common for people to use the terms effectiveness and efficiency interchangeably, 2. Functional testing of distributed protec-
believing they are more or less the same. The terms are, however, different. Effectiveness tion functions within a substation
is the degree to which objectives are achieved, without consideration of the resources Conventional hardwired protection
being used. Efficiency, on the other hand, is the extent to which a resource is used to devices must be physically isolated (Figure
effectively achieve an objective. 1), using a test switch that completely
Maintenance testing in general is testing performed in an energized substation to disconnects the tested device from the
diagnose and identify equipment problems or confirm the effective- substation environment.
ness of different actions taken to change settings, In an IEC 61850 based digital substa-
upgrade or repair the protection device tion, physical isolation is not possible. It is
or another component of the necessary, therefore, to implement the test
fault clearing system. The related features defined in the standard.
tests to be included
in the maintenance IEC 61850 EDITION 2 TESTING
test will depend on RELATED FEATURES
which of these list- Function elements of a protection IED,
ed measures have such as an inverse time phase overcurrent

26 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_26 26 8/3/17 5:04 PM

 FIGURE 1: Physical Isolation for Testing

element, are represented in the IEC 61850 information. This

object model by logical nodes (LN) con- supports the pos-
tained in logical devices. The LN or a sibility to test and
logical device can be put in TEST mode measure the per-

using the data object Mod LN or LLN0.
In TEST mode, the application is rep-
resented by LN works. All communica-
tion services work properly and receive
updated values. Data objects will be
transmitted with quality test. Control
commands with quality tests will be
accepted only by LNs in TEST or TEST/
BLOCKED mode.
The TEST/BLOCKED mode applies to
function elements that have a physical out-
put to the process. In this mode, no output
will be issued to the process, allowing, for
example, a function element operating the
breaker (LN XCBR) to be tested without
being energized in the substation.
A command to operate can be either
initiated by a control operation or by
a GOOSE message that the subscriber
interprets as a command. If the com-
mand is initiated with the test flag set
to FALSE, it will be executed only if the
function (LN or logical device) is ON. If
the device is set to TEST mode, it will not
execute the command.
Control commands or GOOSE mes-
sages with quality test set to TRUE will
be accepted only by LNs in TEST or
TEST-BLOCKED mode.
Another important feature that has
been added is the mirroring of control
Test Switch
formance of a
control operation
while the device is
connected to the
system in TEST-
BLOCKED mode.
A control com-
mand is applied to
a controllable data Test Device
object. As soon as
a command has FIGURE 2: Mirroring of Control Information
been received,
the device will
activate the data
attribute opRcvd
IED
(Figure 2). The
device will then
process the com-
mand. If the com-
mand is accepted,
the data attribute opOk will be activated REMOTE TESTING
with the same timing of the wired output. Maintenance testing in cases such as relay
The data attribute tOpOk will be the time mal-operation requires IED testing before
stamp of the wired output and opOk. putting it back in operation. In typical
These data attributes are produced cases, this requires sending a testing crew
independently, whether or not the wired to the substation to perform the testsa
output is produced. The wired output time consuming and expensive process.
will not be produced if the function is in Sending a crew, especially to remote
TEST-BLOCKED mode. locations under difficult weather condi-
tions, is not only time consuming, but
might be a safety hazard for the team
and usually results in a prolonged out-
age. Some utilities, therefore, are active-
ly implementing the concept of digital
substations and seriously considering
performing remote testing in IEC 61850
Edition 2 based installations.
Protection systems installed in a digital
substation environment allow testing to
be performed remotely, however, the
use of both sampled values and GOOSE

August 2017 | 27
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_27 27 8/3/17 5:04 PM

 messages is required for the end-to-end
testing. For testing only part of a scheme
that is affected by the modifications, it is
possible to do the remote testing using
testing features from IEC 61850 Edition
FIGURE 3: Remote Testing Configuration
2. This enables testing a subset of func-
tions and their elements while keeping
the rest of the system in operation.
Functions that can be tested remotely
depend on the substation communica-
tion systems design and the test equip-
ments integration level.
Remote testing is defined as a testing
specialists ability to perform testing of
a protection, automation and control
function, device or distributed scheme
from a remote location, without being
physically present in the substation.
This means that the testing system must
be pre-engineered as part of the substation
protection, automation and control system
and permanently installed in the substation.
In addition, the test computer and test
devices must be substation hardened to
withstand the substation environment.
Because testing is performed remotely
through a wide area communications
interface, it is critical that the interface
meet cybersecurity requirements.
Testing specialists use remote access soft-
ware tools to remotely control test computers
28 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_28 28
(Figure 3). Remote desktop software, more
accurately called remote access software or
remote-control software, allows the user to
remotely control one computer from another
computer by taking over the mouse and
keyboard and using the computer being con-
nected as if it was the local
computer.
In addition, cybersecu-
rity measures must be put
into place to ensure secure
communications between
the remote office comput-
er and the test computer
located in the substation.
Proper assignments of
different access rights are
necessary to ensure that
only people with sufficient
knowledge of the tools
and test procedures can run the remote tests.
The remote testing concept is currently
being defined by a CIGRE B5 working
groupB5.53. It is focused on test strat-
egy for protection, automation and control
(PAC) functions in a full digital substation
based on IEC 61850 applications. The
working group is considering the methods
for configuration and execution of remote
testingthe requirements for extensions in
the IEC 61850 models that will support it.
This will require some organizational
changes to bring testing of the differ-
ent function typesprotection, control,
measurements, recoding, etc.under a
single authority. All interested groups
must work together when engineering
a digital substation to define test plans
covering all the earlier mentioned func-
tions to support the possibilities for local
as well as remote testing, when necessary.
Even with some challenges and invest-
ment in permanently installed test equip-
ment in the substation, the benefits in
improving testing efficiency are too big
to ignore. They include:
No travel time
Improved safety of testing crews
due to the elimination of travel to
remote locations or during danger-
ous weather conditions
Minimum or no setup time
Independent of weather conditions
Improved PAC system availability
Reduced or no outage time
Edition 2 of IEC 61850 introduced many
new features that further enhance the
standards power. These features should
make end users lives easierassuming
the features are supported by future
products. They are designed to support
not only automated configuration and
execution of test procedures, but also
remote testing for some specific test cases.
Interoperability between engineering tools
(including testing tools) likely will be
improvedsomething that is urgently
needed. New features supporting func-
tional and system testing should facilitate
isolation techniques required for IEC
61850 based installations, both during
commissioning, in case of maintenance
problems, as well as for routine testing.
Even with some challenges, the bene-
fits in improving testing efficiency are too
big to ignore.
Dr. Alexander Apostolov is
principal engineer with Omi-
cron Electronics. He received
a masters degree in electri-
cal engineering and applied
mathematics and Ph.D. from the Technical
University in Sofia, Bulgaria. He has 40 years
experience in power systems protection, au-
tomation, control and communications. Dr.
Apostolov is an IEEE Fellow and member of
the Power Systems Relaying Committee. He
is also a Distinguished Member of CIGRE,
holds four patents and presented more than
480 technical papers. Dr. Apostolov is an IEEE
Distinguished Lecturer and Adjunct Professor
at the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape
Town, South Africa.
8/3/17 5:04 PM
 BY MOHAMED FOURATI, SAFT
Smart Substations
Implementing Backup with Battery Technology
A s the demand for renewable energy
increases, and the patterns for supply
and demand change, smart digital substa-
tions are beginning to be implemented.
Electricity transmission and distribution
network operators are preparing to equip
power substations with digital control and
communication carried by fiber optic net-
works. This will allow faster communica-
tion, enhanced safety and more.
1708pg_29 29
Its important while implementing dig-
ital primary and secondary substation
equipment to consider the essential role
of the backup battery.
Battery systems can be found in every
substation and can provide minutes to
hours of backup power during a power
outage. They can provide power for
switchgear to change the configuration
of the network, help isolate lines and
clear faults before power can be restored
safely. They also can power communi-
cation and control equipment, which is
fast becoming more important in smart
digital substations.
By adopting a battery technology that
is compatible with digital control and
communication, operators can better
integrate their essential backup.
FRENCH TRANSMISSION
SYSTEM OPERATOR RTES SMART
SUBSTATIONS PROJECT
RTE (Rseau de transport dlectric-
it), operates 100,000 kilometers of over-
head lines ranging from 63,000 volts to
400,000 volts in France, as well as 46
cross-border lines. It is an important elec-
tricity network operator in Europe and
has implemented battery technology com-
patible with digital control and commu-
nication in its Smart Substations project.
Electricity generation in France has tra-
ditionally relied on nuclear power stations.
In the past few year, however, there has
been a dramatic increase in the use of
renewable energyincluding wind and
solar photovoltaic. There has been progress
toward reaching the European Union (EU)
targets for renewable energy. Today, 20
percent of French electricity consumption
is generated from renewables, including
11,200 MW from wind and 6,600 MW
from solar energy. Although this shows
August 2017 | 29
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:12 PM
 progress, Frances objective is to increase
the amount to 32 percent by 2030.
To help reach these targets, RTE deliv-
ered the four-year Smart Substations
project between 2013 and 2016 by cre-
ating modern substations that are remote
control capable. RTE selected two sub-
stations in the Somme region of north-
ern France, where the highest level of
grid-connected wind power lies. One
was the 90/20 kV Alleux substation,
located at the point of supply to distri-
bution system operator ERDF, and the
other is the 255/ 90 KV Blocaux substa-
tion, located at the interconnection with
neighbouring Luxembourg.
When choosing the batteries, RTE had a
number of priorities. It needed to ensure
the same high levels of performance and
safety for the battery systems as other
substation equipment.
Its objectives were:
Minimize the need for on-site super-
vision and intervention by technicians
Enabling access to control centers
Deliver a technology that would remain
compatible in the future (in case of
the need for extension/alteration)
One additional challenge for back-
up batteries in a digital substation is
that they are harder to integrate with
the state-of-the-art SCADA and con-
dition monitoring, which is the raison
dtre for digital substation technology.
Conventional lead-acid battery technol-
ogy is not immediately compatible with
digital communication systems.
RTE selected Saft for its lithium-ion
(Li-ion) technology, which could meet
the technical requirements, and because
it had experience and expertise in util-
ity applications. In addition, because
the Smart Substation project is partly
30 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_30 30
funded by the French government and
the Blocaux substation is connected
to neighbouring Luxembourg, it was
important for RTE to consider European
and French suppliers when it came to
specifying a backup battery system.
THE REASONS BEHIND LI-ION
The main advantage of Li-ion technol-
ogy is its high energy density, which pro-
vides batteries with a compact footprint
and reduced weight. This is why Li-ion
technology is commonly used in indus-
tries where weight and performance are
the main priorities, such as aerospace
and telecom installations.
Safts Li-ion technology dates back
to the early 1990s, when it developed
its first Li-ion batteries for applications
such as mobility, space and defense.
Nowadays, Li-ion batteries can be found
in consumer devices and electric vehicles
as a result of the technology becoming
more accessible.
The small size and light weight
advantages of Li-ion batteries are not
always important in terms of substations
or even digital substations and most
of RTEs substations are equipped with
lead-acid batteries.
Yet, these were major advantages of
Li-ion batteries during the project. One
of RTEs digital substations was located
inside an existing building and the other
was a containerised solution. This meant
that size was an important factor for RTE
to consider, and Li-ion technology posed
the best option as a result. The smaller
the equipment, the easier it is to fit inside
a containerised substation or compact
substation and the lower the requirements
for civil engineering. The fact that Li-ion
technology is also lightweight means that
less structural support is needed and there
is simpler manual handling during instal-
lation and maintenance.
Low maintenance was also important
to RTE as they wanted an autonomous
substation with a minimal number of
visits by maintenance technicians to top
up or check electrolyte levels. One of
the key benefits of the Li-ion batteries is
that they are sealed for life so require no
maintenance.
The batteries are also modular in
nature, meaning that a battery system
can be built which is closely aligned with
the system requirements. In the case of
the Blocaux substation, the battery has
been designed to deliver 11 kW at 110 V
for up to four hours.
IEC 61850 SMART GRID PROTOCOL
In digital substations, it is important to
integrate the substation equipment with
the international standard that governs
protection and control systems in the
grid, known as the IEC 61850.
When it comes to digital communica-
tion, a great advantage of Li-ion when
CONTINUED ON PAGE 33
8/3/17 5:12 PM
 BY RICHARD SMITH, SMITH BROTHERS
Overcoming Challenges on
High Voltage Switchgear Projects
W ithin any power system, the ability to disconnect and iso-
late electrical equipment is of paramount importance for
safety reasons, as well as to enable both preventative maintenance
and emergency repair work to be carried out efficiently. From low
voltages of 11 kV up to high voltage systems producing 132kV, it
is switchgear that enables critical parts of the circuit to be isolated
and de-energised.
In the field of electrical and power engineering, when the volt-
age increases, so too do the risksboth to the individuals carrying
out the work and to the equipment itself. Safety is therefore always
the number one priority for any professional electrical contracting
firm. When the occupational hazards are unavoidably heightened
by higher voltage requirements, safety systems must be enhanced
and adhered to accordingly, from the planning, testing and instal-
lation of switchgear and transformer equipment, through to its
operation and maintenance. There are, however, several wider
challenges facing electrical contractors who are hired to conduct
high voltage switchgear and transformer work. This article focuses
on electrical contractors responsibilities and elaborates on the key
challenges they face when conducting transformer work and how
they can overcome those challenges.
1708pg_31 31
PROJECT COORDINATION
Although applicable to all types of installation and mainte-
nance, the challenge of coordinating site access and timings
can be especially heightened when working on higher voltage
switchgear projects. This is mainly due to the necessity of arrang-
ing power outages with distribution network operators (DNOs)
that equally satisfy customer requirements. It is inevitable that
networks will be disrupted to connect into the system, even
if conducting only routine safety and efficiency testing of the
equipment.
In addition, because power outages cause knock-on effects
to those reliant upon the power being delivered, projects must
be carefully planned to minimize inconvenience. This makes
seasonality another key consideration, as most DNOs will not
permit an outage for installation or maintenance work during
the winter months, when power access is crucial. Similarly,
for industrial clients, outages can often result in production
being halted while work is carried out. These jobs also must
be scheduled as far in advance as possible to enable alternative
power to be arranged beforehand.
In addition to the difficulties of working to client specifications,
August 2017 | 31
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:12 PM
 managing time-critical deliverances often
are beyond the contractors control.
Successfully installing new switchgear
on time, for example, is almost entirely
reliant upon suppliers meeting delivery
deadlineswithout the equipment there
to be installed, the contractors job is
impossible.
Along the same lines, organizing wit-
ness testing for DNO projects carries its
own set of preparatory challenges. While
clearances are required for operatives on
specialist sites, the process isnt always
straightforward. Careful planning and
third-party scheduling is required before
the project gets off the ground to ensure
that the work can be conducted.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
While initial difficulties reside in
project preparations, many factors
outside of human control present
32 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_32 32
further substantial obstacles. Differing
from lower voltage equipment that
can be entirely housed within a build-
ing, switchgear for higher voltages of
66kV and above is usually mounted
externally, requiring installations and
maintenance work to take place out-
side. Both the systems and workers
are exposed to the elements, making
work difficult and even dangerous in
high winds or torrential rain. Weather
conditions and other external factors,
therefore, must be considered.
Although DNOs wont usually coordi-
nate installation and maintenance works
during winter, these timing restrictions
dont apply to all projects. In addition,
even during warmer months, adverse
weather conditions can still pose a huge
challenge to contracting teams, as well
as a hazard to equipment. Offshore wind
sites, for example, require transformers
and switchgear that can withstand
humidity, variable temperatures and salt-
iness of the marine air.
These environmental challenges vary
significantly across different sectors, too.
Gaining access to wind and solar sites
both on and offshorecan be especially
hazardous in winter.
Mother Nature is not something that
can be controlled, therefore, contractors
must conduct individual risk assessments
for every site and schedule. Sometimes
the conditions of the project are manage-
able, if added caution is exercised, but
there will be occasions when work must
be postponed if the dangers pose too
great a concern.
EQUIPMENT ADVANCEMENTS
The nature of modern switchgear
and transformer equipment makes it eas-
ier to install, safer to use and more
8/3/17 5:12 PM
 environmentally friendly. SF6 gas and
vacuum equipment has largely replaced
oil-filled tanks, facilitating automatic
control and consequently reducing the
hazards associated with testing, main-
tenance and operation. This switchgear
also is far less risky to install and is a
greener alternative than the older liq-
uid systems.
As technology advances, however, so too
do project regulations and training require-
ments for those installing, maintaining and
operating the systems. Industrial instal-
lations, for example, necessitate that the
substation building and concrete plinths
be built to increasingly stringent speci-
fications. Failure to keep up with these
developments can be detrimental not only
to project progress, but also the equipment
and workers safety.
Relay systems are similarly advanc-
ing. Their multi-functionality means
that fewer are now needed to fulfil sys-
tem protection requirements, resulting
in increased efficiency and cost-sav-
ings. But again, the safe operation of
modern electronic protection relies on
a much higher level of technical train-
ing among workers.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30
compared to other battery technologies
is that it requires an electronic battery
management system (BMS). This means
that it is amenable to integrating into an
operators SCADA (Supervisory Control
and Data Acquisition) system.
Saft achieved this by integrating smart
grid communications into the battery
charger. The charger is controlled by
the battery and it is the interface that
relays information to RTEs smart grid
control and protection scheme, using the
IEC61850 protocol. It allows RTE to ben-
efit from the same condition monitoring
1708pg_33 33
TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
In addition to keeping up with advanc-
ing equipment and installation tech-
niques, the capability to deal with older
systems also is crucial. In an ideal world,
all switchgear and transformers would be
periodically upgraded and replaced with
more innovative models. But, economic
and practical limitations mean that this
isnt always the case. Contractors, there-
fore, must be trained in the maintenance
of older equipment, as well as the instal-
lation of newer technologies.
With such a wide breadth of switchgear
equipment from an array of manufactur-
ers, having an awareness of the technical
differences and operational restrictions
is undeniably tough, but essential. Parts
often are difficult to source for repair
work, especially if the originals have
been discontinued. That said, alterna-
tives can usually be sourced, if the con-
tractor knows what to look for.
Alongside the trade and discipline-spe-
cific qualifications required for switch-
gear fitters, cable jointers and commis-
sion engineers, appropriate health and
safety accreditations also are required.
High voltage safety rules are far more
and real-time situational awareness on its
batteries as it does from the primary and
secondary substation equipment.
Safety is another vital factor in battery
selection and Saft has demonstrated the
safety of its qualified industrial battery
systems through achieving safety cer-
tifications in the aviation, space and
marine industries (where safety rises
above all other factors). For RTEs proj-
ect in particular, Saft worked extremely
closely with its engineers to demon-
strate the safety that is built into our
Li-ion technology.
stringentcorrelating with the hazardous
nature of the work being carried out
so specialist training and authorization
in safe systems of work is an essen-
tial requirement for teams. In addition,
site-specific certifications often are a pre-
requisite. Water assignments, for example,
require workers to undertake hygiene
training before site access can be granted.
While appropriate preparatory mea-
sures should always be taken with
any high voltage installation or main-
tenance project, unforeseen challenges
can, and often do, crop up. By building
good relationships with clients, sup-
pliers and subcontractors and working
together collaboratively, however, any
obstacles that may appear can be over-
come safely and effectively.
Richard Smith is joint
managing director at
Smith Brothers, an electri-
cal engineering specialist
company based in Elland,
West Yorkshire county, En-
gland. It provides high volt-
age power to clients throughout the commer-
cial, renewables and water treatment sectors.
Mohamed Fourati is Safts Sales
Manager for France and Total &
Benning Key Account Manager.
He supports backup batteries for
critical applications in utilities, oil &
gas, buildings and industries cus-
tomers. With an engineering degree from the pres-
tigious cole Nationale Suprieure dArts et Mtiers,
he has since worked in a number of technical and
commercial roles.
French transmission system operator RTE has
adopted Li-ion battery technology for backup power
in its smart substations project. Mohamed Fourati,
Safts Sales Manager for Stationary Batteries in France,
explains the advantages of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery
technology and why it has a growing role in digital
substations.
August 2017 | 33
www.power-grid.com
8/3/17 5:12 PM
 PRODUCTS
3-in-1 Serial Server
Moxa has launched the new
NPort IAW5000A-6I/O, which integrates
a RS-232/422/485 serial device server,
a Wi-Fi client/bridge and multiple
digital I/Os into a single compact
device. By deploying the NPort IAW5000A-6I/O, plant
managers can wirelessly connect machinery to an IEEE
802.11a/b/g/n network for the collection, remote monitor-
ing and analyzing of real-time visual insights on machine
performance. Any RS-232/422/485 serial or Ethernet
device in the field can be linked to a wireless device. The
multiple digital I/Os make the NPort IAW5000A-6I/O ideal
for industrial data acquisition for heighened efficiency,
reduce production downtime and lower overall costs. The
NPort IAW5000A-6I/O supports baudrates between 50
and 921.6 kbps. A major threat thwarted by the device is
damage from power surges.
Moxa
GO TO WWW.PGIHOTIMS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION
SP6 Gas Measuring Device
DILO GmbH, a manufacturer of SF6 gas
handling equipment with its headquarters in
Babenhausen/Bavaria, Germany, has brought
a new generation of SF6 Multi-Analyzer
multiple measuring devices to market. This
allows the SF6 gas quality to be checked
easily in accordance with the (EU) F-Gas regulation and
IEC Standard 60480 (reuse specifications). To ensure a
trouble-free and uninterrupted energy supply, the SF6
quality of fiber gas insulated equipment in energy provi-
sion must be checked, as also specified in the EU F-Gas
Regulation 517/2014. The three parameters which deter-
mine the quality, SF6 concentration, humidity and quantity
of decomposition products, can now be measured in one
single operation with the new SF6 Multi-Analyzer. As a
result, service specialists can determine on site whether
the gas still complies with the IEC Standard 60480 (SF6
reuse) or whether it needs purification.
DILO
GO TO WWW.PGIHOTIMS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION
34 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_34 34
Overhead Conductor
Southwire has developed a new overhead conduc-
tor for overhead lines designed to handle extreme ice
loads. The company says its new Max Ice overhead con-
ductors sag less under heavy ice loads. That saves the
transmission owner money, because support structures
dont need to be as tall. The high mechanical strength of
Max Ice overhead conductors can increase the strength
margins for the longest spans and most extreme storm
conditions. Max Ice is composed of high-temperature-
tolerant ZTAL (AT-3) aluminum zirconium alloy, a high-
strength steel core and mischmetal alloy coating for high
heat tolerance and corrosion protection. A small conduc-
tor size means less ice weight for the same ice thickness,
and lower weight reduces sag and puts less stress on
transmission towers.
Southwire
GO TO WWW.PGIHOTIMS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION
Fiber Optic Repeater
Belden Inc. has released a new version of its PROFIBUS
fiber optic repeater. The OZD Profi 12M G22 allows
PROFIBUS networks to communicate over longer distanc-
es through fast and reliable fiber optic signals, while also
guaranteeing signal reliability through integrated redun-
dancy technology. This new device builds on the family
of Hirschmann PROFIBUS repeaters
with higher signal conversion capac-
ity. Specific enhanced capabilities
of this repeater include: extended
operating distances for PROFIBUS
communications thanks to two elec-
trical and two optical ports; failsafe
communications with built-in ring redundancy, without any
measureable interruption (i.e., within 0 milliseconds); the
highest data integrity, despite harsh environments, shel-
tered by a robust metal housing with protective coating on
the internal components; high-speed data transmissions,
up to 12 Mbps among the fastest in the industry; and
support of singlemode, multimode and plastic fiber.
Belden
GO TO WWW.PGIHOTIMS.COM FOR MORE INFORMATION
8/3/17 5:12 PM
 DistribuTECH 2018: The industrys most comprehensive
conference on grid automation and optimization, DER
integration and management, energy storage, T&D engineering
and customer engagement. Jan. 23-25, 2018, San Antonio,
Texas, 918-832-9265 www.distributech.com

CALENDAR

10 13
ADVERTISER. ............................. PG#
Solar Power International
solarpowerinternational.com

SEPTEMBER
ESRI .............................................. C4 Las Vegas

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTECH 2018 ..................... 23

10 13
POWER GENERATION GROUP SAP for Utilities
Richard Baker
sapforutilitiesconf.com
PHOENIX CONTACT ...................... 7 Huntington Beach, California
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Rae Lynn Cooper
918.831.9143 raec@pennwell.com POWER-GEN INTERNATIONAL . C3 17 19
RMEL Fall Conference
rmel.org/RMELEvents
ADVERTISING TRAFFIC MANAGER SIEMENS AG ................................. C2 Tucson, Arizona
Glenda Van Duyne
918.831.9473 glendav@pennwell.com
SIEMENS CANADA ......................... 3 18 21
Southeastern Distribution
Apparatus School & Conference
utilitytech.org/apparatus
1421 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK 74112 Auburn, Alabama
P.O. Box 1260 : Tulsa, OK 74101
918.835.3161, fax 918.831.9834
www.pennwell.com 28- 29
World Congress on Wind &
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Renewable Energy
Tom Leibrandt windenergy.conferenceseries.com
U.S., Canada, International London
918.831.9184 fax 918.831.9834 toml@pennwell.com
1 5
Oracle Open World
OCTOBER

SENIOR DISTRIBUTECH EXHIBIT oracle.com/openworld

& SPONSORSHIP SALES MANAGER San Francisco
Sandy Norris
918.831.9115 fax 918.831.9834
sandyn@pennwell.com 7 10
National Electrical
For assistance with marketing strategy or ad creation, Contractors Association
please contact PennWell Marketing Solutions Conference
VICE PRESIDENT necaconvention.org
Paul Andrews Seattle
240.595.2352 pandrews@pennwell.com

12 14
REPRINTS
Rhonda Brown International Linemans
219.878.6094 fax 219.561.2023 Rodeo & Expo
rhondab@fosterprinting.com linemansrodeokc.com
Overland Park, Kansas

13 20
Itron Utility Week
itron.com/na/events/itron-utility-week
Houston

August 2017| 35
www.power-grid.com

1708pg_35 35 8/3/17 5:12 PM


TALK
Oncor is an excellent fit for
Berkshire Hathaway, and we are
pleased to make another long-
term investment in Texaswhen we
invest in Texas, we invest big.
Warren Buffett, on his companys energy subsidiarys
$9 billion cash bid for Oncor Electric Delivery
Having a diverse portfolio of
all the energy sources, including
renewables, is important to this
country. Picking and choosing a
few that fit your political agenda
is not good for America.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry
We are beginning to see an
uptick in infrastructure attacks,
and in the case of Industroyer, the
attackers seem to have extensive
knowledge about industrial control
protocols. Since the industrial
controls used in the Ukraine are the
same in other parts of Europe, the
Middle East and Asia, we could see
more of these attacks in the future.
Terry Ray, chief product strategist for Imperva
The thing about our
energy grid is that it is not
only energy inefficient, but it is
financially inefficient. There are
ample opportunities for utilities
to earn shared savings from
improving efficiency, and
solar and storage can help
utilities realize its promise.
Richard Kauffman, energy czar of New York,
speaking at InterSolar North America opening ceremony
36 | August 2017
www.power-grid.com
1708pg_36 36
PARTING THOUGHTS
TRENDS
In March, and again in April, U.S. monthly electricity
generation from utility-scale renewable sources
exceeded nuclear generation for the first time since
July 1984.
U.S. Energy Information Administration
When distributed energy resources (DERs) arrive, Illinois will be ready.
ScottMadden and Smart Electric Power Alliance, 51st State Perspectives
Perceived Lack of Policy Progress Dampens Confidence, but Strength in Key
End Markets Provides Counterbalance. The current conditions indexs 10-point
slide from 70.6 in May to 60.5 this month brings it to the lowest level since
November 2016.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association report on July Business Conditions Index
TWEETS
#Utilities are great at planning, but must be
even better at reacting to reality.
@XploreRuggedPC
Very encouraged to see #energyefficiency investment up 9% in 2016
http://bit.ly/2udxRgp
@IEABirol
Lisa Davis: Progress in the #energy
#market depends on the agreement between
government & producers
@Siemens_Energy, quoting column by managing board member
By 2020, 1.7 MB of new info will be created every second
for every human - Top 10 #BigData facts, via @Dzone:
https://dzone.com/articles/top-1...
@AccentureTech
8/3/17 5:12 PM
 REGISTER BY OCT. 6 & SAVE!

#POWERGEN
SHEDDING
ON ALL FORMS OF
LIGHT
POWER GENERATION

COVERING TRENDING TOPICS:

Energy Storage Flexible Generation and On-Site Power
Microgrids Convergence of Technology and Energy
Renewable Generation Material Handling

CONFERENCE DETAILS NOW AVAILABLE!

DECEMBER 5 7, 2017/ LAS VEGAS, NV, USA / POWER-GEN.COM
Owned &
Presented by:
produced by:

Go to pgi.hotims.com for more information.

1708pg_C3 3 8/3/17 5:12 PM

 WHERE
Network outages and service disruptions dont
have to be a way of life for a utility. Esris location
intelligence solutions empower you to monitor

IS YOUR AGING
both the location and condition of your most
critical assets. Strengthen your utility with the
ability to predict, and most importantly, prevent
major disruptions before they happen.

INFRASTRUCTURE? Break the cycle of disruptions and unhappy

customers. See how at esri.com/network.

Copyright 2017 Esri. All rights reserved. Go to pgi.hotims.com for more information.

1708pg_C4 4 8/3/17 5:12 PM