Chugach Electric Association Inc. and Anchorage Municipal Light & Power (ML&P) of Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., have awarded Open Systems International Inc. (OSI; Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.) a major contract to be the supplier of each utility's next-generation energy management system (EMS) technology.

Chugach, Alaska's largest utility, generates, transmits and distributes electric power to approximately 80,300 metered retail locations in a service territory that extends throughout Anchorage and its surrounding regions. Chugach operates approximately 2206 miles (3550 km) of energized T&D lines, and has approximately 530 MW of installed capacity.

ML&P also generates, transmits and distributes electric power, servicing more than 30,000 residential and commercial customers within the municipality of Anchorage. The company's T&D lines cover approximately 400 miles (644 km), with a total generating capacity of approximately 400 MW.

Each utility's primary objective for this project has been the implementation of a more modern and open EMS, which provides for regular software updates and remains current with evolving cyber-security standards, while providing cost efficiencies in managing their transmission, generation and distribution operations. These new OSI systems replace current SPECTRUM EMS systems supplied by Siemens.

The proposed systems are based on OSI's monarch distributed open architecture with an advanced graphical user interface (GUI) based on Microsoft's .NET technology. The systems include: SCADA, automatic generation control and dispatch, switch order management, inadvertent accounting, transaction management scheduling, equipment outage scheduling, real-time and study network analysis, historical information/recording system, Web-based GUI, calculation and trending subsystem and DNP, Modbus and ICCP communications.

“In evaluating our EMS upgrade options, it became clear that OSI offers a powerful solution that is innovative and flexible, yet simple to implement and maintain. They seem to have struck a balance the industry has been seeking for years,” said Paul Johnson of Chugach.

“During our extensive discussions with other OSI customers, we consistently heard that OSI has both a great product and an impressive record of on time and on budget delivery,” said Russ Lyday, EMS supervisor at ML&P. “We are looking forward to a successful project and a long term relationship with the folks at OSI.”