Profile of control center paints picture of future

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By Jesse Berst

A profile of American Transmission Co.'s state-of-the art control center shows all of the world what we are moving toward, even those of us on the distribution side. First, it is ultra-secure, including careful physical security. The location is not made public, the facility is "hardened" against natural disasters, the building is surrounded by exterior fences and gates and the interior doors are all guarded by a complex multi-key-card system.

Second, the control room has a very sophisticated view of ATC's thousands of miles of transmission lines in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The profile in the Wisconsin State Journal describes it as "a set from a sci-fi movie or perhaps one of the rooms from which NASA engineers guide rockets into outer space." Operators undergo extensive training, including disaster simulations (just the way pilots are trained with simulated emergencies).

This is the here and now for transmission control centers, most of which are upgrading in parallel with the move to fully instrument the bulk power grid with synchrophasors. But I argue that it is the future of distribution operations as well. Gradually, both the security and the sophisticated "air traffic control system" will migrate to the control centers of our local utilities.

Municipalization under consideration in upstate New York

As if utilities weren't under enough stress and pressure to change, several regions in the country are seeing an uptick in interest by cities to abandon their utility in favor of a municipal. We've already documented the decision by Boulder, CO to "secede" from Xcel Energy. Now Utica, NY has set up an exploratory committee. Boulder's "green" citizens were motivated because they want to bring in more renewable energy. Utica's motivation is to get power less expensively than currently provided by National Grid, which is so far refusing to consider selling its infrastructure to the city.

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Jesse Berst is the founder and chief analyst of Smart Grid News.com. He consults to smart grid companies seeking market entry advice and M&A advisory. A frequent keynoter at industry events in the US and abroad, he also serves on the Advisory Council of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Energy & Environment directorate.

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