By John M. Powers, online editor, and Kathleen Davis, associate editor
There was more happening in San Diego on Super Bowl Sunday than anxious anticipation of the big game. Steven Brown, editor-in-chief of Utility Automation & Engineering T&D, welcomed attendees to the DistribuTECH 2007 keynote session to open the conference on February 4. The session included speeches by Scott Mix, manager of situation awareness and infrastructure security at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), Michael Carlson, CIO and vice president of Xcel Energy, and Brian Holloway, Stanford All-American and five-time NFL All-Pro. The keynote session also featured an awards ceremony to recognize the Utility Automation & Engineering T&D projects of the year (see related story, pages 12-26).
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The first speaker, Scott Mix, NERC’s manager of situation awareness and infrastructure security, began by explaining the vision NERC has for the power system. Mix described a system with the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico offering oversight at the top of the hierarchy. At the next level, NERC, as the ERO, would be in charge of compliance and enforcement. Finally, NERC would work with regional governing bodies at the lowest level of the hierarchy to devise and implement standards. Mix stressed that the standards process has been and will be open to all who care to comment.
Mix then moved to the status of current NERC standards. Eighty-three proposed NERC standards will be enforceable by June 2007, Mix said. Sixty-two proposed NERC standards, Mix continued, require future improvements. Mix acknowledged that changes to the standards are needed and that none of them are perfect but that “we don’t want perfect to get in the way of very good.”
Mix also called for NERC, as the ERO, to have strong oversight of regional compliance, due process for violations, and public disclosure of confirmed violations. He went on to explain that violation discovery methods would include self reporting, discovery during readiness reviews, event/incident investigations, and complaints. He ended his speech by explaining that NERC has a matrix to determine the penalty, most likely a fine, for violations. The more severe the violation, the heavier the fine, said Mix, with the lowest being $1,000 and the highest being $1 million per violation, per day.
Brown then welcomed to the stage Michael Carlson, CIO and vice president of Xcel Energy. Carlson discussed how value can be garnered through innovation. Carlson commented that the utility industry is a conservative one, so innovation can be slow at times. However, Carlson said, major drivers for innovation in the industry are customer satisfaction, environmental concerns, having a view to the cost of not innovating, and having to team with regulators to comply with new standards.
Carlson said Xcel has implemented several strategies to drive the company’s innovation such as their strategy council and a utility innovations group. Carlson said Xcel also encourages employees to share their ideas on how the company can evolve.
The biggest innovation for the utility industry is already under way, said Carlson, and that is the creation of the smart grid. He concluded his comments by saying the obstacles standing in the way of the smart grid are the issues of environmental management, the reliability of the aging infrastructure, decreasing supply margins, the cost of delivery and the aging workforce.
After presenting Projects of the Year awards to four deserving utility companies, Brown turned the stage over to Brian Holloway, Stanford All-American, five-time NFL All-Pro, and member of the 1985 New England Patriots AFC Championship Team. Holloway discussed what he called the DNA of a championship team and unleashing the passion of a team player. To build a winning team, Holloway said, the team must be centered around a “nucleus of playmakers” that share the values and goals of the team. “Consistent execution of excellence” is what is needed for a winning team, he said.
 NFL All-Pro Brian Holloway stuck around after his keynote speech to sign autographs for DistribuTECH 2007 attendees. |
Holloway issued a challenge to those assembled saying, “You must drive the performance of other people… As playmakers, you must rise and rise again.” Though there can be chaos at times, Holloway urged the audience to try to make the difference. “When a playmaker enters the room, the room must change,” he said. And when the odds are stacked against you, Holloway concluded, the playmaker improves and learns from challenges.
 DistribuTECH advisory committee members give a toast on the conference’s final day. |
Holloway’s inspirational comments provided a fitting segue into the three-day event-and for the Super Bowl party that DistribuTECH organizers threw later in the day. The Super Bowl party at the convention center drew a crowd of more than 1,000 revelers to enjoy the game between the AFC Champion Indianapolis Colts and the NFC Champion Chicago Bears.
From the Floor
Following the keynote event, DistribuTECH’s 4,600-plus attendees broke into conference sessions and browsed the wares of around 270 exhibitors in the exhibition hall. A number of those exhibitors made significant announcements during the three-day event.
 DistribuTECH attendees browsed the wares of 270 exhibitors in the exhibit hall. |
KEMA looked into its industry crystal ball and unveiled a “utility of the future” at a press conference during the show. KEMA believes the utility of the future will be dramatically different, incorporating automation and information systems to compensate for an aging workforce, realizing holistic solutions for cross-unit collaborative efforts, reducing overall costs to release capital for needed innovations, and making virtualization the common theme-in real-time, with remote access to key tools and information. KEMA’s experts envision a smart grid transformation to enable this evolution, but there are challenges. KEMA suggests that executives need to leverage technology and maximize capital investment.
“As utility executives shift their perspectives to the future, many do so with the knowledge that technology investments of the past have often fallen short of expectations. But, managers should not overlook the synergistic value created by incremental investments,” KEMA’s panel declared.
In the DistribuTECH exhibit hall, the Smart Energy Alliance (SEA) announced six new offerings designed to help utility customers achieve and maintain a competitive advantage in their distribution operations. These offerings include a series of “distribution roadmap” workshops to help a utility company determine if it has a solid view on the future of distribution, a smart metering solution, a workforce management solution, a forecasting solution and a distribution SCADA solution.
GarrettCom brought along its new software for the DynaStar line of substation-hardened routers. The software extends the reach of the newer generation carrier data services based on multi-protocol label switching. Incorporating support for those carrier services, the new DynaStar OS 7.4 software release enables substation planners to take advantage of specific carrier services.
Cyber security was a hot-button topic at DistribuTECH 2007, and Symantec took the opportunity to reveal a comprehensive IT compliance solution at the show. The solution is tailored to help utilities comply with new NERC CIP standards. The solution combines consulting services, strategic compliance architecture and automated policy management technologies to help assure the safe configuration and operation of information systems underpinning the electric utility industry.
Also with NERC compliance in mind, AssurX unveiled CATSWeb ER at the show. CATSWeb is a compliance tracking system for monitoring new and revised standards, assigning remediation tasks, scheduling and conducting internal reviews, as well as managing filings and self-certification forms.
Telkonet Inc., a company that provides in-building broadband access over existing electrical wiring, announced it has signed a supply agreement with GE Energy to co-develop an innovative product that enables remote monitoring and management of utility substation equipment. Over the next six months, GE will commence the first installation phase involving customers in North America to further develop and refine the product, customizing it to be compatible with various types of substation equipment.
Over the past year, GE Energy conducted extensive laboratory and field testing of the Telkonet iWire System successfully, and GE Energy demonstrated this customized substation automation product, incorporating the Telkonet iWire System, at DistribuTECH 2007.
In a similar vein, Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution Inc. announced the addition of Open Transport Network (OTN) for fiber optic inter-substation communication to its utility products and services portfolio. OTN is a standards-based solution that ensures streamlined integration between remote substations and control rooms as required by ready-to-install substation-to-substation communication. The synchronous optical network (SONET) based solution provides segmented and secure communication channels for operational data, non-operational data, and support control systems for a utility grid, industrial, or campus infrastructure. Secure independent Ethernet channels for non-operational data including asset management information, relay fault and event recording, substation-to-substation generic object oriented substation event (GOOSE) messaging using IEC 61850 and more, are implemented via dual self-healing fibers.
A substation control system with a rugged, vandal-resistant enclosure dominated the discussion at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories’ booth. SEL announced the availability of powerCORE at the show. The system is available for permanent or mobile deployment in utility applications. Using a modified steel ISO 3874 container in two standard sizes, the system is shippable anywhere in the world.
Matrox brought its Extio F1220 to the show. A leading manufacturer of graphics solutions, Matrox’s latest addition to the Extio series of remote graphics units enables the extension of one or two displays, audio, two IEEE 1394 FireWire ports and up to six USB devices by up to 820 feet. Arizona Public Service attendees were spotted talking to Matrox in depth about a specialized display system the company worked on with APS.
Lodestar demonstrated the capabilities of its third-generation meter data management solutions at DistribuTECH. Lodestar’s product collects and manages large, complex volumes of meter data for validation, estimation, revenue protection, exception management, pre-billing, customer self-service, reporting and auditing.
Intergraph discussed improvements to its InService outage management system, which improves and optimizes network reliability with a set of integrated tools. The system provides real-time analysis of the distribution network, optimization of network usage and management of fault situations.
Also from the floor: Elster announced that Midstate Electric Cooperative in LaPine, Oregon, is expanding its EnergyAxis System. Midstate Electric initially installed more than 500 REX meters during its trial stage that began in October 2005. It is now moving into the first phase of expansion and is installing approximately 100 REX meters per month on new construction in this rapidly growing area of Oregon. It is also implementing a plan to replace all pre-existing meters with REX meters over the coming years.
Midstate Electric’s EnergyAxis System uses A3 ALPHA meter collectors with an RS-232 interface and INET IP-addressable radios to provide an RS-232 over Ethernet communications protocol for system data collection.
A virtual peaking capacity (VPC) program was the topic of conversation at Comverge’s booth. Their VPC program is a “pay-for-performance” style peak load capacity offering. The company believes that sound management requires a portfolio approach to hedge the substantial risks associated with the volatile fuel markets-hence, their VPC program. To connect with DistribuTECH’s attendees, Comverge talked up VPC as a means of lowering transmission constraints and to meet peak capacity without line loss.
Cooper Power Systems showcased a number of products at DistribuTECH all centered around their “Energy Automation and You” theme. Offering “a bright new world of energy automation solutions” to attendees, Cooper’s DistribuTECH-featured products included feeder automation, substation automation (Cybectec’s SMP Gateway and Visual Substation coupled with Canon Technologies’ Substation Advisor and eSubstation), AMR and demand response applications, ARIES (a three-phase wireless recloser), and EIS for reliability. The company also featured its new energy automation solutions (EAS) business unit that was formed through recent acquisitions of Cybectec and Cannon Technologies.
On Monday, Itron announced a new partnership with Eka Systems to augment its ERT-based Data Collection Suite, with Eka’s mobile wireless technology. The enhanced solution will provide utilities with remote demand reset and time-of-use (TOU) capability with a mobile AMR system.
Under the agreement, Itron can provide utilities with the Eka Systems two-way mobile technology to remotely read and reset demand on Itron CENTRON solid-state electricity meters and gather data utilizing Itron’s meter reading software. The agreement enables utilities to use the combination of Itron and Eka mobile technologies to retrieve metering data from residential, commercial and industrial meters without changing their existing route structure.
 A distribution automation session on DistribuTECH’s first day saw “standing-room-only” crowds. |
AMETEK Power Instruments offered a three-month “test drive” to evaluate the performance of its Rochester Instruments Platinum 2.5K multi-function fault recorder on the DistribuTECH exhibit floor. The evaluation would provide users with a first-hand opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the highly versatile Platinum 2.5K recorder.
The new Rochester Instruments Platinum 2.5K incorporates the latest advancements in multi-function fault recorders including 8GB flash memory, expanded digital channels, IEEE compliant synchrophasor (C37.118) and PDQIF (P115.9). Its new CPU architecture with solid-state memory eliminates the need for mechanical fan cooling, resulting in no moving parts for worry-free, reliable operation. The unit also includes steady-state logging of RMS and harmonic spectrum values on every channel and frequency as a standard feature.
Bow Networks discussed its recent acquisition of Westronic Systems, a privately held provider of network monitoring and management systems.
“In addition to offering us diversification into another industrial market, Westronic’s proven technology and our shared resources will enhance our product offering,” said Jeff Gill, president and CEO of Bow Networks. “There is a great deal of common ground between the telecommunications and electric utility sectors-as both look to optimize existing assets and move toward reliability-centered maintenance.”
