AMBIENT CORPORATION: New Ways to Monitor Powerline System

Ambient Corporation
New Ways to Monitor the Powerline System

The current Con Edison preventive maintenance program employs high potential
DC testing, which potentially creates additional wear on the powerline system,
and is capable of only testing equipment on a periodic basis. Utilizing PLC
technology will allow for continuous monitoring of the system, improving system
reliability and reducing outages by enabling maintenance of suspect equipment
prior to failure. Once an incipient problem is identified by the monitoring system,
Con Edison can dispatch crews to the approximate location and repair the
equipment before a power quality event occurs.

As well as monitoring faults, the PLC technology will provide the utility with an
indication of general circuit health and enable the utility to assess the situation,
and take appropriate action if warranted prior to potential failure. The PLC
network provides a communication path which allows for added utility services
such as Automatic Meter Reading and micro-electro-mechanical-system
(MEMS) sensors to monitor powerline sag height.


Con Edison estimates that 24 jobs may be created to install the technology as
well as 50 ongoing operating and maintenance jobs in Con Edison’s territory
alone. It is estimated that savings of potentially thousand per commercial
customer, per incident, can be realized through both reduced utility costs and
customer related power quality issues.

Benefits Include:
• Improved system reliability through monitoring of incipient problems.
• Improved system information (ie. Current, line sag, etc.) for operators.

Results to Date:
• System installed on Con Edison electrical grid in Briarcliff Manor, NY
• Monitoring of powerline system underway

Contact: John Love, ext. 3317
Industrial R&D – Emerging Technologies
SBC Funded

For more information about these services, contact NYSERDA
toll free 1-866-NYSERDA, locally (518) 862-1090,
or e-mail: info@nyserda.org
www.nyserda.org

Improving Customer System Reliability Power Quality to
Locate Incipient Faults

Due to limited system monitoring technology for overhead powerlines, most
utilities are unable to continuously monitor system performance. As a result,
utilities are often unaware of distribution equipment problems until a failure
occurs. To help improve system reliability Con Edison partnered with Ambient
Corporation, a Powerline Communication (PLC) technology manufacturer, to
develop and test real-time feeder monitoring technology. The PLC technology
continuously and non-destructively monitors the powerline system in order to
identify and predict power quality problems throughout the system, that might
affect quality of service to the customer.