Abstract:
A method and system for managing electric grid operation and maintenance are provided. The system includes a work crew locator configured to receive a location of a work crew based on a location of a work vehicle associated with the work crew, a work crew management subsystem, and an asset management subsystem configured to determine repair requirements for electric grid assets and repair times associated with the determined repair requirements. The system also includes an outage management subsystem and a restoration optimizer configured to determine a capable crew to respond to a grid configuration change request where the capable crew includes crew members qualified to perform the change request, tools and equipment required to effect the change request, and a work crew location determined to satisfy a response timing requirement and initiate crew instructions detailing work requirements and actions for the work crew to fulfill the grid configuration change request.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The field of the invention relates generally to a method and a system for managing a power grid, and more specifically, to a method and system for managing outages and restoration from outages. 
         [0002]    At least some known power grids include electricity generation plants such as a coal fire power plant, a nuclear power plant, electric power transmission assets such as high voltage transmission lines, electricity distribution assets, and interconnecting switching assets. One or more power companies may manage the power grid, including managing faults, maintenance, and upgrades related to the power grid. However, the management of the power grid is often inefficient and costly relying on telephone calls from consumers when an outage occurs or on field workers analyzing the local distribution network. 
         [0003]    Outages and repairs involve switch plans and repair actions. The switch plans involve isolating the problem and then restoring the problem after repair. This total time of restoration directly affects reliability metrics, so utilities wish to minimize outage durations, minimize the boundaries of the total area affected by outages, and minimize the sections of de-energized grid that are isolated because of outages. Repair estimates are currently provided by individuals or simple device tables. 
         [0004]    When the switching and repair actions are not automated, the time a dispatched work crew needs to get to the outage added to the repair time should be considered in restoration estimations. Time to arrive depends on their current position, and the ability for the crew to repair the outage depends on their inventory. Estimating time to restoration and repair (total switching) times currently does not include crew proximity and/or equipment availability. Current methods involve time estimates, reported manually by a crew. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In one embodiment, an electric grid repair and operations system includes a work crew locator configured to receive a location of a work crew based on a location of a work vehicle associated with the work crew, a work crew management subsystem configured to receive a location of at least some of a plurality of work crews from the work crew locator, and an asset management subsystem configured to determine repair requirements for electric grid assets and repair times associated with the determined repair requirements. The system also includes an outage management subsystem configured to determine an outage occurrence using at least one of fault indications and trouble calls and a restoration optimizer configured to determine a capable crew to respond to a grid configuration change request where the capable crew includes crew members qualified to perform the change request, tools and equipment required to effect the change request, and a work crew location determined to satisfy a response timing requirement and initiate crew instructions detailing work requirements and actions for the work crew to fulfill the grid configuration change request. In some cases there may not be a time requirement beforehand . . . just that the closest available (not busy) crew with the qualifications and tools must be selected, and it is most important that the time of arrival be included in the restoration estimate. 
         [0006]    In another embodiment, a method of managing electric grid operation and maintenance includes determining changes to one or more grid assets needed to effect a change to a configuration of the electric grid, determining a crew capability to effect the grid asset changes from a plurality of available crews, and determining an equipment requirement to effect the grid asset changes from a plurality of available equipment. The method further includes determining a location of the capable crew and the required equipment with respect to a location of one or more grid assets, generating crew instructions for effecting the change to the configuration of the electric grid using the determined capable crew, the determined required equipment, and the determined locations, the crew instructions including the location of the required equipment and the location of the one or more grid assets, and transmitting the crew instructions to at least the capable crew. 
         [0007]    In yet another embodiment, an outage management system includes a field force subsystem including a locator configured to communicate a location of at least some of a plurality of work crews, an equipment inventory subsystem configured to actively monitor a location of equipment associated with the plurality of work crews, and a mobile interface associated with each of the at least some of the plurality of work crews, the mobile interface configured to receive work crew instructions directing actions. The system also includes a centralized operational subsystem configured to calculate a time to completion of the work crew instructions based on a proximity of the work crew and equipment to the location of the work to be performed and an availability of the work crew. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIGS. 1-2  show exemplary embodiments of the method and system described herein. 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an electric grid operation and maintenance management system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of a method of managing electric grid operation and maintenance in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of the invention by way of example and not by way of limitation. It is contemplated that the invention has general application to analytical and methodical embodiments of managing operation and maintenance of widely geographically diverse assets in industrial, commercial, and residential applications. 
         [0012]    As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and preceded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly recited. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present invention are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of an electric grid operation and maintenance management system  100  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. System  100  is configured to optimize a time of grid switching and repair recommendations based on an integration of work crew location and repair capability. In various embodiments, at least portions of system  100  may be integrated with an existing electric grid management system or system  100  may comprise a freestanding system capable of communicating with the existing electric grid management system. In the exemplary embodiment, system  100  includes a field force subsystem  102  that includes a GPS sensor  104  configured to communicate a location of at least some of a plurality of work crews to a centralized collection point, such as, but not limited to, a crew work flow management subsystem  106 . Field force subsystem  102  typically comprises a work vehicle, such as a bucket truck or pole setting truck and a work crew assigned to the work vehicle. GPS sensor  104  is mounted to each work vehicle. Tools  108  and other maintenance and/or test equipment are typically stored on the work vehicle such that the work crew has tools  108  and other maintenance and/or test equipment available in the field. Additional tools  110  may be stored away from the work vehicle for example at a centralized or region dispatch center. The additional tools may include special use tools that are infrequently used and expensive tools that are shared amongst several work crews. 
         [0014]    At least some of tools  108 , tools  110 , or other equipment may include tagging devices  112 ,  114  associated with each tool  108 ,  110 . In one embodiment, tagging devices  112 ,  114  include radio frequency identification enabled tags or labels. An RFID reader  116  interrogates tools  108 ,  110  to ascertain their presence and/or precise location. RFID reader  116  may be embodied in a separate standalone device or may be incorporated into a hand held device  118 , such as, but not limited to, a smart phone, a laptop, or other device capable of tracking tagged equipment and transmitting a status to crew work flow management subsystem  106 . In various embodiments, other tracking devices are used to facilitate maintaining an accurate inventory of tools  108  and tools  110 . Field force subsystem  102  includes a communications subsystem  120  configured to communicate crew and equipment statuses back to crew work flow management subsystem  106  in real time and to receive instructions for directing the movements and activities of the work crew. 
         [0015]    System  100  includes a centralized operational subsystem  122  including an outage management (OMS) subsystem  124 , a distribution management subsystem (DMS)  126 , an asset management subsystem  128 , a geographic information system (GIS)  130 , and a restoration optimization subsystem  132 . 
         [0016]    OMS  124  is a system that assists a utility in managing outages by tracking location of outages, by managing work crews that are being dispatched by providing instructions for the work crews, and tracking reliability metrics associated with the duration and affected area of sustained outages. In one embodiment, OMS  124  includes a processor  125  configured to execute instructions stored in a memory  127  to perform the processes described herein. OMS  124  is configured to track outages and estimates a baseline time to restoration from the outages. OMS  124  is also configured to track crew work orders and instructions, their status, and determines a time estimate until the work crew is free to do additional work. DMS  126  is a distribution system level control system that controls the devices in the substations and feeder devices (for example) for distribution grids. DMS  126  is configured to create switch plans and execute the switch plans through distribution automation via a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system  144 . Crew work flow management subsystem  106  includes a data collection database and application  134  configured to track the GPS location of all work crews and a data collection database and application  136  configured to track the location of all tools  108 ,  110 , test and other equipment. Crew work flow management subsystem  106  could be embodied as an integrated part of the OMS subsystem  124 . GIS  130  includes a database that contains information about where assets are located geographically, numerous unchanging (static) properties of the assets, and how the assets are connected together. GIS  130  is coupled with OMS  124  and configured to associate crew locations with trouble areas, predicted outages, and confirmed outages associated with electric asset and conductor locations, and calculate a time for each crew to arrive at each outage location. Asset management subsystem  128  is configured to associate repair actions with assets, and to further estimate tools  108 ,  110  or other equipment required for a repair action or switching operation based on the asset involved, a type of outage and then estimates an amount of time it will take a work crew to acquire tools  108 ,  110 , or other equipment. Restoration optimization subsystem  132  is configured to calculate an aggregated time to completion of the work crew instructions based on a proximity of the work crew and tools  108 ,  110  or other equipment to the location of the work to be performed and a crew availability. 
         [0017]    During operation, an outage is determined from for example, a trouble call  138  initiated by a customer  140  or by a fault indication  142  through SCADA  144  from a substation and distribution automation equipment subsystem  146 . Substation and distribution automation equipment subsystem  146  receives switching commands  148  from SCADA  144 , processes switching commands  148  and transmits switching commands  148  to appropriate switchable assets  150  for actuation. Substation and distribution automation equipment subsystem  146  also receives fault indications  142  from switchable assets  150  and relays fault indication  142  through SCADA  144  and DMS  126  to OMS  124 . SCADA  144  also provides generation requirements  152  to an energy management system  154  in a transmission control center  156 . Energy management system  154  generates setpoints  158  for generation assets  160 , such as, but not limited to, renewable energy resources, for example, wind and solar generation assets. 
         [0018]    A need for a change to a configuration of the electric grid may be initiated for a variety of operational and maintenance reasons other than an outage. For example, new installation of equipment or replacement of existing equipment may require a switch plan to safely de-energize a section of conductor prior to performing the work. DMS  126  determines an isolation switch plan, a restoration switch plan, and OMS  124  creates a planned outage order associated with the switch plan, and OMS  124  also determines an approximately time to restoration based on the planned outage. The availability of each work crew capable of performing the work within a predetermined distance from the location where the work will be performed is determined. In various embodiments, determining if a crew is capable of performing the work includes determining a certification of crew members for performing or supervising the work. In some cases, the work to be performed may require crew members certified in two or more tasks, but an otherwise capable crew may be missing a crew member certified in one aspect of the work to be performed. In such a case, the availability of a single crew member from another work crew to be temporarily joined with the otherwise capable work crew and a time for the temporarily joined crew to be assembled. An inventory of tools  108  and test equipment associated with each crew is determined and compared to the tools and test equipment determined to be needed for the type of work to be performed. The time needed to acquire additional tools or other equipment  110  is added to the total time for each crew to respond to the outage or switching order. OMS  124  further determines the capable work crews closest to the outage and the time it will take the work crews to travel to the outage site. The recommended crews are displayed to the dispatcher or network operator. The desired crew is selected and dispatched by the dispatcher or network operator. In various embodiments, the desired crew may by automatically selected and dispatched. The additional time for that crew is added to the baseline switch plan or time to restoration and approximate reliability metrics are calculated and displayed to the dispatcher or network operator. 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of a method  200  of managing electric grid operation and maintenance in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In the exemplary embodiment, method  200  includes determining  202  changes to one or more grid assets needed to effect a change to a configuration of the electric grid, determining  204  a crew capability to effect the grid asset changes from a plurality of available crews, and determining  206  an equipment requirement to effect the grid asset changes from a plurality of available equipment. Method  200  also includes determining  208  a location of the capable crew and the required equipment with respect to a location of one or more grid assets, generating  210  crew instructions for effecting the change to the configuration of the electric grid using the determined capable crew, the determined required equipment, and the determined locations, the crew instructions including the location of the required equipment and the location of the one or more grid assets, and transmitting  212  the crew instructions to at least the capable crew. 
         [0020]    The term processor, as used herein, refers to central processing units, microprocessors, microcontrollers, reduced instruction set circuits (RISC), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), logic circuits, and any other circuit or processor capable of executing the functions described herein. 
         [0021]    As used herein, the terms “software” and “firmware” are interchangeable, and include any computer program stored in memory for execution by processor  125 , including RAM memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) memory. The above memory types are exemplary only, and are thus not limiting as to the types of memory usable for storage of a computer program. 
         [0022]    As will be appreciated based on the foregoing specification, the above-described embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using computer programming or engineering techniques including computer software, firmware, hardware or any combination or subset thereof, wherein the technical effect is providing a reliable means for establishing accurate reliability metrics that can be used to improve utility resource allocations, ensure faster outage restorations, and provide an ability to optimize work crew allocation and equipment provisions. Any such resulting program, having computer-readable code means, may be embodied or provided within one or more computer-readable media, thereby making a computer program product, i.e., an article of manufacture, according to the discussed embodiments of the disclosure. The computer readable media may be, for example, but is not limited to, a fixed (hard) drive, diskette, optical disk, magnetic tape, semiconductor memory such as read-only memory (ROM), and/or any transmitting/receiving medium such as the Internet or other communication network or link. The article of manufacture containing the computer code may be made and/or used by executing the code directly from one medium, by copying the code from one medium to another medium, or by transmitting the code over a network. 
         [0023]    The above-described embodiments of a method and system of managing electric grid operation and maintenance provides a cost-effective and reliable means for establishing accurate reliability metrics that can be used to improve utility resource allocations, ensure faster outage restorations, and provide an ability to optimize how crews are allocated and with what equipment As a result, the method and system described herein facilitate managing electric grid operation and maintenance in a cost-effective and reliable manner. 
         [0024]    This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.