ATLANTA, May 10, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- More than 100 delegates from more than 60 utilities convened at the Atlanta Marriott Gwinnett Place hotel this past week for Advanced Control Systems (ACS) ACSessions customer conference. Delegates included PRISM(tm) application platform and substation control product users from a cross-section of investor-owned, public power and cooperative utilities from more than 30 states and countries.
ACS customers previewed new software and hardware, discussed their experiences, and exchanged ideas about pressing issues facing electric utilities. ACSessions is the longest-running customer conference in the electric utility industry. It is run by and for customers, with sponsorship from ACS and a dozen of its industry partners.
Highlights of this year's conference included a presentation by Tom Guttormson of Connexus Energy that detailed the challenges and rewards of distributed generation and voltage management programs. Duquesne Light Company was represented by Thomas Cichowski, who described his utility's approach to integrated energy and distribution management systems. Rick Enright and Kavitha Pamidi from San Diego Gas & Electric demonstrated their progress in bringing XpertSim, the ACS distribution simulator, on line. The keynote speech, delivered by Don McDonnell, managing director of The McDonnell Group Inc., gave members insight regarding the potential effects of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and discussed the progression of smart grid technologies, especially as they affect distribution utilities.
New products unveiled
Underscoring its real-time expertise, ACS presented a new user interface for PRISM 9 (its software application platform), and profiled enhancements to DASmap(tm) (an automatic GIS-to-SCADA topology tool), and to fault detection isolation and restoration (FDIR), the ACS control-center solution for real-time service restoration. For substation automation, ACS unveiled a low-cost remote terminal unit for feeder automation and pole-top applications, and the Connex 32, a substation manager outfitted specifically for feeder automation, including field-based FDIR.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion on how to build a business case for distribution system investments. Panelists included Don McDonnell, Albert Carey of Bermuda Electric Light Company Ltd., ACS user council president Sam Zuccaro from the City of Palo Alto, and Chuck Newton, president of Newton-Evans Research Company. Gary Ockwell, ACS director of technical marketing, moderated the panel, which drew active audience input.
The discussion highlighted the need for proactive, transparent engagement between utility IT and operations staff to ensure adherence to NERC security standards. It also addressed the importance of engaging groups outside of distribution operations in order to maintain the flow of information between utility departments and help distribution operations staff make effective business cases for distribution automation. Users also commented on the importance of return-on-investment, even when utilities are not-for-profit.
Following the general sessions, users participated in a series of hands-on workshops, investigating topics from Linux(r) administration to RTU upgrades.
For more information on Advanced Control Systems, visit www.acsatlanta.com.