PPL Electric Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corp. (PPL), signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, receiving 50% funding for its $38 million Smart Grid project. The grant will help the company improve electric service reliability for more than 60,000 Harrisburg area customers.
PPL Electric Utilities’ project was one of 100 to receive smart grid grants from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). DOE evaluated more than 500 proposals submitted from across the country for stimulus grants.
The Smart Grid Project
Under the Smart Grid project, PPL Electric Utilities plans to install hundreds of automated electrical devices across 150 square miles of Dauphin and Cumberland counties in south-central Pennsylvania. These devices will be connected to a dedicated high-speed communications network and a centralized distribution management system.
This modernization of the delivery system will strengthen reliability and help customers save energy and money.
PPL Electric Utilities plans to spend $410 million under its capital investment program in 2010. The smart grid technology installation this year is part of the company’s capital program. The expanded capital program aims to modernize, upgrade and maintain the company’s transmission and distribution system to ensure strong service reliability, meet customer needs and improve operations.
Drexel University and technology leaders – GE Energy (GE), Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) are partners of PPL Electric Utilities for the two-year project.
Progress Thus Far
PPL Electric Utilities is making good progress on the project with engineering work already well under way, and the company will begin installing new equipment in the coming weeks.
GE Energy’s distribution management system will act as the brain for the newer, smarter grid. New sensors and automated switches in the field will be in constant communication with the distribution management system, and the system will be able to automatically control those devices in response to changing conditions.
Lockheed Martin is focused on system-wide cyber security. Alcatel-Lucent is focused on wireless communications, as well as implementation and management of a high-speed fiber-optic communications infrastructure. Drexel University will be assisting with design and best placement of the newer, smarter devices that are being added.
Benefits of the Newer Smart Grid
Smart grid proposals made across the country so far focus almost exclusively on metering. Unlike these, PPL Electric Utilities’ project is focused on making the system smart, and more reliable, from the substation to the customer’s meter.
With PPL’s customers already tracking hourly usage on the Web through their advanced meters, the new network will enable customers to use less electricity to operate their appliances. Additionally, it will help the company integrate more dispersed, smaller customer-based generation facilities into PPL Electric Utilities’ delivery system as the popularity of wind, solar and other intermittent power sources grows.
The new system will also help the company speed up power restoration across the company’s 29-county service territory. In addition, it will give planners more detailed information about electricity usage and load on different utility equipment so that they can better plan reliability improvements and prioritize investments.
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