
	July 2008

When the Lights Go Out

When the power is out, customers get anxious and utilities scramble to restore power to all affected areas of their network. Managing outage conditions has a significant impact on the bottom-line performance of a utility, as well as on customer satisfaction.

In any outage, identification of the problem depends on size and severity of the service interruption. Smaller outages have a lower probability of being detected and reported to the utility’s outage

management system (OMS). Large-scale outages have a greater probability of being detected and reported due to their impact on a significantly higher number of customers. However, because they are larger in nature, verifying restoration of power can be difficult and costly. If crews are dispatched prior to verification of restoration in a service area, it becomes inefficient and costly to send them back to the same service area if problems are not corrected the first time.

A radio-frequency-based (RF) local-area mesh network such as OpenWay by Itron provides significant benefits in outage management because it is self-healing—the network can still operate even when a node breaks down or a connection goes bad. This results in improved response times, reduced restoration time and costs, prevention of future outages, and asset management optimization. Because of the self-healing nature of the network, OpenWay administrators can quickly pinpoint outage location and severity.

Accurately determining the location and extent of a power outage is only part of the equation. Equally important is accurately and quickly confirming power restoration. When power is restored to an OpenWay CENTRON® meter, it generates a restoration message that is time stamped and transmitted to the collection engine.

In OpenWay CENTRON meters, every power outage and restoration is logged and stored in the meter as an event, which is then passed on to a utility’s meter data management (MDM) application. Using the MDM system, the utility can create reports on outage durations and report on any interruptions that classify as momentary or sustained outages. This data can be used to identify recurring outage issues and fine-tune planning and vegetation maintenance programs, improving overall service to customers, and reducing operational and maintenance expenses.

If the power goes out, you can rely on OpenWay by Itron to provide the information you need to get your customers back online quickly and cost-effectively. From pinpointing outage locations to properly identifying power restoration, OpenWay delivers the industry standard in hardware and software tools for outage management.

To learn more about OpenWay by Itron, click here.

The Smart Grid: Unifying a Network of Networks

As alluded to in last month’s Itron News, the Smart Grid is a network of networks. It will be comprised of several systems of various capability and capacity working in harmony to deliver the intelligent energy needed for the future. Three items that will facilitate the union of these multiple transmission and communication networks are data models, open communication standards, and security.

Data Models
If you have several things that must work together, it helps to have a

clear map of how each one operates independently before you attempt to integrate them. Data models lay out where data is stored, how it is formatted and what points of interoperability exist. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), among other organizations, is researching a common information model (CIM; for more information about the CIM, click here). One data model already in use is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) C12.19 standard for storage and transport of register data over a network, which provides a secure, open-standards approach to data collection and communication. The Itron OpenWay® CENTRON® meter complies with the C12.19 standard to store and format data.

Coordinated Operations
Once you have a model for how devices operate and interoperate, you can start coordinating operations between various devices. Often this is a project-by-project task, determining how a new addition to the grid can work smartly with the existing grid as well as future additions. Open standards for communications can play a crucial role in coordinating operations. One such standard is ANSI C12.22, which defines how metering and Smart Grid devices can communicate with one another. Devices can communicate and interoperate regardless of network protocol; radio frequency, power line carrier, broadband over power lines, and Internet-protocol (IP) based communications are all acceptable communications methods. Within a network of networks, standardized communications is required for coordinated operations. OpenWay uses C12.22 communications to unify home-area networks, local-area networks and wide-area networks.

Security
Multiple networks with multiple points of interoperability provide numerous points for potential breaches of security. Therefore, security technology and procedures need to be strong and consistently applied across all networks. Smart Grid communication technologies such as C12.22, IP, and ZigBee®—all of which OpenWay supports and utilizes in communicating with other devices and systems—include security measures. More importantly, and often times more difficult to implement, are proper security procedures such as restricting physical access to networks and computers and enforcing strong password and permissions restrictions. As recent news stories can attest, one lost or stolen notebook computer can pose a huge breach of security.

As the Smart Grid continues to evolve, utilities and consumers alike will need to advance their way of thinking and their way of operating to take advantage of the latest technology. Investing in this network of networks now secures a smart and efficient energy future for all.