Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) is the foundation for the distribution automation system. The ability to remotely monitor and control electric power system facilities found its first application within the power generation and transmission sectors of the electric utility industry. The ability to significantly influence the utility bottom line through the effective dispatch of generation and the marketing of excess generating capacity provided economic incentive. The interconnection of large power grids in the mid-western and the southern U.S. (1962) created the largest synchronized system in the world. The blackout of 1965 prompted the U.S. Federal Power Commission to recommend closer coordination between regional coordination groups (Electric Power Reliability Act of 1967), and gave impetus to the subsequent formation of the National Electric Reliability Council (1970). From that time (1970) forward, the priority of the electric utility has been to engineer and build a highly reliable and secure transmission infrastructure. Transmission SCADA became the base for the large Energy Management Systems that were required to manage the transmission grid. Distribution SCADA languished during this period.
In the mid-1980s, EPRI published definitions for distribution automation and associated elements. The industry generally associates distribution automation with the installation of automated distribution line devices, such as switches, re-closers, sectionalizers, etc. The author’s definition of distribution automation encompasses the automation of the distribution substations and the distribution line devices. The automated distribution substations and the automated distribution line devices are then operated as a system to facilitate the operation of the electric distribution system.
In the mid-1980s, EPRI published definitions for distribution automation and associated elements. The industry generally associates distribution automation with the installation of automated distribution line devices, such as switches, re-closers, sectionalizers, etc. The author’s definition of distribution automation encompasses the automation of the distribution substations and the distribution line devices. The automated distribution substations and the automated distribution line devices are then operated as a system to facilitate the operation of the electric distribution system.