Patent ID: 8407017

Claim:
A method for automatically evaluating an emergency power supply system (EPSS) that supplies alternate power to an electrical system in the event of a disruption of power from a main utility power source that normally supplies power to the electrical system, the method comprising: receiving, over a network, operational status information about a change of an operational status of an alternate power source configured to supply alternate power to the electrical system in the event of a disruption of power from the main utility power source that normally supplies power to the electrical system; storing the operational status information with a corresponding timestamp indicating when the change of the operational status occurred; receiving, over the network, and storing electrical parameter data associated with the alternate power source and measured by an intelligent electronic device that measures a characteristic of power generated by the alternate power source and that transforms the measured characteristic into the electrical parameter data for communication over the network; receiving, over the network, status information indicating a status of an automatic transfer switch configured to switch power between the main utility power source and the alternate power source; measuring, based on the received operational status information and the received status information, a transfer time corresponding to the amount of time that elapsed for the automatic transfer switch to switch from a normal status to a test status or an emergency status; determining a priority level from among a plurality of priority levels associated with the electrical system undergoing a test of the EPSS; associating each of the plurality of priority levels with a corresponding one of a plurality of predetermined transfer times, each of the predetermined transfer times differing from one another; determining whether the measured transfer time exceeded the predetermined transfer time associated with the determined priority level; and responsive to the measured transfer time exceeding the predetermined transfer time associated with the determined priority level, displaying an alarm indicating that the measured transfer time exceeds the predetermined transfer time.