Utilities facing the challenges of an aging/retiring workforce and an aging infrastructure can find themselves dealing with problematic feeders that require too much time and attention. With launch of its Intelligent Distribution Sensor (IDS) product line, CURRENT is offering a solution - and Pepco is taking them up on it with a rollout planned for the Washington, D.C. area.

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The distribution automation company's new IDS family of products includes sensors for low and medium voltage, real-time analytics, power quality, integrated communications and DNP3 support. It's part of a trend to instrument the entire

distribution network and to gradually more toward remote diagnostics and even limited forms of remote operation. Workforce retiring? Just replace them with sensors and software.

CURRENT says all of its IDS products support the ability to be accessed via their secure DNP3 interfaces from any compatible SCADA or third-party applications, or through CURRENT’s OpenGrid® data visualization and reporting software. All of the sensors also support fully integrated communications capabilities that can be used within Verizon, AT&T or WiMAX networks. The sensors can also communicate over a third-party communications system such as wireless mesh or private radio via a simple Ethernet connection.

“Utilities in North America are transitioning their focus from the deployment of smart meters driven by stimulus funding, back to the basics of improving the distribution reliability of aging infrastructures with sensing solutions that provide visibility into grid operations,” said CURRENT CEO and President Tom Willie. “CURRENT is very pleased to showcase its technologies with a customer like Pepco who is committed to improving reliability in their network.”

As part of a distribution grid reliability and modernization project in the Washington, D.C. area, Pepco is installing CURRENT's new underground residential development (URD) transformer and feeder sensors and will use the system to detect and communicate the location of underground cable faults and collect condition assessment information.

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