Phasors, as used in this article, refer to high-speed, very accurately time-tagged data in general. In fact, this phasor data are actually “phasor quantities,” which refer to the graphic means used to represent quantities having both magnitude and angular position. Thus, phasors are used to represent the sine waves in terms of magnitude and phase angle, and explicitly account for real and reactive circuit elements. Voltage and current magnitude and phase angle for all three phases and frequency are the fundamental phasor data collected. Real, reactive and apparent power for each phase and the total are also collected along with power factor. Finally, the zero, positive and negative sequence components of the voltage and current quantities are measured.

One of the best ways to think of phasor data is in comparison to SCADA data. Phasor data typically have a refresh rate of 30 samples/sec, while SCADA data have a refresh rate of 2 sec to 5 sec. Phasor data are very accurately time-tagged so that state estimator, operator display or planning study can easily “line up” or resolve what is happening and when. With SCADA information, which is not time-tagged, some data are newer than others, but there is no way to tell the difference. Phasor data collection makes use of modern communication technology and enables action in response to system dynamics. SCADA data uses legacy communications and was never meant to respond to rapidly changing system transient events. Ultimately, phasor data will provide a platform to automatic switching schemes for wide-area transmission grid control.

The actual collection of the phasor data involves two generic pieces of equipment: a phasor measurement unit (PMU) and a phasor data collector (PDC). The PMU is installed at the substation or switchyard and makes high-bandwidth, high-frequency, GPS time-stamped, synchronized measurements. The PDC polls all the PMUs 30 times per second and stores the recorded measurements. Entergy uses the Arbiter 1133A Power Sentinel as its PMU and OSIsoft's Pi Historian as its PDC.

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It is from our collective energies that real, lasting change happens. Some of that energy is at work today in our electric utility industry, within the Eastern Interconnect Phasor Project (EIPP) and at Entergy in particular. There are many men and women from many companies, agencies and universities who are hard at work in moving the electric utility industry into the next paradigm.

The Leadership Committee of EIPP is comprised of the chairs from the six task teams along with representatives from NERC, Pacific Northwest National Labs, CERTS and the Department of Energy:

• Equipment Placement — Mike Ingram, TVA
• Data Management — Paul Myrda, METC
• Business Management — Floyd Galvan, Entergy
• Performance Requirements — Damir Novosel, InfraSource
• Off-Line Applications — Navin Bhatt, AEP
• Real-Time Applications — Terry Bilke, MISO

There have been some significant accomplishments by individuals of EIPP who deserve mention:

• Matt Donnelly, formerly of PNNL, was the first project manager for EIPP. He directed and molded the project from its inception to its current form. Donnelly provided the leadership and vision required to move the project forward.

• Mike Ingram, Ritchie Carroll and Lisa Beard from TVA were instrumental in developing the Super-phasor data collector (PDC) at TVA. The Super-PDC is the vehicle that allows PMU information to be collected, stored and rebroadcast to the entire project. Carroll is the lead architect for the Super-PDC.

• Floyd Galvan, author of this article, led the Business Management Task Team that put in place the contracts with EIPP utilities to share phasor information. This gave EIPP participants access to high-speed GPS-synchronized, time-tagged data across the Eastern United States.

The Entergy Phasor Project Team consists of:

• Floyd Galvan, Project Manager
• Ian Barras, Assistant Project Manager
• Sujit Mandal, Planning & Phasor Applications
• Leonard Chamberlin, Communications Infrastructure Architect
• Steve Winsett, Pi Applications and Visualization
• Jim Varnado, Field Installation, Construction & Maintenance
• Jerry Berndsen, Communications & Testing
• Ryan Prejean, Entergy Real-Time Operations

In the future, you will hear more about EIPP as it morphs into the North American Phasor Project. Right now, the EIPP website can give you up-to-date information on activities: http://phasors.pnl.gov/.