POWER August 2011 - 46

2011 Smart Grid award
tronic devices-including a substation local
fiber loop that connects automated reclosers,
smart regulators, intelligent breakers, and
substation transformers that are reporting
key parameters-and a SCADA system that
will provide substation information to the operations
control center, where it is monitored
and controlled 24 hours a day.
Money spent on substation and line upgrades
have shown " a great return, " Hallquist
reported, even " on lines we never would have
thought of before. " Operations now has data
not only about outages but data that signals
the threat of an outage so that proactive measures
can be taken.
Yankee Ingenuity Gives Users
Useful Information
Of course, once customers have a smart meter,
there's plenty of data available to the distribution
utility, but that data-if converted
into usable information-can be even more
valuable to the energy users who pay the
bills. That's why VEC introduced its WattWATCHERS
program at the May 2009 annual
member meeting.
Using in-house staff, VEC developed software
that would integrate with its TWACS
Network Server from Aclara (which manages
the AMI data) and enable members to
view their usage details. The service was
made available on the utility's website (www
.vermontelectric.coop).
Hallquist said that when the co-op began
planning this interface in 2008, there were
few vendors they could have turned to. One
offered to develop the necessary software
for about $2 million. Instead, VEC was able
to develop the software with no external
cost and minimal (less than $10,000) internal
cost. Working part time, in additional to
their regular responsibilities, VEC's IT staff
wrote the software between late 2008 and
May 2009.
WattWATCHERS enables members to
view their usage on an hourly, daily, or
monthly basis. The time period can be selected
depending on their analytical need. Usage
information can be exported into a spreadsheet
format for more detailed analysis. High
usage limits can be set, and members can get
text or email messages when that limit is exceeded.
Members can also share their information
on social networks like Facebook.
Since introducing WattWATCHERS,
high-bill complaints have been dramatically
reduced, because this tool helps members understand
their usage better and can help identify
the causes of high power consumption,
such as a malfunctioning appliance. Improving
consumers' understanding of their electricity
use by providing better information is one
of the promises of smart metering technology,
but it's a promise that has not been fulfilled by
all smart meter deployments.
Next Steps
VEC continues its leadership by engaging,
along with eight other utilities of various
sizes nationwide, in the first consumer
behavior study approved and funded by the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The goal,
according to the DOE, is to " examine the response
of consumers to variable electricity
prices, referred to as time-based rate programs
in conjunction with the deployment of
advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and
associate technology. "
VEC is also set to explore the flexibility
afforded by demand response (DR). It will be
the first utility in ISO New England to roll
out a DR program based on creating capacity
from home and business area network devices
and is scheduled to begin (at the ISO's
request) in late 2012, to manage peak load.
It will start with refrigeration units used by
large and small commercial customers and
with farm lighting-the " low-hanging fruit, "
as Hallquist calls it-because those plug
loads are already controllable.
In addition to ongoing improvements that
include substation and line replacements,
2. Cutting outages in half. Data from smart meters integrated with a new outage management
system has enabled Vermont Electric Cooperative to cut outages in half. This chart
shows a 12-month running average over the past six years for its System Average Interruption
Frequency Index. Source: VEC
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
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46
VEC is in the process of making transmission
upgrades in support of a wind power
project being developed by Green Mountain
Power. The 63-MW Kingdom Community
Wind project, to be located in the Lowell
Mountains, is anticipated to cost $150 million
and will use 21 3-MW Vestas turbines.
Power generated by the project, expected to
be online by the end of 2012, is projected to
cost $0.092/kWh. Hallquist said he would be
more concerned about adding this variable
generation source to the grid-particularly
given its potential effects on harmonics-if
VEC didn't have advanced metering and substation-monitoring
technologies in place.
In addition to the large wind project,
VEC's grid includes many smaller wind,
solar, and farm methane projects. Its smart
grid technologies have helped VEC reduce
the cost of interconnection for its consumers,
particularly because no special telecommunication
or equipment requirements are
necessary for metering those distributed generation
sources.
Costs and Benefits
What VEC calls its Smart Grid Outage Management
and Web Presentment project cost a
total of $15 million. Of that total, $5.2 million
came in the form of an American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant from
the DOE. VEC has spent almost half of that
grant, and Hallquist notes that only 4% is going
toward administration, while 96% of the
money is being spent directly on infrastructure
improvements.
However, it bears repeating that VEC began
investing in smart upgrades well before
those funds were made available in 2009. In
fact, VEC used ARRA funds to install only
the last 20% of smart meters. The metering
and OMS stage cost roughly $5.5 million;
approximately $7 million went toward substation
automation, SCADA system, and fiber
backhaul components; and the balance
was earmarked for customer behavior studies
and the web interface.
The AMI/OMS system paid for itself in
SQRP goal 2.5
five years, partially as a result of reducing the
number of meter readers needed. " However, "
Hallquist explained in his January letter to the
editor, " a very large component of the payback
was reduced system losses as well as improvements
in outage management " (see Figure 1).
He told POWER, " None of us expected SAIFI
to be down to 1.6, where it is today. "
Other benefits have been happy surprises.
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
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For example, in 2006, Hallquist said, the
co-op was " almost at junk bond status. " In
March of this year, Standard & Poor's gave
VEC an A- rating (up from BBB). " Our use
of technology was cited as one of the reasons
for the improvement, " Hallquist explained.
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POWER August 2011

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