System and method for utility enterprise management
Contents
1. and incorporating a remote operation module for remotely operating at least one of the substations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider2. utility substations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service pro vider 19 The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of incorporating a scheduling program for scheduling mainte nance operations for at least one of the utility substations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider 20 The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of incorporating an administrative tracking program for pro viding administrative functions for at least one of the utility substations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider 21 The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of incorporating a remote operation module for remotely oper ating at least one of the substations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider 22 A method for monitoring a utility substation compris ing the steps of operatively connecting monitoring equipment compris ing one or more devices for measuring the voltage and current in an electrical power utility substation to a utility substation for monitoring operating conditions of the utility substation operatively connecting the monitoring equipment to an application service provider through a first communi cation network operatively connecting one or more network interface devices to
3. based format and is designed using standard available design tools such as those available in HTML code The invention may also use interactive set up programs that guide the user through a series of steps that quickly and easily configure the system for optimal opera tion Such formats and programs are relatively simple to use and program thereby minimizing the initial startup cost and training costs A system using the Internet also may be accessed by most telephone lines and is therefore highly accessible even for personnel who are traveling Internet based systems may also be expanded with very little cost The present invention may also be added to existing systems without substantial interference with the utility provider s business and without incurring substantial costs related to training personnel to use the system 0042 While the foregoing description includes many details and specifics it is to be understood that these have been included for purposes of explanation only and are not to be interpreted as limitations of the present invention Many modifications to the embodiments described above can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as is intended to be encompassed by the following claims and their legal equivalents US 2002 0035497 Al What is claimed is 1 A system for monitoring a utility substation compris ing monitoring equipment operatively connected to a utility substation f
4. by personnel operating the client devices 104 In another embodiment however the equipment data base 128 may be maintained locally by a global network interface device 126 located at one or more of the substa tions 100 In one embodiment the equipment database 128 may comprise a multitude of identical and redundant data bases that are established and updated on each of the server 106 client devices 104 and the substation network interface devices 126 0027 The equipment database 128 may contain informa tion about the particular equipment at each substation 100 This information may include service manuals operating specifications suggested maintenance schedules warnings warranty information wiring diagrams substation maps safety procedures emergency contact information the per formance history of that particular piece of equipment and the like The information in the equipment database 128 may be organized in such a manner as to facilitate sorting by various methods such as by type of equipment by location by scheduled maintenance date or by other methods By providing this information in an equipment database 128 the present invention may allow less experienced personnel to operate repair and maintain the substations 100 and related equipment 0028 An exemplary embodiment of the present inven tion may provide various fault detection and correction features The substations 100 of a utility provider especially p
5. notification of operating conditions of the utility substation monitored by the monitoring equipment through the application service provider lig Wh Wt o 2 Maintenance Admin Cust Suppo 192 128 109 Patent Application Publication Mar 21 2002 US 2002 0035497 A1 Fig I Nd Pae NS Nb ug E Engineer Maintenance Admin Cust Suppor 162 126 vb iw 1 100 gio ee US 2002 0035497 Al SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UTILITY ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 0001 This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Serial No 60 210 487 filed Jun 9 2000 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0002 The present invention generally relates to enter prise management More particularly the present invention relates to systems and methods for remote management of utility enterprises 0003 Comprehensive utility enterprise management solutions that is techniques for monitoring and controlling any of a variety of operations conducted in or by a utility such as monitoring and controlling one or more substations or other complex enterprise are increasingly important Conventionally such solutions are provided using relatively expensive proprietary software and custom software pro gramming Many small distribution substations are not even monitored because it has not been cost effective Conse quently u
6. present invention to check the equip ment database 128 to determine which pieces of equipment are due for repair or maintenance The scheduling program may then create an efficient plan for dispatching mainte nance personnel to perform the required tasks If such a scheduling program is implemented over a computer net work the server 106 may create an electronic network punch pin board or other type of planning device that may be updated by the supervisor and viewable by the entire team using client devices 104 and substation network interface devices 126 over the internet to determine system status On completion of a job a detailed record may be automatically generated for filing The use of such a scheduling system promotes consistent methodology and improved efficiency and safety and provides other benefits to a utility provider Mar 21 2002 0038 As noted before the server 106 may also provide the administrative staff with information to assist them with administering the utility provider For example the equip ment database 128 may be used to create an asset list that indicates the type number location and status of each asset of the utility provider This may be used to assist with financial record keeping maintenance and tracking for budget purposes Such an administrative tracking system may also be used in conjunction with the fault detection and correction features For example upon detection of a fault the ser
7. the application service provider by a second communication network for receiving notification of operating conditions of the utility substation monitored by the monitoring equipment Mar 21 2002 wherein the first and second communication networks are the Internet wherein the first communication network and the second communication network comprise the same network operatively connecting an equipment database to at least one of the first and second communication networks the equipment database being accessible by one or more of the application service provider and the one or more network interface devices incorporating an expertise database into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the appli cation service provider incorporating a reporting system for automatically gen erating reports relating to the operation of at least one of the utility substations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider incorporating a scheduling program for scheduling main tenance operations for at least one of the utility sub stations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider incorporating an administrative tracking program for pro viding administrative functions for at least one of the utility substations into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider
8. 00 The monitoring devices may be part of a SCADA system 120 or an adapter 122 0025 One embodiment of a system incorporating the present invention may also include one or more customer client devices 124 for enable customer access to servers 106 The customer may use the customer client devices 124 to obtain information about the substations 100 and other information from the utility providers For example a utility provider may establish a home page on the Internet that allows access by customer client device 124 by way of the Internet The home page may provide information such as the customer s account information the customer s utility usage patterns the status of one or more substations e g whether they are experiencing an outage and when the outage is expected to end and so on In addition a utility provider may use an Internet connection with the customer client device 124 to obtain suggestions sell energy provide reliability statistics promote new services or provide or receive other information 0026 In order to assist the utility owner with maintain ing repairing and operating the substations 100 the present invention may further include an equipment database 128 The equipment database 128 may comprise one or more of any type of computer database In a preferred embodiment the equipment database 128 is a single database maintained by the server 106 and which may be updated by an operator of the server 106 or
9. andling system for a commercial building Furthermore the substations 100 may be any size and may have any level of complexity For example a substation 100 may be a relatively complex communications network routing substation 100 that handles cable telephone and fiber optic lines or it may be a relatively simple air or water valve substation 100 in a commercial building The substations 100 may be owned by a single utility provider or different substations 100 may be owned by different utility providers The present invention may be employed in either case 0011 The client devices 104 typically include a personal computer or similar device by personnel that operate man age or otherwise work with the utility substations 100 The precise composition of the personnel operating the client devices 104 may very depending on such factors as the business relationship between the various utility providers and the owner or operator of the servers 106 the require US 2002 0035497 Al ments of the substations 100 the business practices of the utility providers and so on In an exemplary embodiment in which the substations 100 are power distribution substa tions the client devices 104 may comprise an operator device 110 and engineer device 112 a maintenance person nel device 114 an administrative personnel device 116 and a customer service personnel device 118 0012 A utility provider owning several substations 100 may employ a
10. as United States 20020035497A a Patent Application Publication ao Pub No US 2002 0035497 A1 Mazereeuw et al 43 Pub Date Mar 21 2002 54 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR UTILITY ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT 76 Inventors Jeff Mazereeuw Newmarket CA Marzio Pozzuoli Maple CA Norris Woodruff Toronto CA Claudio Cargnelli Toronto CA Correspondence Address Kevin T Duncan Esq Hunton amp Williams Suite 1200 1900 K Street NW Washington DC 20006 1109 US 21 Appl No 09 877 226 22 Filed Jun 11 2001 Related U S Application Data 63 Non provisional of provisional 60 210 487 filed on Jun 9 2000 application No Ht i a g Engineer 108 J4 BOTT tr Cts oo Publication Classification GO Int C sesionin GO6F 17 60 52 TS Sect a a ENE 705 7 57 ABSTRACT A system and method for monitoring a utility substation is provided The system for monitoring a utility substation includes monitoring equipment connected to a utility sub station for monitoring operating conditions of the utility substation The monitoring equipment is connected to an application service provider through a first communication network One or more network interface devices are con nected to the application service provider by a second communication network which may be the same commu nication network as the first communication network The one or more network interface devices receive
11. communications net work 102 Further one or more servers 106 associated with an application service provider ASP may be operably connected to the network 102 and may have uninterrupted communications with the substations 100 the client devices 104 or both through the network 102 The server 106 may also have other communications systems for communicating with the substations 100 and the staff 104 such as a paging system 108 a cellular telephone system not shown and the like 0009 The utility substations 100 may be any type of substation 100 that is part of a utility or power generation system or grid The substations obtain a resource and redistribute it to customers or other substations For example the substations 100 may be power substations 100 that route electric power from various power suppliers or other substations 100 to various utility customers or other substations 100 Similarly the substations 100 may be for communications systems such as cable networks telephone networks fiber optic networks and the like The substations 100 may also be non electrical utility substations 100 such as water or sewer pumping stations Further it should be understood that the substations 100 may comprise a com bination of plurality of different types of utility substations 0010 The substations 100 may be part of a wide or global network such as a country wide power grid or may be relatively localized such as an air h
12. de or other compilers assemblers interpreters or other computer languages or platforms In a preferred embodiment the various entities communicate with one another using an Internet based language that employs simple and familiar interface devices such as a HTML based language operating through Internet software such as Microsoft s Explorer 0019 The preceding descriptions of the communication network 102 the servers 106 the substations 100 and the client devices 104 are not intended to limit the present invention Communication network such as network 102 US 2002 0035497 Al and systems operating in conjunction with them are gener ally known in the art and a skilled artisan will be able to employ such systems in conjunction with the present inven tion without undue experimentation 0020 In an alternative embodiment of the present inven tion communication network 102 may comprise a first communication network connecting the substation network interface device 126 with the server 106 and a second communication network connecting the client devices 104 with the server 106 0021 In one embodiment the substations 100 further comprise a local device for monitoring and controlling the operation of the substation For example a substation 100 may comprise a supervisory control and data acquisition system SCADA 120 that monitors the devices at the substation 100 and allows a local operator to control various fea
13. e a Digital Data Service DDS connection or DSL Digital Subscriber Line connection an Ethernet connection an ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network line a dial up port such as a V 90 V 34 or V 34 bis analog modem connection a cable modem an ATM Asyn chronous Transfer Mode connection or an FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interface or CDDI Copper Distributed Data Interface connection The network 102 may also use or include a wireless communications system such as a cellular communications link a radio frequency link a paging device or other suitable devices These and other communications devices are known in the art and a skilled artisan will be able to employ them with the present inven tion without excessive experimentation 0015 One or more servers 106 may control the commu nications network 102 and may generally serve as a com munications link between the staff 104 the substations 100 and other entities or systems The servers 106 may comprise any networking platform running any suitable operating system or network protocol The servers 106 may be or include for instance workstations running the Microsoft Windows NT Windows 2000 Unix Linux Xenix IBM AIX Hewlett Packard UX Novell Netware Sun Microsystems Solaris OS 2 BeOS Mach Apache OpenStep or other operating system or platform In the embodiments described herein the servers 106 are described as performing certain ta
14. ent database operatively connected to at least one of the first and second communication networks the equipment database being accessible by one or more of the application service provider and the one or more network interface devices an expertise database wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider includes a reporting system for automatically generating reports relating to the operation of at least one of the utility substations wherein the first and second communication networks are the Internet wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider includes a scheduling program for scheduling maintenance opera tions for at least one of the utility substations wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider includes an administrative tracking program for providing admin istrative functions for at least one of the utility substa tions and wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider includes a remote operation module for remotely operating at least one of the substations 12 A method for monitoring a utility substation compris ing the steps of operatively connecting monitoring equipment to a utility substation for monitoring operating conditions of the utility substation operatively connecting the
15. erver 106 to query the substations network interface devices 126 to obtain further operating conditions form the monitoring devices 0031 When a utility provider is notified that a substation 100 has experienced a fault condition the utility owner may have to determine an appropriate course of action To plan a response it may be desirable to identify the exact nature of the fault prior to dispatching maintenance personnel to correct the fault If the fault is a service warning such as an indication that a part of the system may be in the early stages of failure as may be indicated by a particular trend in the measurements then an immediate dispatch may not be necessary If the fault is an emergency warning such as a fire or a power outage then immediate dispatch may be desired In one embodiment one or more of the server 106 the client devices 104 and the substation network interface devices Mar 21 2002 126 may be programmed to identify particular conditions to determine whether they warrant service warnings emer gency warnings or no warning For example a server 106 may be programmed to recognize a particular trend in the voltage of a substation 100 to recognize it as the early stages of a short circuit 0032 In one embodiment of the invention when a fault is detected the server 106 automatically calls up the appro priate information from the equipment database 128 that relates to the particular fault condition For exa
16. he utility provider Each particular work procedure such as replace ment of a blown fuse or servicing a transformer may require a specific detailed work plan This work plan may include the use of safety steps such as printing and installing lockout tags coordinating a temporary power outage with other substations to ensure that the customers 124 are not left without power and filing a record of the work procedure and the results Conventionally utility providers manually create a work plan for each task which can be time consuming and may lead to errors or omissions in the plan One or more of the server 106 the client devices 104 and the substation network interface devices 126 of the present invention may be programmed to provide a scheduling program feature The scheduling program may be used to automate the repetitive manual creation of procedures by allowing entry of the information only once using prompter screens to capture all the required activities and minimize omissions The necessary schedules detailed procedures and lockout tags may then be generated by printers attached to the system as needed for each maintenance event or repair The servers 106 or other devices on the system may also take automatic measures to ensure that safety conditions are not breached during service such as by establishing a power cut off that can not be accidentally overridden 0037 Furthermore the scheduling program may be implemented with the
17. ility substations 8 The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application ser vice provider includes a scheduling program for scheduling maintenance operations for at least one of the utility sub stations 9 The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application ser vice provider includes an administrative tracking program for providing administrative functions for at least one of the utility substations 10 The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application ser vice provider includes a remote operation module for remotely operating at least one of the substations 11 A system for monitoring a utility substation compris ing monitoring equipment comprising one or more devices for measuring the voltage and current in an electrical power utility substation operatively connected to a utility substation for monitoring operating conditions of the utility substation the monitoring equipment being operatively connected to an application service provider through a first commu nication network one or more network interface devices operatively con nected to the application service provider by a second Mar 21 2002 communication network for receiving notification of operating conditions of the utility substation monitored by the monitoring equipment an equipm
18. ly only stored locally at the substation 100 Using the present invention an engineer may be able to access this information remotely through the server 106 saving the time needed to make a local visit to the substation 100 and possibly reducing the number of engineers required to suitably staff the utility provider 0034 The equipment database 128 may also serve sev eral other functions to provide benefits to the utility owner when a fault condition is detected In one embodiment the equipment database 128 comprises an expertise database The expertise database provides troubleshooting informa tion that may assist the client devices 104 with diagnosing fault conditions and effectuating corrective measures In many instances the fault conditions experienced by a utility have previously occurred The expertise database may be a passive or an interactive database of fault events symptoms and solutions The expertise database may also comprise public documents and internet links to websites having industry standards application papers notes and diagnosis guides for the equipment An engineer or other member of the personnel may quickly access the expertise database to obtain assistance with diagnosing a fault condition In addi tion the server 106 may be programmed to correlate par ticular fault events with corresponding entries in the exper tise database so that when a fault is detected and reported the server 106 provides a sugges
19. ment of the invention when a fault is detected the servers 106 notify the appropriate members of the personnel operating the client devices 104 through network 102 In order to provide instant notification of a fault the servers 106 may notify client devices 104 such as a pager 108 or cellular telephone monitored by maintenance personnel By using such an instant notification system the personnel may attend other activities without having to constantly monitor the operation of the system to quickly detect faults In addition a signal may be transmitted to other client devices 126 being operated by other personnel and the substation network interface devices 126 so as to notify them that a fault has occurred In one embodiment such a signal may trigger a visual alert to display or cause an audible alarm to sound Such a signal may provide visual and audible warnings on an internet web browser on the client devices 104 and the substation network interface devices 126 Once notified maintenance personnel can quickly pinpoint the substation raising the alarm by referring to for example an internet based web browser utility pro grammed to display the location and details of the alarm in a user interface In one embodiment the user interface may include a plurality of interactive screens that allow the personnel to view various operating conditions of the sub stations and which may be programmed to respond to the user s input to cause the s
20. monitoring equipment to an application service provider through a first communi cation network operatively connecting one or more network interface devices to the application service provider by a second communication network for receiving notification of operating conditions of the utility substation monitored by the monitoring equipment 13 The method of claim 12 wherein the monitoring equipment comprises one or more devices for measuring the voltage and current in an electrical power utility substation 14 The method of claim 12 wherein at least one of the first and second communication networks is the Internet 15 The method of claim 12 wherein the first communi cation network and the second communication network comprise the same network 16 The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of operatively connecting an equipment database to at least one of the first and second communication networks the equipment database being accessible by one or more of the application service provider and the one or more network interface devices 17 The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of incorporating an expertise database into at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application service provider US 2002 0035497 Al 18 The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of incorporating a reporting system for automatically generat ing reports relating to the operation of at least one of the
21. mple if a blown fuse is detected then the server 106 may provide the maintenance personnel the service manual and safety warn ings for the type of fuse that has blown In addition the server 106 may simultaneously provide warranty informa tion for the fuse to the administrative personnel so that they may determine whether the fuse may be replaced or repaired under warranty Upon a loss of power at a substation 100 the server 106 may also notify the customer service personnel that there is a power outage and may automatically provide them with an estimated time of repair so that that informa tion may be passed along to customers 0033 If the utility provider wishes to obtain more infor mation about the fault condition an engineer or other personnel may access the equipment database 128 through client device 104 to examine other records or files that may be useful in determining what caused the fault or how to repair the fault In one embodiment of the invention a local SCADA system 120 or adapter 122 may provide historical information surrounding the fault condition that may be useful for diagnosing various problems For example elec trical power utility engineers often use system settings actual conditions oscillographic information and events at the time of the trip to determine how a particular fault occurred SCADA systems 120 or adapters 122 are often programmed to record this information however such infor mation is typical
22. or monitoring operating conditions of the utility substation the monitoring equipment being operatively connected to an application service provider through a first commu nication network one or more network interface devices operatively con nected to the application service provider by a second communication network for receiving notification of operating conditions of the utility substation monitored by the monitoring equipment 2 The system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring equip ment comprises one or more devices for measuring the voltage and current in an electrical power utility substation 3 The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second communication networks is the Internet 4 The system of claim 1 wherein the first communication network and the second communication network comprise the same network 5 The system of claim 1 further comprising an equip ment database operatively connected to at least one of the first and second communication networks the equipment database being accessible by one or more of the application service provider and the one or more network interface devices 6 The system of claim 1 further comprising an expertise database 7 The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more network interface devices and the application ser vice provider includes a reporting system for automatically generating reports relating to the operation of at least one of the ut
23. ower utilities often are spread out over hundreds or even thousands of square miles This geographical dispersion may make detecting and pinpointing faults difficult as the US 2002 0035497 Al utility provider often has no prior warning of the fault and it may be difficult to interpret the symptoms of the fault e g termination of the utility to particular customers or break down of optimal current characteristics to determine where the fault occurred In order to identify and pinpoint faults the servers 106 may receive signals from the substation network interface devices 126 at each substation 100 that indicate whether the substation 100 is experiencing abnor mal or fault conditions Alternatively or in addition the servers 106 may query the substation network interface devices 126 to determine when a fault is detected 0029 The substation network interface devices 126 or the servers 106 may be programmed to establish which mea surements and conditions qualify as fault conditions Fault conditions may be defined to include total power failures such as short circuits and open circuits and may also include service situations such as unusual voltage or current fluc tuations or other conditions Each utility provider may select different parameters that indicate a fault condition for its substations 100 based on the type of equipment at each substation desired maintenance schedules or for other reasons 0030 In one embodi
24. single set of client devices 104 being operated by a single group of personnel to oversee and operate all of the substations 100 or may have several groups of client devices 104 operated by several groups of personnel assigned to do so In one embodiment certain members of the personnel may be able to service all of the substations 100 while other groups of personnel may be assigned to particular substations 100 For example the customer ser vice personnel and administrative personnel may be the same for all of the substations 100 but the operators engineers and maintenance personnel may be assigned to particular substations 100 or particular groups of substations 100 The present invention may allow the number of per sonnel to be reduced or made more efficient as is described in more detail herein Variations on the composure and details of the particular personnel and associated client devices 104 will be obvious to one skilled in the art in light of the teachings herein 0013 The communications network 102 may comprise any system for transmitting data between various locations and may be include or interface with a distributed network such as the Internet or any type of local area network or larger area networks In a preferred embodiment the com munications network 102 is the Internet 0014 The communications network 102 may be accessed by any suitable communications method such as by use of a digital T1 T3 E1 or E3 lin
25. sks however it should be understood that some or all of these tasks may be performed Mar 21 2002 by network interface devices 126 operated at the substations 100 or by the client devices 104 or by other entities 0016 The substations 100 may each comprise or utilize one or more substation network interface devices 126 for communicating with the communications network 102 Fur ther the substation network interface devices 126 and the client devices 104 may be interconnected through respective internal networks such as a Local Area Networks LAN or the like Also some or all of the substation network interface devices 126 and client devices may be portable devices such as laptop computers In one embodiment the servers 106 may also be equipped to communicate with the personnel using a paging system or a cellular system The paging system or other system may also be selected to communicate with the client devices 104 or the client devices may comprise pagers cellular phones personal digital assistants and the like 0017 Substation network interface devices 126 at the substation 100 and the client devices 104 may be or include for instance personal computers running the Microsoft Windows 95 98 Millenium NT 2000 or XP Windows CE PalmOS Unix Linux Solaris OS 2 BeOS MacOS VAX VMS or other operating system or platform Each network interface device 126 may include a microproces
26. sor such as an Intel 86 based or Advanced Micro Devices 86 compatible device a Motorola 68 K or PowerPC device a MIPS Hewlett Packard Precision or Digital Equipment Corp Alpha RISC processor a microcontroller or other general or special purpose device operating under programmed control Each network interface device 126 may furthermore include elec tronic memory such as RAM random access memory or EPROM electronically programmable read only memory storage such as a hard drive CDROM or rewritable CDROM or other magnetic optical or other media and other associated components connected over an electronic bus as will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art 0018 The substations 100 servers 106 and client devices 104 may communicate with one another using any number of systems For example they may send or receive messages to one another using Internet Protocol IP or Internet Protocol Next Generation IPng code or data Hyper text Markup Language HTML Dynamic HTML Extensible Markup Language XML Extensible Stylesheet Language XSL Document Style Semantics and Specifi cation Language DSSSL Cascading Style Sheets CSS Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language SMIL Wireless Markup Language WML Java Jini C C Perl UNIX Shell Visual Basic or Visual Basic Script Virtual Reality Markup Language VRML ColdFusion Common Gateway Interface CGI servelets peer to peer networking co
27. ted course of action 0035 Utility providers often desire to provide reports on the utility s operation Government regulated outage reports US 2002 0035497 Al monitored data in chart form and routine internal reports are an administrative burden that each utility handles with its internal personnel For example some governmental authori ties require formal reports to be submitted when a utility fails to provide service for an extended period The present invention and in particular the monitoring features described herein may be integrated into a reporting system that automatically generates operation or service reports and prepares them for government filing and other uses One or more of the server 106 the client devices 104 and the substation network interface devices 126 may be pro grammed to create reports from automatically collected or manually entered data Once set up reports may be created automatically or may be viewed on demand printed or emailed or otherwise transmitted as required thereby reduc ing the cost of operation 0036 The present invention may also be programmed to organize emergency operations and other maintenance operations For example planned or emergency work on an electrical power distribution system may be a regular activ ity in the sense that such operations require specific safety procedures and other procedures to ensure that the work is done safely and to the specifications set forth by t
28. ter 122 may be configured to send signals directly to the communications network 102 or alternatively it may trans mit signals to another device in the substation 100 that processes such signals and relays them to the network 102 For example the adapter 122 may transmit the SCADA system signals over a radio frequency to a network interface device 126 in the substation control room which then converts these signals into a signal having an Internet usable format for transmission to the servers 106 using the network 102 The adapter 122 preferably has a universal design that may be easily configured for connection with various types of SCADA systems 120 and which has an expandable port design or other suitable design for allowing flexibility and expandability 0024 Each substation 100 further comprises at least one monitoring device for monitoring the operating conditions of the substation 100 For example in an embodiment in which the utility substations 100 are electric power substa tions the substations 100 may be equipped with monitoring Mar 21 2002 devices that measure the voltage and current through the substations 100 at various points The substation network interface devices 126 may be equipped to transmit the output of the one or more monitors to the servers 106 Alternatively or in addition the servers 106 may be equipped to directly query the monitoring devices to determine the operating conditions of the substations 1
29. tilities in many instances first receive an indication of an outage by a call from an upset customer A lack of fault information can prevent line crews from quickly identifying the location of a fault and quickly remedying the problem While weather related outages may be difficult to avoid some equipment failures can be prevented if it would be possible to continuously monitor the equipment and provide maintenance warnings when appropriate A further concern is that necessary documents relating to equipment data and procedures are frequently not readily accessible 0004 It would be desirable to provide effective power management including the continuous monitoring of sub stations or other equipment associated with a utility or other complex enterprise It would also be desirable to provide a power management system that provides enhanced service features It would also be desirable to provide such a power management system at a relatively low cost and in a manner than can be easily retrofitted into existing substations with out disturbing existing systems It would further be desirable for such a solution to be easily used by management staff with minimal training and no additional investment in specialized equipment It be still further desirable to provide a flexible solution that can grow with changing enterprise requirements SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0005 A system and method for addressing the above problems and other problems ma
30. tures or aspects of the substation s performance or auto matically controls such features and aspects As understood herein local refers to a location within the general prox imity of a substation 100 and local control may include the use of short range radio frequency operated devices and operation of hard wired devices within the compound or facility containing the main operating devices or equipment of the substation 0022 The present invention may further comprise an adapter 122 for communicating with existing SCADA sys tems 120 that may be in place at a substation In one embodiment the adapter 122 may comprise a signal con verter for converting digital and analog SCADA system signals into an Internet usable format such as an HTML formatted signal The adapter 122 may also include addi tional features such as a local surveillance device e g a camera thermometer anemometers to detect physical con ditions of equipment or the presence of trespassers or other physical intrusions or conditions In another embodiment in which the substation 100 does not have an existing SCADA system 120 or similar system the adapter 122 may be configured to provide the functions and features that would otherwise be provided by a SCADA system 120 or similar system 0023 In one embodiment the adapter 122 may include a waterproof or otherwise weather resistant enclosure such that it is resistant to environmental conditions The adap
31. ver 106 may query the equipment database 128 to locate any spare parts necessary to repair the faulty equip ment and notify the maintenance personnel of the location of such parts 0039 The server 106 may also be equipped to provide remote operation of various parts of the substations 100 For example the server 106 may be programmed to send the substations 100 a signal that initiates local self testing procedures at the substations 100 The server 106 may also compare the operation conditions of various substations 100 to determine which substations 100 are operating at greater efficiency than others in order to re route the flow of the utility through the substations to improve the overall effi ciency of the utility network 0040 The present invention may provide numerous ben efits to a user By providing reliable automated monitoring for fault conditions and direct notification when faults occur the present invention may allow a utility provider to reduce the number of personnel required to be at the substations 100 to detect faults By detecting and announcing possible maintenance issues the present invention may also reduce the cost of repairs abrogate the need for frequent visits for manual inspections and improve the overall efficiency of the utility provider The present invention may also be used to increase safety efficiency and productivity 0041 In a preferred embodiment the present invention uses a familiar Internet
32. y be provided by using a system a system for monitoring a utility substation The system for monitoring a utility substation includes monitor ing equipment connected to a utility substation for moni toring operating conditions of the utility substation The monitoring equipment is connected to an application service provider through a first communication network One or more network interface devices are connected to the appli cation service provider by a second communication net work which may be the same communication network as the first communication network The one or more network interface devices receive notification of operating conditions Mar 21 2002 of the utility substation monitored by the monitoring equip ment through the application service provider BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0006 The present invention may be more fully under stood with reference to the following drawing 0007 FIG 1 is a generalized diagram of a system incorporating one embodiment of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0008 Referring now to FIG 1 there is shown a gener alized diagram of a system incorporating one embodiment of the present invention In particular one or more utility substations 100 substations are connected to a commu nications network 102 network through substation net work interface devices 126 One or more client devices 104 may also be operably attached to the
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