On the open road to enhancing the value of control centers to system operation and the utility enterprise

Power system operation is comprised of cooperating functions in generation, transmission, and distribution, interacting with customer service, engineering, planning, and utility management. It is within this total enterprise context that the automation of power system operation should be designed and implemented. The objective of this approach, made practical by the availability of open architectures and modern communication technology, is to enhance the effectiveness with which control centers can serve the needs of system operation and of other sectors in the utility. This paper presents design and implementation guidelines for generation-transmission and distribution control centers within the total operation framework. The overall emphasis is on functionality which benefits not only operation but other elements of the utility enterprise as well. >