Intelligence has been in the Electrical Substation Since the Industry Began. Originally, we put human operators in critical stations, then we added some pretty simple technology — by today's standards — to increase the human's productivity. Slowly the control systems grew more intelligent and complex and became better able to communicate.

Recently, we began to call our technology “intelligent” and “smart.” A few of our executives caught the vision and everything took off. The technologies matured and added more functionality. Today, we have a collection of substations ranging from the mildly intellectually challenged to the intelligence equivalent of a rocket scientist. It seems that if a device has ever been installed in a substation, it is still being used somewhere.

I have been a substation engineer for almost 35 years. I have designed and built just about every type of electrical station imaginable. So, whenever I see an unusual substation, I have to stop, pull out my camera and take some photos. As a result, I have a remarkable collection ranging from the early 20^th century to the modern 21^st century. I am amazed to see how we have developed and adapted over the years.

Recently, I stopped at a substation in Oklahoma that was made with wood pole structures. As the utility expanded the substation, it added steel structures, but the wood was still there. In Georgetown, Colorado, they have turned an old hydropower plant into a power museum complete with a 1906 oil-break switch that was retired in 1958. But even though it is a museum, it is still supplying electricity to the grid.

Of course, a utility has the option of replacing the old with the new, but what are the chances of that happening? We are scrambling to meet the ever-increasing demand of a power-hungry society. Money and resources are scarce, so even though a lot of substations have outlived their design lives, we can't afford to replace them. There are too many of them, and they are still functioning.

Instead, substations have become intriguing hybrids — a combination of the old technologies with the new technologies. They are remarkable simply for still being in service supplying the customer with electricity. Even more remarkable is that they function collectively and perfectly. They are, however, very labor intensive. They have breakers, switches and transformers from the 1930s and 1940s sitting next to brand-new state-of-the-art components, which is a real test for the engineers and crafts people trying to keep them all operating and functioning without affecting reliability.

Once a substation becomes part of the grid, it will be modified and improved, but it will not be abandoned.