Why smart grid switching must change

Network switching has been a routine work load for large and small utilities, consuming the bulk of the daily control center operations. Adopting the smart grid will change that routine. Most utilities implement switch plans using handwritten forms, comprising as many as 100 steps. Large utilities perform as many as 150 switch plans per day. This perpetual work load has compelled utilities to formalize a process to request, create, approve, schedule and implement switch plans. Change will unfold because the smart grid is a more optimized and dynamic grid, erupting with unplanned switching, prompting the need for switching analysis tools. For example, during the February 2014 ice storm in Atlanta, a Georgia utility documented that the new smart grid switching technology they had installed on 220 feeders resulted in over five million customer minutes saved over a three-day period. The smart grid technology of automatic fault detection and isolation adroitly produced switching plans to isolate the faults. Within seconds, an application generated switching to automatically restore service to the upstream and downstream sections of the un-faulted feeder sections. Later, after crews removed the faults, a complex “return to normal” switch plan was dynamically produced to restore the circuits to their normal configuration. As powerful as the switching applications have become, what unanticipated issues do they present to the control center operator, and what tools are needed to manage this unplanned switching? This paper describes the issues, the required features and the operational usage of switching automation.