In the Grid Transformation Forum feature of January/February 2013 Electric Energy T&D we interviewed John D. McDonald, director, technical strategy and policy development for GE’s Digital Energy business.

Triggered in large part by the destruction and hardship caused by Superstorm Sandy, John described how energy providers can improve their performance to ensure the power gets back to the customer in the safest and most expeditious manner.

We are now fortunate to be in conversation with John as he explains in detail key tips utilities can implement to narrow the gap between energy demand and energy supply.

  EET&D   : Everyone knows there is no ‘silver bullet solution’ to fall back on when a major weather event like Sandy hits. With this year’s hurricane season and summer heat waves already upon us, please explain the strategies that utilities should have in place to prepare for and lessen the effects of power outages.

  McDonald   : Before I get into that, I should reiterate that utilities must consider communications infrastructure as the foundation of the grid and that it must be robust enough to support the technologies that are overlaid on top of it. There are three different aspects of the communications infrastructure that utilities should focus on:

1. Response requirements: These ensure that the communications infrastructure can support the smart grid applications’ response needs in a matter of seconds, minutes or hours.
2. Bandwidth: Applications send data back and forth. The infrastructure must be strong enough to support the data flow requirements of the smart grid.
3. Latency: The delay in communications that the grid infrastructure can tolerate must be satisfactory to the application.

Major weather events like Superstorm Sandy will continue to happen, and loss of power will undoubtedly occur. To this end we have developed seven ‘tips’ to get the lights back on. I’ll preface these by reminding utilities that they need to invest in the right modern technologies and integrate them together into the electric grid.

  EET&D   : Is there a descending order of importance to the utilities among the ‘tips?’

  McDonald   : They are all vital, but the first one I recommend is for utilities to reach out and communicate with customers ahead of severe weather about steps they can take to prepare for and what they should do if an outage occurs. Proactive, clear lines of communication will set expectations and help customers to understand the process for power restoration. This can be done through traditional channels such as phone calls and digital channels such as e-mail, text messaging and social media. Customers also should be encouraged to contact utilities through these same channels if their power goes out, creating a two-way dialogue between utilities and their customers.

The next tip is to integrate the five core components of the modern grid, including smart meters and an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), geographic information system (GIS), outage management system (OMS), distributed management system (DMS) and distribution automation (DA) capabilities. Doing this will allow these core components to cohesively work together to improve restoration times.

  EET&D   : How would the utility translate the core components into a workable and winnable solution?

  McDonald   : That’s a good question. Fortunately, we live in the “Information Age,” so it’s much easier for a service provider to gain the upper hand when facing an incident. To this point, our third tip is to leverage the capabilities of all grid technologies by enhancing the flow of information across the electrical network – the communications infrastructure that is the foundation for all grid applications. Utilities can use the power of big data and analytics to improve restoration time by enabling their workforce – both in the office and out in the field – with improved grid visibility and management platforms, mobile applications, social media and Google Maps™ technologies.

  EET&D   : The first three tips center on the communications infrastructure, big data and enterprise data management, and consumer engagement. However, the distribution grid is where wires connect customers’ property to the system. Is the same amount activity by the energy suppliers taking place on the distribution grid?

  McDonald   : Bringing power directly to customers is an area that needs more investment. The part of the grid that handles this has traditionally received the least amount of grid investment. Of the 48,000 distribution substations in the U.S., less than half have automation installed, which means that, apart from customers calling in to report an incident, the utility has no way of monitoring for and detecting outages in the distribution system. Effectively managing power outages, particularly in extreme events like Sandy, is a critical area that requires immediate attention.

Our fifth suggestion relies on a feature of smart meter communications that we call ‘last gasp’ – a capability GE has built into its smart meter technology. The utility can leverage smart meter communications in tandem with AMI’s two-way communications system to more quickly identify outages and restore electricity. When power is lost, these meters have stored enough energy in an on-board capacitor to send a final communication to the utility alerting them of the outage and its location. Pinpointing the exact location of an outage will help crews to restore power quickly and reduce downtime.

  EET&D   : There’s no question that the latest technologies are awesome but as we all know, weather events of any size can damage property and crucial assets. How do you see mitigation in this area?

  McDonald   : Prepare for extreme weather by anticipating additional needs and repairs of current electrical infrastructure and the possible reconfiguration of it. During and after the storm, damage assessment and restoration teams should then work closely to document major damage and prioritize the deployment of work crews to restore power where it is critical.

Our seventh, but no less important tip, is to urge the energy provider to invest in software capabilities to receive and analyze data in real time during the restoration process. This will give utilities important status reports on the restoration process that they can communicate to stakeholders. After a major weather event, it is critical to ensure the accuracy of the data captured – especially outages that impact many people and industries.

  EET&D   : We are very grateful, John, that you’ve been able to take some more time with us. Power outages resulting from events like Sandy and the brutal snow storms of February and March of this year will no doubt happen again. It’s so good to know you and your team have developed such a comprehensive and invaluable set of tips to help restore not only power, but also hope, to all of those affected.

About the Interviewee

In his role, John provides the strategic leadership and develops the long term plans to optimize Digital Energy’s competitive position. This is a new and highly visible position and will set and drive the vision that integrates GE’s standards participation, and Digital Energy’s industry organization participation, thought leadership activities, regulatory/ policy participation, education programs and product/systems development into comprehensive solutions for customers.

John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (Power Engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. He is Fellow of IEEE, and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, the IEEE PES (Power & Energy Society) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award in 2002, the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award in 2003, and the 2009 Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award from Purdue University. John is the IEEE PES Past President, CIGRE US National Committee (USNC) VP Technical Activities, and IEEE PES Substations Committee Past Chair. John is the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) Board Chair, and the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Governing Board Chair.