S&C Products Solve Complex Problem for Suburban Utility.

S&C and its EnergyLine subsidiary recently solved a complicated problem for a small western suburb of Chicago that is one of the nation’s fastest growing towns. The residents of this town wanted the benefits of modern electricity, but since they took pride in their 19th century appearance they made it clear that they did not want to see any evidence of the utility’s expansion.

The creative solution for this application utilized products from both S&C and their EnergyLine subsidiary. A hybrid “team” of both underground and overhead S&C components was created that used EnergyLine’s switch controls with Intelliteam® Automatic Reconfiguration System software. The S&C products included one overhead ScadaMate® switch, one PME-9 Remote Supervisory Pad-Mounted Gear, plus an UnderCover Style Vista® Underground Distribution Switchgear.

This solution premiered the coupling of S&C’s Vista UDS and EnergyLine’s switch controls with Intelliteam automatic reconfiguration software. Furthermore, this Undercover style Vista unit was chosen for its adaptability, since in this application it was installed underground in order to maintain the aesthetic goals that the residents so much desired. In addition to aesthetics this unique team of devices has the additional advantages of automatic fault isolation and service restoration. These functions are accomplished by utilizing EnergyLine’s Intelliteam automatic reconfiguration software.

The Intelliteam software facilitates communication between the products and the controls via radio and fiber-optic cable. When a fault occurs anywhere on the circuit, these smart controls isolate the fault and reroute power automatically to affected customers. Most customers will barely see a blip when a fault occurs because Intelliteam isolates only the affected line section.

S&C proved once again to be a “solution supplier.” The above project demonstrates S&C’s capabilities as both innovator and problem-solver; a company that not only develops break-through products but also helps customers creatively apply advanced technology to solve their unique problems.