May 2, 2006
“Advanced Feeder Automation is Here” reprint from IEEE Power & Energy Magazine written by S&C’s Douglas M. Staszesky, Dean Craig and Craig Befus.
Until the 1990s, technological breakthroughs in the automation of electric distribution systems were slow to materialize. Early SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems promised to improve reliability. But many of the early systems were little more than an extension of SCADA beyond the substation fence. With their relatively low computational and communication capabilities, these early systems required a high degree of human intervention and offered little in the way of true automation. As a result, expectations were not always met, leading to the termination or scaling back of many projects.
Nevertheless, many lessons were learned and technology has advanced, especially through the 1990s and to the present. More advanced automation applications have been developed that are far more practical and manageable for utilities to implement.
Technology continues to create an environment of ever-increasing expectations for reliability on the part of electric system users. The advent of widespread Internet access allows people to realistically telecommute. They can live in more rural areas where power reliability is often lower than in urban settings. And the expanded use of sensitive computing technology, both in the home and in industry, requires increasingly more reliable power.
Deregulation was a sea change for electric utilities. It resulted in rampant cost cutting, including early retirement programs, layoffs, cutbacks, hiring freezes, and other euphemisms for reducing headcount. Along with the reduced headcount came a loss of experience in running electric utility systems. The engineers who were left to run the system are now nearing retirement age, and utilities now face a crisis of experience. Although hiring is currently in vogue, will it be enough?
Fortunately, the new generation of utility engineers and personnel were brought up on PCs and PDAs and are well poised to make full use of advancements in feeder automation (FA) technology. They can consider the use of high-speed, small-scale computing and high bandwidth — the 1981 engineer could only dream of such sophisticated communication technology.