The next step in technology enhancement at Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative is the 2007 SCADA feasibility study.

SCADA stands for “supervisory control and data acquisition,” a system of remote monitoring and operation of substations. From a SCADA control center at BREC headquarters, switches could be operated inside substations or on main circuits.

“Instead of dispatching a crew every time we want to balance load or back-feed, we would perform the switching tasks using PC-based software linked into remote control units at the substation. SCADA would allow us to have better control of load in peaking situations, and we could trouble-shoot problems,” explained Marvin Ours, BREC’s operations manager.

“SCADA also gives us the capability to use substation data to identify the point on a circuit where an outage has occurred. We’d send our line crews directly to the trouble spot with the right equipment and material to make a repair.”

In most cases, SCADA’s alert would occur before the first telephone call to report an outage, according to Ours.

“Overall, SCADA would enable us to better monitor and control the electric system, thereby reducing outage time,” he added.

Terrain has long been an obstacle to implementation of SCADA in hilly Ohio Appalachia. SCADA-equipped substations need to report back to the control center and receive command signals in return. BREC’s feasibility study will explore what types of communication systems work best here.

“The purpose of the feasibility study is to give us accurate information on efficiency and cost. We will evaluate the most cost effective communication path and compare the various equipment providers. Matching the best equipment to our needs and conditions will be critical,” said Jeff Tackett, vice president of engineering and planning for the co-op.

“There are many options available to us when it comes to SCADA. Our final choice needs to be based on information and experience gained from the studying the available technologies,” Tackett said.

Success in the feasibility study might lead to deployment of a SCADA pilot project at one or two substations.