As advancements in technology have driven the world over the past 20 years, the ability to protect and control our electrical infrastructure has advanced as well. By implementing advanced technologies and innovative solutions, the grid has undergone a significant transformation, accommodating the growing demands of an increasingly digital and interconnected world. The enhanced visibility and automation have improved grid resilience, …
Dave Kreger: Find Your Passion and Share it
Dave Kreger is the Executive Director of Customer Solutions at Premier Power Maintenance, Inc., one of the largest, privately (family) owned NETA companies.
Functional Testing on Digital Substations with GOOSE and Sampled Values
This article presents a high-level overview of performing practical, functional checks and testing on digital substations using generic object-oriented system events (GOOSE) and sampled values (SV). The integration of renewable energy resources into the power system has created a pressing need for advanced technologies that can effectively monitor, protect, and control these assets. Digital substations, along with their associated technologies, …
Mission-Critical Architecture: Enabling Reliable and Secure Operation on Modern Power Systems
Imagine attending a conference of the world’s leading scientists or engineers, all of them experts in their field, but communicating only in their native languages. While they may all be certified geniuses, their ability to work together to complete even simple tasks would be difficult, if not impossible. The power of each individual’s knowledge is vastly diminished due to the …
Relay Testing in the Digital Substation
IEC 61850-based protection, automation, and control (PAC) brings a lot of advantages. Therefore, the adoption of the standard has been consistently increasing. IEC 61850 defines much more than just protocols; it defines a data model to represent information in the power grid. It also defines services for communicating data and a system configuration language (SCL) that allows configuration data to …
Stephanie McLaughlin: Promoting a Servant-Leader Culture
Stephanie W. McLaughlin is the Employee Development Manager for Hood Patterson & Dewar, Inc. (HP&D), where she recently led the development and implementation of HP&D’s employee development program that supports employees in offices in five states, including a large team of registered Professional Engineers (PEs), degreed engineers, and career test technicians. McLaughlin specializes in analyzing learners’ needs and then designing …
Digital Substation LAN Design and Testing
Ethernet is considered a fast, reliable, and scalable local area network (LAN) technology that has become predominant within electrical utility substations. Unlike information technology (IT) LANs, which are used to move general non-critical information, operational technology (OT) LANs carry information that is used to directly perform critical control functions such as tripping, blocking, and interlocks. To ensure that electrical utility …
A Tsunami of Funding Affecting Fiber Optic Projects
The tsunami of funding stemming from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has the fiber optic industry in a frenzy, partially because sufficient workforce to build networks is lacking and supply chain problems are causing long delivery times for basic components like fiber optic cable. The need for broadband was brought to the forefront during the pandemic when work, …
Distribution Automation Networks — Application & Testing
Reclosers play an important role in distribution networks, where their primary role is to automatically reclose following a trip operation due to a fault. This ensures that power restoration causes only a momentary disruption to customers, rather than an extended outage. Over the years, distribution networks have been automated to enhance system performance. Network automation involves communication between the devices …
New For 2023: NFPA 70B
It was late in 2017 when the notice for the Second Draft meeting for the 2019 edition of NFPA 70B, Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance came out, and within the agenda was an item to discuss the 2023 edition. COVID-19 wasn’t even a thought for any of us. Social distancing, masking up, and quarantine were unheard of, and Teams/Zoom …