PG&E (2012)

Los Angeles, CA

This project, upgrading PG&E’s SCADA system, was to be completed in eight years at a cost of $21.5M.  Our responsibilities were to support PG&E to determine if non-pilot (non-communication aided) protective relays would be adequate for emergency tripping of the generation facility and PG&E’s station equipment, or if additional systems such as a tele-protection assisted current differential phase comparison or some other type of communication aided protection system along with the type protection equipment and systems would be needed.  Our task was to provide general information regarding the High Voltage Protection (HVP) issues in the existing system. We had to verify proper installation and the coordination of a temporary line to conduct testing.  In the execution of this project, we had to follow and coordinate with the LEC, the PG&E Transmission Interconnection Handbook, and refer to IEEE Standard 487 IEEE Recommended Practice for the Protection of Wire-Line Communication Facilities, serving electric supply locations. The project is to be completed in 2020; however, the preliminary start-up phase was our primary assignment, and was completed satisfactorily.