OSIsoft, LLC  has announced its selection as one of the technology providers to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s (WECC) Western Interconnection Synchrophasor Program (WISP). The OSIsoft PI System will provide the data collection and management infrastructure required by WISP in several areas related to storing and visualizing data that has been collected for use by grid operators to monitor the Western Interconnection.

Funded in part by a grant made available to the USDOE American Recovery and Reinvention Act of 2009 (ARRA), WISP is designed to improve the reliability and efficiency of the bulk electric system in the Western Interconnection. WISP involves high speed measurement of electricity grid properties using phasor measurement units (PMU). Measurements from over 300 PMUs will begin to be collected and archived in OSIsoft’s PI System over the course of the project. Other aspects of the program include advanced analysis tools performed on the data in near real-time to detect evolving disturbances in the grid. WISP, scheduled for completion in March 2013, will act as an early warning mechanism allowing grid operators to take actions to help avoid wide spread blackouts. When completely deployed, the PI System will collect data from over 2,000 unique signals at an aggregate rate of over 150,000 measurements per second.

In addition to PMU data collection and management, the OSIsoft PI System also provides analytic and visualization tools to WISP. The OSIsoft PI System will assist WISP in the creation of a Wide Area Visulization tool for WISP participants allowing for integration of PMU data with traditional grid information.