Researchers estimate a self-healing power grid is still a decade away.

Researchers estimate a self-healing power grid is still a decade away.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Every two to 10 seconds, the power grid operator for a clutch of Mid-Atlantic states collects thousands of measurements on voltage, circuit breaker positions and the like.
Computers at PJM Interconnection summarize the info graphically and run what-if scenarios every five to 15 minutes to project whether a hypothetical failure in one component could be catastrophic.
PJM's systems are relatively new, its equipment installed just two years ago to do calculations more frequently and thoroughly than before. It's among the more modern monitoring technology on an otherwise rather backward national grid, where engineers rely primarily on telephones to alert neighboring regional power pools to trouble.
That reliance meant warnings of initial troubles preceding last week's massive blackout came too late or not at all.
It's too early to say whether the systems at PJM, which operates the energy market from New Jersey to West Virginia, were decisive in containing the outage to a relatively small part of its coverage area. But its commitment to technology is a sign of where the electricity industry is heading in trying to prevent cascading outages.
Smart computers
Soon, computer systems could get smart enough to anticipate a growing tree branch about to rupture a power line. Sensors could also detect an insulator about to break, allowing crews to make repairs before equipment overheats.
"Our vision of the grid of the future is what we are calling the self-healing grid," said Luther Dow, director of power delivery and markets at the industry-funded Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif. "It's one that monitors itself, measures itself and even takes corrective action to eliminate reliability problem."
A self-healing grid is still a decade away, though Dow said technologies to anticipate failure are already being tested by some 10 utilities.
Analyzing data
IBM Corp. and upstarts like SmartSignal Corp. are meanwhile working on smarter ways to analyze data, taking advantage of new sensors that communicate wirelessly to permit quicker, cheaper and more extensive information flow.
"There are so many decisions that need to be made so quickly and so many minute pieces of data, it's too many for the mind to comprehend," said David Samuel, general manager for IBM Energy & amp; Utilities Industry in Atlanta. "This is about programming the computer to do a lot of the analysis."
Vendors have already made some improvements.
Instead of presenting raw data in tabular columns that humans must digest, newer systems analyze and summarize the information in rich, graphical displays, said Mike Unum, a manager for automation and network services at GE Power Systems in Melbourne, Fla.
More can be done, he said.
Investigation
Citing the pending investigations, utility officials have said little about what role monitoring technology -- and its sophistication -- may have played in the recent failures.
FirstEnergy Corp., the Ohio utility at the center of probes into the blackout, has acknowledged that at least one component of its computer monitoring system wasn't working, preventing an alarm from sounding when troubles began.
At the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, which manages electric flow in the Midwest, alarms sound several times daily and engineers are trained to sort through them, spokeswoman Mary Lynn Webster said.
She would not comment on suggestions by some industry analysts that information overload -- or the lack of an efficient way of processing it -- might have been a factor.
Analysts say that when multiple failures occur -- four transmission lines at FirstEnergy tripped -- control-room operators can spend precious minutes sorting through alarms to figure out what needs attention first.
"It could alert you to too many problems," said Joseph Bucciero, a senior vice president at energy consultants Kema Inc.
PJM's general manager, Robert Hinkel, acknowledges shortfalls with even its newer systems.
Preventing a repeat
To prevent local trouble from snowballing again, Hinkel wants more automated sharing among neighboring utilities.
Advanced computing systems that Arizona Public Service Co. has been testing can help operators see the big picture rather than have to simultaneously watch separate displays for specific lines and substations, said Tom Glock, the company's manager of power operations.
He said such systems represent the future, though the ones available today remain too complex and require too many technicians.
Another hurdle is money. A truly self-healing network could cost tens of billions of dollars nationwide and require retrofitting old equipment with new sensors.