The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP; Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is now in the production stage of a five-year substation automation (SA) project to modernize its SCADA/AGC network and data communications system between 179 substations. Progressing from individual substation pilot projects in 2002 and 2003, LADWP has reached production mode on its five-year SA project, distinguishing itself as one of a handful of SAs that have reached this level. The project is gaining traction with the completion of 14 substations now online and 17 more in the construction/implementation stage. Components for the next 25 sites have been ordered and are now in the final assembly stage. Most of the LADWP substations being converted are in the Los Angeles area. The automated energy control system is expected to be completed sometime in 2008.

KEMA Consulting Services (St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.) is the consulting engineer, delivering the preliminary comprehensive study and system architecture recommendations. Acting as an advisor to LADWP for the ongoing project, KEMA is focused primarily on integrating key information and control systems for the more than 20 user groups that will be connected to the network—including substation operators, control center operations, transmission and distribution engineering, and planning personnel. Enspiria Solutions Inc. (Denver, Colorado, U.S.) is in charge of detailing the engineering of each substation, procurement of equipment, assembly of components and final testing of the new installations. LADWP technicians are responsible for the field installation at the control centers and substation facilities.

The project calls for replacement of the utility’s manual system of collecting and processing data with equipment and software solutions that will enable real-time access to valuable power system information. Electronic bridge architecture is being built from the control system to the company’s enterprise network. Previously, the energy control system (the legacy SCADA and RTU system) and each system protection relay were managed separately. The same was true for meters, voltage regulators and other information points on the grid. The new IT architecture will collect and process data with an integrated information network between systems and user groups, giving the utility significant efficiencies and reductions in the costs of data collection. Unique to the automation project is the replacement of most of the substation’s electromechanical relays and protective relays with integrated electric devices (IEDs)—a more costly solution but with long-term operational and reliability benefits. System information will flow from power system monitoring equipment through IEDs over a new fiber-optic wide-area network (WAN) and into a real-time data mart. This centralized storage will provide secure access to analog and status readings (operational data), as well as fault event logs and oscillography (nonoperational data). The readings will be synchronized using GPS clocks to provide “sequence of events” capabilities necessary to determine the exact causes of complex outages. l