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How Healthy is Your Substation or Distribution Automation System?

By Brian Smith, Principal Consultant

Automation systems are becoming integral to the utility’s ability to meet the demands on today’s electrical transmission and distribution systems. As these systems evolve and become increasingly integrated and interconnected, the need for the utility to have a effective change management program addressing them also increases.  A change management program will have many facets including governance, policies, and procedures, but at the heart of the effort should be sound centralized monitoring and management capabilities.  The scope should not be limited to network infrastructure, but rather must include each and every component of the utilities automation system — in particular, the vast multitude of Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs).

While the concept of centralized system management has been adopted by many industries (e.g., telecom, IT), it has been noticeably absent in the transmission and distribution domains of the electric utility environment. Utilities have historically dealt with these needs utilizing manual processes, such as e-mailing configuration files, or by providing basic alarming to system operators via a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System.  This mode of operation is becoming exponentially cumbersome and error prone as the size and complexity of the systems will continue to grow. Utilities must become more proactive in monitoring and managing their automation system and supporting infrastructure in much the same manner that a telecommunication or Internet service provider would; otherwise, the consequences may be significant. Configuration errors in these systems often lead to undesired events related to protecting and operating power grid elements. 

To illustrate this point, pick a typical device or component in your automation system and ask yourself these basic questions:

• What is the devices hardware version?
• What operating system or firmware version is currently installed in the devices?
• How can I verify that the configuration settings in a device have not been changed from the approved set?
• Who made the last modification to the devices configuration?
• Is the device operating within normal parameters?

If answering any of these questions involves manual verification, are you ready for what’s coming at you?  What happens when you get a product advisory from your vendor or security alert from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and need to know immediately how your system may be affected or is at risk?

The current situation facing utilities is not due to a lack of effort. In many cases, utilities are performing a juggling act involving configuration applications from multiple vendors with no common control or vantage point between them. One significant problem is that solutions currently available are arguably basic or generic in nature and require utilities to customize them for use with the devices and components found throughout a typical automation system. The level of effort and resources required to support this type of integration is often seen as cost-prohibitive and has inhibited the utilities ability to develop solutions. To move forward, utilities need commercially-available solutions for unified and uniform configuration management of their automation system. However, this becomes a bit of a Catch-22.

Before vendors can produce products, they need to understand what utilities want and need. The challenge utilities are facing is determining where they want to be in the future in regards to monitoring and management of their automation systems and how to get there from where they are today. This is a challenge many of them are undertaking alone because no common and agreed-upon set of requirements or technology solutions to address this issue from an industry perspective exists today.  And, unfortunately, an overall industry collaboration effort would not provide any short term relief.

Given the lack of an acceptable industry solution and the unacceptable consequences of continuing to live with a manual process, the utility must begin the process of defining a solution.  As with any solution development effort, this should start with an organized process of requirements development – of documenting what you know that you need.  What might seem to be insurmountable, complex problem at first may be clarified as you move through the process of requirements documentation. The impact of poorly defined requirements is often problematic and costly so don’t be afraid to ask for help. Utilities need an able facilitator with expertise in utility automation systems on their side to support an effective requirements development effort.  A smart utility will discover that by taking what seems to be a security-related issue head on, it will find itself in a better place — where support of its automation system is more efficient and effective and has a direct and positive impact on maintaining system reliability. 

Wouldn’t that alone be reason enough?  Food for thought…..

Want to know more about how EnerNex can support your requirements development effort? Feel free to contact me at brian@enernex.com to discuss.  EnerNex is uniquely qualified to assist you as our staff has decades of experience in all aspects of utility automation systems from both vendor and utility perspectives.

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