Since the 1960’s, electric power systems – and the demands on those systems -- have grown substantially. Many power grid assets are getting old enough to retire, as is the baby boomer generation that has been servicing and caring for these assets. With all these factors coming to the surface, it’s clear that the power industry is entering into a perfect storm of challenges.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC), two of the electric power industry’s regulatory bodies, are well aware of the critical role the power system plays in society. They are actively trying to ensure reliability of the electric power grid by working alongside leading power organizations to put in place meaningful standards. This work includes keeping track of all operating issues that occur on the transmission system across the U.S., as well as developing and enforcing reliability standards and policies.
FERC and NERC recognized that many of the electric power interruptions and problems that occurred on the grid were related to issues with protection and control systems. In order to better maintain the reliability of the transmission system, they developed critical infrastructure regulations that required utility companies to put in place and follow protection system maintenance. These regulations were approved as NERC PRC- 005 on March 16, 2007 by FERC and became enforceable within the contiguous United States on June 18, 2007.
NERC provided a grace period for companies to update their protection system maintenance programs to meet the new regulations, giving companies time to ensure that their programs are in place and are completely auditable. If not, the consequences are steep – fines can reach up to $1 million a day for noncompliance.
Many companies have their strict maintenance programs set in place, yet are not prepared with an organized process to provide auditable results. The need for support and solutions is clear. Companies throughout the power industry are adapting to the changing regulatory landscape – turning to solutions providers such as Doble. Its recent acquisition of ENOSERV is one in a series of the steps the company is making to provide clients with a suite of options that provide answers for the field crews through the corporate office, including those which can help them build comprehensive and easy-to-use protection system testing programs.
Partners in Protection
ENOSERV became a division of Doble in January 2015. Long-time industry peers in the protection solution space, Doble and ENOSERV share many of the same customers, and the organizations have a mutual understanding and appreciation of the others’ strengths.
“We knew that Doble would be a good fit to work with given their long history in the test and maintenance space,” said Dennis Loudermilk, ENOSERV’s founder and general manager. “We are confident that with their knowledge and expertise that we’ll be able to continue to create innovative and reliable solutions for our customers.”
ENOSERV was founded in 2001 and is based in Tulsa, Okla. From the beginning, Loudermilk saw the opportunity to help utilities manage relay setting and maintenance information, and pioneered the idea of agnostic system protection testing.
ENOSERV’s protection software embraces a vendor agnostic approach; this is also an approach that Doble uses with systems such as its asset risk management system. Regardless of which vendor makes a customer’s test or monitoring equipment, these programs can accept the data. This customer-centric perspective makes these organizations a natural pairing, not only for their present offerings but for continued growth into the future.
This agnostic approach is becoming increasingly important as more and more utility companies merge together. Companies could be using different equipment throughout their divisions, but that transition becomes less of a headache if software solutions can accept the data from a variety of sources and across manufacturers. Being able to seamlessly integrate this data throughout a utility merger helps to ensure that no information falls through the cracks and compromises reliability or regulatory compliance.
Strong Foundations
Doble Engineering Company was founded in 1920 by Frank Doble who recognized the value of running maintenance tests on electrical apparatus, but also of archiving and sharing the data with the industry. That foresight enabled Doble to develop an unmatched knowledge database, containing more than 44 million data points of electrical apparatus test data.
With this data, customers are able to identify trends and possible issues that may arise with their own assets – turning historical data into actionable, predictive business intelligence.
Through its products, services and knowledge-sharing including events such as the annual International Conference of Doble Clients, Doble provides the utility industry with comprehensive asset management solutions, including data, analysis and unbiased recommendations grounded in Doble’s position as an independent third party. In this role, Doble is relied upon to help clients minimize risk, improve operations, optimize system performance and reduce costs.
Protection Testing and Data Management
Nationwide, power companies are being identified as non-compliant with NERC Reliability Standard PRC-005 because of a failure to meet the testing schedule deadline. Of the top 11 FERC enforceable standards, the PRC-005 was among the highest-violated this past year. There is a huge need for streamlined testing and maintenance programs, with easy reporting and maintenance tracking.
Companies across the industry are all in very different phases when it comes to the adoption of NERC regulations, and the path to implementation isn’t always linear. They need tools to manage test data, and provide critical reports to show proof of continuous NERC PRC-005 compliance – which is no small feat. With the joining of these protection providers, customers have the ability to choose from a suite of software and data management options based on their protection programs.
With options that fit their testing programs, customers can choose what makes sense for their business. What they get are robust tools that complement each other, making it possible to test, take action and service their protection system. All while storing test results for easy generation of information for NERC reporting.
Regulatory standards are without a doubt put in place with good intentions. However, the burden and challenges that they place on electronic power organizations are immense and can often seem overwhelming. Together with our new colleagues from ENOSERV, we hope to become the defacto resource for customers as they navigate the new regulatory environment.
About the Author
Don Angell directs Doble’s global strategic development, market research and solution management. A respected leader in the electric power industry, Mr. Angell brings to Doble nearly 32 years of experience in utility operations, engineering and asset management. Prior to joining Doble, he directed National Grid’s Substation Engineering Services; he previously worked at Exelon, and the Idaho Power Company.
Mr. Angell is a senior member of IEEE and is a member and past vice chair of the Doble’s Asset Management committee. He is a member of the Project Management Institute and has presented papers for numerous conferences on asset management, equipment condition assessment and substation automation. Mr. Angell holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Idaho.
