Patent ID: 8797018

Claim:
A method for determining a phase associated with first and second current terminals of an intelligent electronic device (“IED”) at a location of an electrical power system based on a known phase and known phase angle associated with a third current terminal of the IED at the location of the electrical power system, the method comprising the steps of: the IED determining a phase angle associated with the first current terminal, when the phase angle associated with the first current terminal is equal to the known phase angle associated with the third current terminal minus about 120 degrees, the IED associating the first current terminal with a next sequential phase from the known phase associated with the third current terminal and the IED associating the second current terminal with a previous sequential phase from the known phase associated with the third current terminal, and when the phase angle associated with the first current terminal is not equal to the known phase angle associated with the third current terminal minus about 120 degrees, the IED associating the first current terminal with the previous sequential phase from the known phase associated with the third current terminal and the IED associating the second current terminal with the next sequential phase from the known phase associated with the third current terminal.