The topics in this talk will include transmission system performance, human performance, generation performance, system protection issues, and what is being done to minimize the risk of future blackouts.

Large cascading blackouts are caused by a complicated series of unusual events and the failures propagate in a rich variety of ways. In hindsight, the deterministic sequence of events can be worked out and this analysis is very useful for fixing weaknesses in the transmission system. But there is a combinatorial explosion of rare possibilities in trying to predict more than a few failures in advance. We discuss some approaches to understand and quantify blackout risk and cascading failure from a more global and statistical perspective. Both abstract models of cascading failure and power system simulations suggest phase transitions in blackout risk as power system loading is increased. Viewing the slow upgrade of the transmission network as complex system dynamics suggests an explanation for the observed power-law distribution of the sizes of North American blackouts. We suggest thinking of blackout avoidance as the problem of managing the risk of blackouts of all sizes.

The use of the electric power transmission and distribution system as a transmission medium for broadband communications is considered. It is found that there are three significant technical hurdles to be overcome before successful implementation of such systems can be accomplished. The first is the relatively high attenuation rate due to discontinuities such as taps, transformers and other devices connected to the system. The second is the relatively high background noise on power lines. The third is government regulated limitation on transmitted power for the unlicensed systems that use the power system as a communications medium. Finally, some of the recent rulings by the Federal Communications Commission in the United States will be reviewed along with the reaction to these rulings. The implications for the BPL industry will be discussed.

Presentation at Iowa State University, February 2, 2005.

This talk outlines the key challenges and complications in the transmission investment arena in the competitive environment. We present a framework for the analysis of issues in the planning and investment of transmission in the competitive environment. We construct the framework by extending the framework developed for congestion analysis through the addition of a new layer for transmission expansion/investment issues. This extension requires the development of appropriate metrics to allow the evaluation of the necessary measures over the planning horizon. A key attribute is the ability of the framework to effectively reflect the interactions of the investments with the network. We apply the framework to investigate transmission expansion scenarios in several systems from the Independent Grid Operator point of view and present representative results.This presentation has animation requiring a recent version of Microsoft Power Point. To insure the animation is working correctly on your computer, view slide 31. If it is not working correctly, then you may want to download the PDF file below as a reference.

PDF version without animation. Slide numbering is slightly different than the PPT slides with animation.

Slides for Tele-Seminar. May 3, 2005.This PSERC project?s objectives were to review the state of art in on-line transient stability assessment; evaluate promising new technologies; and identify technical and computational requirements for calculating transient stability limits, and corrective and preventive control strategies for operating situations that are transiently insecure. Six on-line transient stability package vendors were identified. A questionnaire that addressed several pertinent issues relating to on-line transient stability assessment was prepared. A questionnaire was also sent to all PSERC member companies. This questionnaire addressed specific needs in terms of required features, preferred performance, and control capabilities. A detailed analysis of the responses received provided a clear picture of the desired features and performance specifications of an on-line transient stability assessment tool. A comparison of the analysis conducted on the vendor responses and the PSERC member company responses identified areas and topics that needed further development and research. This seminar will review the findings of the study.

This seminar addresses the problems that are encountered when distributed generation is used to supplement the power coming from the main grid. In traditional power systems with central power sources, frequency is physically tied to the speed of the generators whose rotating shafts provide with stored kinetic energy. Distributed generation principally uses inverter-based, inertialess sources. This seminar identifies issues that must be addressed to design the controls for such inertialess sources and sugggests how those issues can be solved. The control issues are analyzed for a microgrid power system architecture consisting of sources, storage, and loads clustered in a subsystem with only one point of connection to the main grid.

This talk concerns the critical role enhanced control will play in the operating of future electric power systems reliably and efficiently. The non-standard control problems are due to a large variety of controllers, presently acting in a multi-rate mode at various levels of the system. Today's monitoring and control logic is largely effective during normal conditions. This talk concerns its possible enhancements which might enable the system to operate reliably over broader ranges of loading and equipment status. In particular, it is suggested that major benefits could come from providing computer tools to assist human operators with their decision-making when the system is under stress. A multi-layered approach is introduced to support: (1) on-line adjustment of available resources; (2) monitoring the interconnection based on qualitative indices (QIs) essential for deciding the severity of the operating mode; and, (3) using the QIs to adjust structure of control as the system evolves from one mode to the next. An equivalenced model of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) interconnection is used to illustrate the potential of enhanced control in scenarios that resemble the blackout of August 2003. Also, the potential for efficient use of the resources during normal conditions is illustrated using this multi-layered monitoring and control architecture.

This seminar is related to the findings of the PSERC project T-17 titled ?Enhanced Reliability of Power System Operation Using Advanced Algorithms and IEDs for On Line Monitoring?. The focus of the presentation is on new substation automation applications. Several global issues of integrating substation data and interfacing it to both the operators and other software solutions located at the EMS level are pointed out. This study paves a way for future change in the substation automation practice aimed at improved reliability of substation and power system operation.

Highly distributed, open, networked information systems have yielded great benefits, but have dramatically increased our vulnerability in many areas. This talk explores several aspects of the cyber threat that Internet connectivity poses to critical infrastructure control systems. I?ll begin by outlining some of the most significant types of attack seen on the Internet today and some crucial cyber security issues. I?ll then describe the fundamental concepts associated with survivability, an emerging discipline that blends cyber security and risk management. The goal is to ensure that a system is capable of providing essential services despite attack, accident, or subsystem failure. I?ll discuss several of the technical and policy challenges for achieving control system survivability and point to areas where further research is urgently needed.

This Final Reports Tele-seminar, on Nov. 22, is on the findings of PSERC project ?Optimal Placement of Phasor Measurement Units for State Estimation? (project S-23G). The tele-seminar describes a study undertaken to determine the optimal locations of phasor measurement units (PMUs) for a given power system. Power systems are rapidly becoming populated by PMUs. PMUs have multiple uses at substations. They provide valuable phasor information for protection and control of power systems during abnormal operation. Under normal operations, they also help in monitoring the system state. This project focused on the use of PMU measurements in state estimators. The principle objective was to investigate methods of determining optimal locations for PMUs so that the system state of an entire power system can be observable. Two new procedures were used to solve the problem of optimally locating PMUs. We found that the entire system can be made observable by strategically placing PMUs at one-third of the system buses for a given system. Fewer PMUs may be needed if there are zero injection buses in the system.This was a targeted project funded by TVA. The report is available for reviewing by PSERC members at . The executive summary can be viewed at .