System and Method for Providing Power Distribution System Information

• US 20090187284A1
• Filed: 01/17/2009
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Current Communications Services LLC (Widewall Investments SL)
• Original Assignee: Current Communications Services LLC (Widewall Investments SL)
• Inventors: Brancaccio, Daniel S., Kreiss, David G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,000,913 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/291
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/60 Limiting power consumption in the network or in one section of the network, e.g. load shedding or peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/62 The condition being non-electrical, e.g. temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/144 Demand-response operation of the power transmission or distribution network

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product for processing utility data of a power grid is provided. In one embodiment, the system includes a datamart comprised of a plurality of physical databases storing utility data, a plurality of applications comprising an automated meter application configured to process power usage data from a plurality of automated meters, a power outage application configured to identify a location of a power outage, and a power restoration application configured to identify a location of a power restoration. The system may include an analysis engine comprising a plurality of analysis objects with each analysis object configured to process data to provide a specific analysis, wherein said analysis engine is accessible via one or more of the plurality of applications, and the system may include a report module configured to receive an output from the analysis engine and to output a report. The plurality of applications may also include a fault analysis application, a transformer analysis application, a theft detection application, a power flow application, a substation automation application, a load shed application and others.

Claims

1. A system for processing utility data of a power grid, comprising:

a datamart comprised of a plurality of physical databases storing utility data;

a plurality of applications comprising;

an automated meter application configured to process power usage data from a plurality of automated meters;

a power outage application configured to identify a location of a power outage;

a power restoration application configured to identify a location of a power restoration;

an analysis engine comprising a plurality of analysis objects with each analysis object configured to process data to perform a specific analysis;

wherein said analysis engine is accessible via one or more of the plurality of applications; and

a report module configured to receive an output from the analysis engine and to output a report.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications further comprises a fault analysis application configured to identify a location of a fault.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications further comprises a substation automation application configured to configure one or more components at a substation.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications further comprises a load control application configured to perform load shedding.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications further comprises:

a fault analysis application configured to identify a location of a fault;

a substation automation application configured to configure one or more components at a substation; and

an load control application configured to perform load shedding.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications further comprises four or more of the following applications:

a fault analysis application configured to identify a location of a fault;

a substation automation application configured to configure one or more components at a substation;

an load control application configured to perform load shedding;

an incipient cable fault application configured to predict a location of a fault of an underground power cable;

a theft detection application configured to identify a location of a power theft;

a transformer analysis module configured to identify an overloaded transformer;

a high impedance fault detection application configured to identify a location of a high impedance fault;

a load forecasting application configured to output a forecast of power demand; and

a conservation voltage reduction application configured to control an output voltage of a substation to reduce power consumption.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein said datamart includes a plurality of drivers with each driver having access to data of a specific schema of a different one of the plurality of databases.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein said analysis engine is configured to cause said report module to output an alarm notification if processing of utility data satisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications further comprises:

a power flow application configured to control the flow of power through the power grid; and

a vegetation incursion application configured to identify a location of a vegetation incursion.

10. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system to provide a computer process for providing information related to a power distribution system based on information provided by a plurality of nodes, wherein the process comprises:

providing access to a plurality of physical databases storing utility data;

processing the utility data to identify a location of a power outage and output a power outage location;

processing the utility data to identify a location of a power restoration and output a power restoration location;

transmitting control messages to configure one or more components at a substation; and

transmitting control messages to one or more load control devices to perform load shedding.

11. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the process further comprises processing power usage data from a plurality of automated meters to output billing information.

12. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the process further comprises processing utility data to identify a location of a fault and to output a location of the fault.

13. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the process further comprises two or more of the following processes:

processing utility data to provide a forecast of power demand of portions of the power grid and to output a forecast report;

processing utility data to predict a location of a fault of an underground power cable and to output information identifying a location of the predicted fault;

processing utility data to identify a location of a power theft and to output information identifying a location of the power theft; and

processing utility data to identify an overloaded transformer and to output information identifying the overloaded transformer.

14. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the process further comprises two or more of the following processes:

processing utility data to identify a location of a high impedance fault;

outputting control messages to control an output voltage of a substation; and

outputting control messages to control the flow of power through the power grid.

15. The computer program product according to claim 10, further comprises a plurality of drivers with each driver having access to data of a specific schema of a different one of the plurality of databases.

16. The computer program product according to claim 10, wherein the process further comprises outputting an alarm notification if processing of utility data satisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.

17. A system for processing utility data of a power grid data, comprising:

a data management system configured to store the utility data;

a fault analyst module configured to process utility data to identify locations of power outages and to output fault location data,

a power restoration module configured to process utility data to identify locations of power restorations and to output restoration location data on a map on a display; and

a power outage module configured to process utility data to identify locations of power outages and to output power outage location data on a map on a display.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein said data management system comprises a datamart having a plurality of physical databases.

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein said datamart includes a plurality of drivers with each driver having access to data of a specific schema of a different one of the plurality of physical databases.

20. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a measurement data processing module configured to process utility data that comprises voltage data derived from measurements taken at a plurality of distribution transformers and to output an analysis report.

21. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a meter module configured to receive power usage data derived from a plurality of automated meters and to output billing data.

22. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a substation automation module configured to transmit control messages to configure one or more components at a substation.

23. The system according to claim 17, further comprising a load control module configured to transmit control messages to perform load shedding.

24. The system according to claim 17, further comprising:

a substation automation module configured to transmit control messages to configure one or more components at a substation; and

a load control module configured to transmit control messages to perform load shedding.

25. The system according to claim 17, further comprising four or more of the following modules:

an incipient cable fault module configured to process utility data to predict a location of a fault of an underground power cable and to output an incipient fault location;

a theft detection module configured to process utility data to identify a location of a power theft and to output a theft location;

a transformer analysis module configured to process utility data to identify an overloaded transformer and to output a transformer report;

a high impedance fault detection module configured to process utility data to identify a location of a high impedance fault and to output a location of a high impedance fault;

a load forecasting module configured to provide a forecast of power demand and to output a forecast report;

a conservation voltage reduction module configured to process utility data to control the output voltage of a substation to reduce power consumption; and

a power flow application configured to process utility data to control the flow of power through the power grid.

26. The system according to claim 17, further comprising an alarm module configured to output an alarm notification if processing of utility data satisfies one of a plurality of predetermined conditions.