Philadelphia-based PECO, an electric and natural-gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corp., has selected GE Energy to provide a new energy management system (EMS) to monitor and control the regional electric transmission system. GE's XA/21TM EMS was selected after an extensive competitive review process involving several suppliers.
The new multimillion-dollar EMS will be installed and tested by next spring and will be fully operational by September 2010. The new EMS will be operated in parallel with the existing system during the summer peak period of 2010.
Each dispatcher in PECO's transmission system operations will have four display monitors, rather than the current three. The GE system is expected to provide the operators with more information in a filtered, better-organized manner.
Additionally, the system will ensure compliance with federally mandated reliability and cyber infrastructure protection standards established by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., and will provide a reliable interface with operators at PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission grid operator.
The current supervisory control and data acquisition system requires data updates on a monthly basis. The new system will provide a more robust test environment for future system upgrades and can accommodate frequent changes to reflect any operating changes with PECO's transmission substations or transmission lines across the region.
SOURCE: PECO
