Powergrid

POWER-GRID.
COM : AUGUST 2016
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
JANUARY 31- FEBRUARY 2 SAN DIEGO
Sharing the Sun

Community Solar Growing as Option
12
Paying Attention to T&D Storage
18
Protecting Aging Substations
32
6 Steps to Becoming an IoT Ninja
YOUR POWER DELIVERY MEDIA SOURCE
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AUGUST 2016 VOLUME 21.08
16 Data Science Takes a Byte out of Challenges

If institutionalized in a utility, data science can clearly define savings
opportunities for executives. Without data science, utility executives are
relegated to less informed and insufficiently impactful decisions.
By Bob Logalbo, Leidos
Photo of Suneson family courtesy of

Sacramento Municipal Utility District
26
Have Sun Will Travel
The desire of many utility customers to partake
in emissions-free energy without paying big for
it has sparked the movement in community
solar. So community solar is all sunflowers and
unicorns, right? Isnt it pretty to think so.
By Rod Walton, Senior Editor
From the Editor 4

Notes 6
18 Protecting Aging Substations From Cyberattacks

Cybersecurity threats are a serious and ongoing challenge for the energy
sector, and as attacks become more numerous and sophisticated it is critical
to perform the right steps in order to keep the high standards of reliability
and resiliency our nations electrical grid needs.
By Joseph Boike, Advanced Control Systems
22 Defending Against the Ransomware Threat

Electric power companies face a range of threats, from physical sabotage
and malicious insiders to vulnerable network ports. A recent attack on an
electric utility in Michigan, however, highlights the growing risk of another
threat to the power industryransomware.
By Jason Glassberg, Casaba Security
30 The Cloud in the Field is Taking Utilities by Storm

Historically, utilities have invested in on-premise IT infrastructures,
including field service management solutions. Using the cloud for field
service solutions, however, might be a better fit in todays rapidly changing
utility environment.
By Jerry Dolinksy, Verisae
32 6 Steps to Becoming a Utilities IoT Ninja

Paying Attention to Utility T&D Storage
12
The utility industry is just beginning to discover the

potential. Southern California Edison (SCE), Pacific Gas
and Electric (PG&E) and Oncorrecently shared their
experience with energy storage.
By Jill Feblowitz, Feblowitz Energy Consulting
PowerGrid International (ISSN 1547-6723).

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FROM THE EDITOR
EDITOR IN CHIEF
TERESA HANSEN
Now is the Time to

Prepare for February
very August I use this column to give you a glimpse of whats in store for you
if you plan to attend DistribuTECH early next year. I also use this months column to remind you that its once again time to nominate your outstanding projects
for the POWERGRID International and DistribuTECH Project of the Year awards.
During these dog days of summer, it might be hard to think about cold days and
short nights, but those days will be here before you know it. And, most of us will be
ready to spend a few days in warm, sunny San Diego networking with peers, seeing
the latest technologies being displayed on DistribuTECHs exhibit floor and learning
about the latest projects and trends in the conference sessions.
I just returned from the DistribuTECH advisory committee meeting where
nearly 100 industry experts reviewed abstracts and created the 2017 conference program that will be presented during the three-day event. This year,
from more than 750 abstracts, the committee put together 14 tracks and more
than 80 conference sessions, including mega-sessions. We created two new
tracks for DistribuTECH 2017DER, DR and Other Non-wires Alternatives
and Microgrids. These two topics attracted a lot of interest and abstracts, so
we expect they also will attract a lot of attendees during the conference.
You will be able to see the entire conference program with speakers
names, paper titles and conference session schedules very soon on the
DistribuTECH website.
In addition to the opportunities Ive already mentioned, DistribuTECH also
provides the opportunity for utilities and their partners to be recognized for
their outstanding projects. We are currently seeking Project of the Year award
nominations in four categories: grid optimization, renewable energy/DER
integration, customer engagement and demand response/energy efficiency.
We will recognize the winners live at DistribuTECHs keynote session on
Tuesday morning, January 31, 2017. In addition, well feature the winning
projects in an article in POWERGRID Internationals March 2017 issue. These
awards are a great way for you and your co-workers, as well as the other companies involved in the project, to be recognized for your efforts and innovation.
Nominations for award winning projects wil be accepted through September
30. So, you still have plenty of time to enter. You can find links to the nomination forms on the magazine website, www.power-grid.com, as well as
DistribuTECHs website, www.distributech.com. The nomination forms provide information on how to nominate a project, what we editors look for when
selecting the winners, and all other important details.
After youve looked at the entry forms, if you have questions or need clarification, please email me at teresah@pennwell.com. In fact, even if you dont
have questions, I would like for you to email me if and when you nominate
your project. I look forward to receiving your nominations and learning
about the great projects in which you all are involved.
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NORTH AMERICAN

POWER GENERATION GROUP
Richard Baker
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Teresa Hansen
918.831.9504 teresah@pennwell.com
SENIOR EDITOR
Rod Walton
918.831.9177 rwalton@pennwell.com
ONLINE/ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Jeff Postelwait
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4 | August 2016
www.power-grid.com
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NOTES
NEXTERA ENERGY ANNOUNCES $18.4B DEAL TO BUY ONCOR FROM EFH

Florida-based NextEra Energy, moving
fast after its bid for Hawaiian Electric
Industries (HEI) was doomed only a few
weeks ago, rebounded by making a move
to buy Texas Oncor Electric Delivery Co.
from bankrupt Energy Future Holdings
(EFH) for about $18.4 billion.
Under the definitive agreement, a newly
formed subsidiary of NextEra will acquire
EFHs approximately 80 percent interest in transmission-focused Oncor. The
definitive agreement is part of an overall
plan of reorganization that is designed to
allow EFH to emerge from Chapter 11
bankruptcy, but the acquisition must be
approved by the bankruptcy court (a ruling which had not come by press deadline
for POWERGRID International).
If successful, NextEra would gain control
of Oncor, which delivers power to more
than 3 million Texas homes and operates
about 119,000 miles of transmission and
distribution lines in the state. As part of the

transaction, NextEra Energy intends to fund
$9.5 billion for the repayment of EFH debt,
according to the company.
We are incredibly
impressed by Oncors
management team and
its employees, and we are
committed to retaining
Robo
the Oncor name, its Dallas
headquarters and local management, said
Jim Robo, chairman and CEO of NextEra
Energy, in a statement.
Robo added that his company will work
closely with Oncors leadership team to
file a joint application with the Public
Utility Commission of Texas. Since 1999,
NextEra Energy has had a presence in
Texas, including Lone Star Transmission
LLC, a transmission service provider.
The surprise announcement caps a
whirlwind month for NextEra on the
M&A front. In early July, the Hawaii

Public Utilities Commission voted to
not approve a two-year-old merger effort
between NextEra and HEI.
The commission said NextEra and HEI
failed to show the merger would be in the
publics interest. Members were concerned
about benefits to ratepayers and the companies commitment to clean energy.
Oncor Electric Delivery has faced an
uncertain future since EFH, formerly TXU,
went bankrupt with $42 billion in debt.
Only a few weeks ago, reports surfaced
that Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway
Energy might make a bid for Oncor.
Last year, Hunt Consolidated and partners offered to buy Oncor as part of EFHs
Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in
an estimated $20 billion deal. However,
in May Hunt informed the Texas Public
Utility Commission that it was backing
out of the plan.
FERC APPROVES EMPIRE STATE CONNECTOR HVDC TRANSMISSION PROJECT

The Empire State Connector Corp.
said the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) issued an order
preliminarily granting Empires request
to charge negotiated rates for customers
using transmission service on the proposed Empire State Connector (ESC), a
260-mile long high-voltage direct current electric (HVDC) transmission line.
The approval will allow the company to
conduct an open solicitation and capacity allocation process for all parties interested to subscribe for capacity.
We can check off another important
milestone for our proprietary transmission
solution that will facilitate the physical
delivery of renewable energy and capacity
into New York City, said John Douglas,
Empire State Connector Corp.s CEO.

The transmission line will allow
load-serving entities in New York
City more congestion-free access
to upstate renewables and other
resources at more competitive prices. The HVDC transmission line
will be constructed and paid for
by shippers who will contract for
capacity. The upfront development
costs will not be directly funded by
ratepayers.
There is no doubt in my mind that
the ESC can be used to physically deliver
renewable and zero-emission energy and
capacity into New York City cheaper
than the historical cost of transmission
and generation. This is a game changer
for New Yorkers, said Douglas.

The ESCs underwater route through
the Erie Canal and Hudson River will
also have no visual impact and low environmental impact.
The target in-service date for the project
is 2021. oneGRID is developing the ESC.
6 | August 2016
www.power-grid.com
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BLACK & VEATCH, SCHNEIDER TEAM UP ON MICROGRID AT MARINE AIR STATION

Black & Veatch and Schneider Electric
USA formed a joint venture to design
and construct an energy security microgrid at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS)
Miramar in San Diego. The microgrid
solution will allow operations at mission-critical facilities to continue uninterrupted if the utility power grid is
compromised or damaged.
The project design will be scalable
to potentially power the entire installation and will manage electricity during
peak usage. The microgrid will incorporate renewable resources, advanced
smart grid control systems and demand
response capabilities.
Our extensive experience with power
generation, energy storage systems and
power distribution and smart integrated
infrastructure uniquely qualifies us to
provide reliable and resilient microgrid
systems, said Bill Van Dyke, president
of special projects for Black & Veatch.
Partnering with Schneider Electric will
help us deliver a sustainable energy
solution to enhance energy security for
MCAS Miramar missions.
The microgrid will power several facilities at the 12-kV level during a utility grid
outage and will use existing energy resources such as landfill gas, solar photovoltaic
and energy storage systems for standard
operations. Black & Veatch and Schneider
Electric will provide a
fully permitted 7 MW
diesel and natural gas
power plant, updates
to the energy control
systems and integrated microgrid controls.
All elements will be
designed and built
in compliance with
Department of Defense
(DoD) security infrastructure and risk
management requirements.
The new microgrid will integrate with
the utility control system at Naval Base
San Diego which will have redundant
controls for additional energy security.
The project is scheduled to be completed
by July 2018.
Through this unique joint venture, two
worldwide industry leaders will deploy
a team of experts that can deliver innovative, best-in-class, microgrid technologies that ensure reliability, resiliency and
energy independence for our Marines
and sailors under any circumstance, said
Daniel Vesey, U.S. Navy global account
manager, energy and sustainability services, Schneider Electric USA.

This project directly supports a DoD
initiative to deploy 3 GW of renewable
energy throughout military installments
by 2025.
More than 15,000 service members and
their families reside at MCAS Miramar,
which is home to Marines and sailors
from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
BROADBAND 5G DEPLOYMENT FORECASTED TO BEGIN IN 2017

Mobile Experts LLC., an independent market analysis firm for the mobile
infrastructure and wireless eco system,
released new research recently, providing
a specific forecast for pre-standard 5G
deployment. The new forecast highlights
the very specific plans of U.S. operators
as they ramp up deployment of wireless
broadband services.
The standards wont be finalized until
2020, but a few key operators have very
specific plans during the next nine months,
Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile
Experts LLC, said in a release. American

operators have spectrum already, and are
pushing to move very quickly to use 5G
for fixed broadband services. The size of
these early deployments will be much
larger than typical trials. We are expecting
numbers that are more consistent with a
wide commercial deployment.
When we predicted a 5G focus on fixed
broadband services in 2014, many of our
customers asked us to forecast shipments.
We have been resisting the impulse to
release a forecast because most operators
wont be ready to go until 2020. However,

the near-term opportunity has now solidified, and its big enough to move the needle.
The Mobile Experts 5G Research
Service report includes a deep technical
view of the challenges to millimeter-wave
radio implementation, as well as analysis of 5G network architecture options.
Mobile Experts has estimated the cost of
5G networks and devices, and calculated
the return on investment for operators
considering investments in 5G broadband
and 5G Internet of Things business areas.
August 2016 | 7
www.power-grid.com
1608PG_7 7
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NOTES
BY CORINA RIVERA LINARES, CHIEF ANALYST, TRANSMISSION HUB
CAL-ISO: STUDY RESULTS REVEAL EXPANDED GRID WILL ALLOW CALIFORNIA

TO REACH 50 PERCENT RENEWABLE GOAL BY 2030
Final study results on the potential
effects of creating a multi-state, regional
electric market, released on July 12 by the
California Independent System Operator
(Cal-ISO), show that by expanding the
energy grid, California would reach its 50
percent renewable energy goal while saving consumers up to $1.5 billion by 2030.
The studies conclusions mirror the

preliminary results showing the benefits
of expanding the ISO market, advantages
we predict will only grow over time,
Cal-ISO CEO Steve Berberich said in
the July 12 statement. We believe the
findings in these studies will help drive
the formation of a new, more efficient,
cost-effective and greener western electric grid. Its also clear that a regional
grid allows California and other states to
eventually exceed their renewable goals,
including Californias (50 percent) mark.
The studies, which were conducted on
behalf of the Cal-ISO by The Brattle Group,
Energy + Environmental Economics,
Berkeley Economic Advising and Research
LLC and Aspen Environmental Group,
were required under the Californias Clean
Energy and Pollution Reduction Act, or
Senate Bill 350, which set the 50 percent
renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by
2030, the Cal-ISO said.
As noted in the Senate Bill 350 Study,
to undertake the analysis, the study team
needed to make several foundational
assumptions, including that the CalISOs Energy Imbalance Market (EIM)
might expand to the regional market
footprint with or without implementation of the ISO-operated regional market.
The studys five baseline scenarios consist of two 2020 scenarios and three 2030
scenarios. For instance, the 2020 Current
Practice scenario reflects near-term market
conditionsCalifornia has developed the
necessary resources to meet its 33 percent
RPS, and the Cal-ISO operates as-is, with
no regional expansion. The 2030 Current
Practice (Current Practice 1) scenario, for
example, reflects longer term market conditionsCalifornia has developed enough
renewables to meet its 50 percent RPS, with
a current practice (in-state) procurement
focus, and the Cal-ISO operates only its current footprint, without regional expansion,
the study added.
Discussing key findings of the Senate
Bill 350 analysis, with respect to
California ratepayer impact, greenhouse
gas and other emissions, economic and
environmental impacts, and impacts on
disadvantaged communities, the study
estimated an annual net benefit to ratepayers of $55 million a year in 2020
assuming the regional market would
include only the Cal-ISO and PacifiCorp.
That benefit grows to a baseline net
benefit range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year by 2030assuming a large
regional footprint that includes all of U.S.
Western Electricity Coordinating Council
(WECC) without the federal power marketing agencies, the study added.
The market simulations undertaken

show that Californias energy policy initiatives will reduce the emissions of
greenhouse gases associated with serving
the states electricity loads, the study said.
The estimated CO2 emissions associated
with serving California retail electricity
loads, including CO2 emissions from
imported power, will be about 63.6 million metric tons by 2020. This is below
recent historical levels of about 90 million metric tons per year in 2010-2013,
and 107.5 million metric tons in 1990.
The study also noted that the impacts
of a regional ISO-operated market are
expected to create numerous and diverse
jobs and economic benefits in California.
We estimate that a regional market,
growing from a (Cal-ISO) plus PacifiCorp
footprint in 2020 to the larger regional
market by 2030, will create 9,900-19,300
additional jobs in California, compared to
current practice, primarily due to reduced
cost of electricity, the study said.
Furthermore, the analysis for 2030
showed that implementing a regional market increases the efficiency of
investments in low-cost renewable energy generation, including investments in
new wind and solar resources to meet
Californias RPS, the study said.
Go to transmissionhub.com to read
the full version of this story.
8 | August 2016
www.power-grid.com
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BY ROD WALTON, SENIOR EDITOR
GRAIN BELT EXPRESS WIND LINE REJECTED BY MISSOURI REGULATORS

DESPITE HIGH-PROFILE SUPPORT
Missouri regulators have rejected a
proposed wind power transmission line
despite support for the project from the
states top elected official and numerous
companies.
For the second time in a year, the
Missouri Public Service Commission
(MPSC) has denied the Grain Belt
Express Clean Line project developers
application for approval to build the
$500 million statewide leg of the project. Last summer, the MPSC denied
certification for the 206-mile Missouri
portion of the project.
The MPSCs second denial cited Clean
Lines failure to file a notice prior to
an application likely to be contested,
according to reports. The project has run
into opposition from some landowners
over property rights concerns.
In between the state rejections, however, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and a host of
companies that do business in the state
have announced their support. Nixon
cited new landowner protections and
consumer savings as inspiration for his
newfound favor.
Clean Line Energy Partners, developers of the project, estimated that it will
pay about $32 million to landowners
who have the transmission line running
across their properties.
With these new protections for landowners and millions of dollars in savings
for consumers, the Grain Belt Express
Clean Line is a good deal for Missouri,
Nixon said in a statement. In addition to
reducing energy costs, this $500 million
construction project will also boost our
economy and create good-paying jobs.
I appreciate Clean Line for answering
courtesy Clean Line Energy Partners
my call for these enhanced landowner

protections and for ensuring the transmission line is built in a way that creates
jobs and saves money for Missourians.
Meanwhile, companies with manufacturing facilities in Missouri sent a letter
to the MPSC in support of the Grain
Belt Express. Those companies, which
employ more than 10,000 workers statewide, included General Motors, Target,
Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Kelloggs
and Nestl.
Grain Belt Express Clean Line is an
opportunity to provide our companies
with a link to low-cost renewable energy
at a scale that is meaningful, the letter
reads. Access to renewable energy is
increasingly important to our decisions
about where to expand and to site new
facilities.
Missouri is the last of four states
where approval is needed for the Grain
Belt Express Clean Line. Kansas, Illinois
and Indiana regulators already OKd the
project.
Over the last year, we have made
tremendous progress in developing

the Grain Belt Express so that it will
benefit Missourians for years to come,
Michael Skelly, president of Clean Line,
said in a statement. Prior to the second
MPSC rejection, he was hopeful that the
Missouri Public Service Commission will
recognize the many long-term benefits
that this project will bring to the ShowMe State.
Last summer, citing landowner concerns, the MPSC voted 3-2 to block the
Missouri portion of Grain Belt Express
construction. It later denied a request for
rehearing on the bid for certification.
The Grain Belt Express Clean Line
is proposed as a 780-mile, high-voltage direct-current transmission system
bringing approximately 4,000 MW of
wind power from western Kansas to
Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The overall project cost is tabbed at close to $2
billion, according to reports.
Clean Line planned to begin construction as early as 2017, according to its
website.
August 2016 | 9
www.power-grid.com
1608PG_9 9
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NOTES
EYE ON THE WORLD

Swedish Utility Chooses Kamstrup as Smart Metering Partner
Kampstrup will supply 27,000 intelligent electricity meters to
Swedish utility Vsterbergslagens Elnt AB over the next three
years, the companies reported.
In the coming years, Swedish utilities are facing the second
wave of smart meter rollouts and Vsterbergsla-gens Elnt AB is
among the first in the country to embark on this next step of the
smart metering journey, according to the release. The need for a
reliable partner in for the long haul was one of the deciding factors behind their choice of Kamstrup, according to Bo Srberg,
CEO of Vsterbergslagens Elnt AB.
Kamstrups supply is not limited to the 27,000 electricity
meters, but also includes the OMNIA smart grid platform, which
will give Vsterbergslagens Elnt AB the possibility to test and
remotely read heat meters. As part of the turn-key solution,
Kamstrup will supply meters, communication infrastructure and
software as well as handle meter installation.
With the OMNIA solution, Vsterbergslagens Elnt AB will be
able to improve the service it offers its customers. Transparent
billing and the potential to monitor their energy usage can help
customers save energy and reduce their spending. In addition,
the OMNIA solution will provide the utility with data to analyze
and optimize grid performance and increase efficiency.
Kamstrup has a strong local presence in Sweden, both in
terms of product development and project management, as

well as service and support, said Filipe Vasconcelos, Kamstrups
system sales and project group manager for electricity systems.
Our end-to-end metering solutions are tailored to the unique
and changing needs of each customer and we look forward to
working closely together with Vsterbergslagens Elnt AB to
prepare them for future challenges.
The process of replacing VBs meters will begin in the next
few months with the project expected to be
completed within three years.
Swedes signing smart metering deal (courtesy of Kamstrup): In photo from left to right: Bo Srberg, CEO,
Vsterbergslagens Elnt AB; Annika Viklund, senior vice president, Vattenfall Distribution; Anders Nystrup, head of sales,
Kamstrup; Filipe Vasconcelos, system sales and project groupmanager, Kamstrup AB
TenneT Investing $6.6 Billion into Dutch Grid

Offshore Wind Biz website reported that growth in renewable
energy capacity in the Netherlands and surrounding countries
has prompted TenneT to make plans for major grid investments.
on land and will pour approximately $4 billion into the

countrys offshore grid projects over the next 10 years.
The investment in developing and building the grid at
sea is related to the connection of 3,450 MW of planned
wind farms off the coasts of Zeeland and Holland to the
national grid.
The capacity of power connections between the Netherlands and its neighboring countries in
the coming years is expected to look as follows:
Belgium: 2,400 MW from 2019
Denmark: 700 MW from 2020 (COBRA cable)
Germany: 2,450 MW in 2017 and approximately 4,250 MW in 2020 (increase through
Doetinchem-Wesel 380 kV, Meeden-Diele and Flow-Based market coupling)
Great Britain: 1,000 MW (BritNed cable)
Norway: 700 MW (NorNed cable)
The transmission system operator will commit some $2 billion

for the expansion and replacement of Dutch high-voltage grid
TenneT added that it is committed to collaborate with other grid operators in Europe as
much as possible to achieve a single integrated (Northwest) European energy market.
10 | August 2016
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EYE ON THE WORLD

EDF Seeking Buyer for Stake in RTE French Transmission
French power utility EDF hopes to sell a 50-percent stake in
Europes biggest high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system, according to news reports.
Reuters and Le Figaro reported that state-controlled EDF
controls all of RTE, which operates nearly 100,000 kilometers
(93,200 miles) in HVDC lines that route about 494 billion kWh
in electricity annually. RTE is valued at 6 to 7 billion Euros,
according to the report.
EDF was said to be heavily in debt and wanting to sell noncore assets while investing in its nuclear power business. The
French firm is one of the partners in the Hinkley Point nuclear
reactor project in the UK, which may cost 25 billion Euros to
complete, according to reports.
EDF has reported that it would consider a government-backed
multibillion-euro financing package. The company has an agreement in which it must sell the stake to another state-run company.
RTE is one of two EDF Group-controlled companies that
handle transmission and distribution services in the region. It
carriers high-voltage flows, while Enedis distributes medium and

low-voltage to end users.
RTE also acts as the interconnector with the power grids
of neighboring countries through 46 cross-border power lines,
contributing to overall security of supply and efficient operation
of the European power supply system. It was created in 2000 as

an independent function of EDF. By next year, the company says
it will have spent 2.4 billion Euros on grid reinforcements.
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8/4/16 10:05 AM
BY JILL FEBLOWITZ, FEBLOWITZ ENERGY CONSULTING
Paying Attention to Utility
he utility industry is just beginning

to discover energy storages potential to meet the needs of markets, grid
operations and customers. Technology has
advanced and prices dropped and are
expected to continue to do so. Regulation,
funding and the penetration of renewables
have tremendous influence on utilities
commitment, experimentation and planning. Representatives from three utilities
Southern California Edison (SCE), Pacific
Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Oncor
recently shared their experience.
Even though Tesla raised the visibility
of residential back-up storage with the
general public, energy storage can bring
much more to the industry. The Rocky
Mountain Institute (RMI) laid out 13
potential services that energy storage
could provide to the wholesale markets
(RTO/ISOs), utilities and customers in
T&D Storage
its report Economics of Battery Energy

Storage published in October 2015.
RMI reviewed 13 studies and found
the value of energy storage ranged from
$0 to $200 per kW-year, with the outliers, distribution deferral and transmission deferral, coming in at $500 per
kW-year and $900 per kW-year, respectively. The study also found that the value
of energy storage was higher when units
could be used to provide multiple or
stacked services. Figure 1 provides a
useful categorization of the applications
of energy storage.
THE REGULATORY LANDSCAPE
Panelists from SCE, PG&E and Oncor,
who spoke during the DistribuTECH 2016
Conference and Exhibition panel Energy
Storage and the T&D Grid, provided
insight into the economic impacts and
FIGURE 1:
Batteries can Provide up to 13 Services to Three Stakeholder Groups
Backup
Power
Increased PV
Self-consumption
Energy
Arbitrage
Spin/Non-spin
Reserve
Frequency
Regulation
Demand Charge
Reduction
Voltage Support
Service not Possible
the planning models for progressive energy storage deployments at their utilities.
Each had his own take on uses applicable
to his grid configurations and markets. It
was clear that one size does not fit all.
Legislation and regulation will play a
significant role in how quickly energy

storage is adopted. For SCE and PG&E
in California the regulatory landscape
is positive. California has been early
to the game, establishing a mandate
for the investment in energy storage.
Under AB 2514, the California Public
Utility Commission (CPUC) adopted a total energy storage procurement target of 1,325 MW, allocated
to each of the investor-owned utilities
(IOUs) in four biennial solicitations
through 2020. As part of the Energy
Storage Procurement Framework and
Design Program, which is an ongoing
Black Start
Time of Use Bill

Management
Jill Feblowitz is founder of Feblowitz Energy Consulting and an internationally

recognized expert on innovation in the
energy industry. With over 30 years of experience leading research and delivering
consulting projects, Feblowitz provides advice to energy
companies in the areas of energy markets, business
models, operations, policy, regulation and technologies.
Resource
Adequacy
Distribution
Deferral
Transmission
Deferral
Transmission
Congestion
Relief
Source: Rocky Mountain Institute
12 | August 2016
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1608PG_12 12
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regulatory process, the CPUC is setting

requirements for allocation of storage investment across domains (transmission, distribution and customer),
developing a consistent evaluation and
reporting across utilities, approving eligible storage technologies, approving
utilities storage investment plans, and
determining cost recovery. At this time,
utility ownership cannot exceed 50
percent of storage across all three (San

Diego Gas & Electric, SCE and PG&E)
grid domains.
Both PG&E and SCE have the same
goals for energy storage580 MW of
storage planned by 2020 and operational
by 2024. The storage will be split with
53 percent in transmission, 32 percent
in distribution and 15 percent customer
connected. There may be some flexibility
in the allocation between transmission

and distribution.
In Texas, the most recent version of
the Title II of Public Utility Regulatory
Act defines electric energy storage equipment or facilities that are intended to be
used to sell energy or ancillary services at
wholesale as generation assets. Oncor, as
a regulated transmission and distribution
company, cannot deploy energy storage
for market purposes. Under the act,
transmission and distribution companies
can use storage only for reliability and
outage mitigation. Because the legislature
meets every other year, the next chance
to change legislation will be in 2017.
STUDYING STORAGE
Prior to the California storage mandate, in 2010, SCE launched a dedicated
energy storage strategic planning effort.
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As part of that effort, SCE conducted an

internal study to evaluate the economics
and feasibility of energy storage. The
effort looked at operational uses (by
domain and output duration), bundling
of operational uses as applications (variable distributed generation integration,
ancillary services, microgrid formation,
on-peak intermittent energy smoothing
and shaping, etc.) and matching these
with best fit technologies. SCE detailed
the study results in a white paper titled
Moving Energy Storage from Concept
to Reality, which is available on the
utilitys website. The utility found that
cost effectiveness for most applications
would not occur until 2020. The more
cost-effective applications targeted peak
capacity over number of hours used.
In addition, SCE found that the closer
energy storage is to the customer, the
more likely it is that peak capacity infrastructure is deferred.
With the drop in the cost of storage,
Oncor launched an initiative to study
the economics of grid-integrated storage deployment in the ERCOT market.
The company wanted to know if it could
take advantage of market arbitrage and
capital investment deferrals without
increasing rates. The study, The Value
of Distributed Electricity Storage in
Texas, conducted by the Brattle Group
and published in November 2014,
examined cost-effective storage from
the perspective of the wholesale markets, customers and society as a whole.
The findings were similar to those
revealed in the RMI study mentioned
earlierthere is a need to combine
services to achieve value. According
to the Oncor-commissioned study, the
break-even point for grid integrated
distributed electricity storage would be
$350/kWh with diminishing returns
at 5,000 MW of storage on ERCOT.
The benefits to customers would be
in reduced bills and better reliability
in areas where storage is installed. It

is unlikely, however, that merchant
developers of storage could achieve a
desired return on investment because
30 percent to 40 percent of the benefits of storage come from transmission,
reliability and distribution functions;
wholesale market arbitrage would not
earn enough.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
PG&E
PG&Es guiding principles for procuring
storage are grid optimization, renewable
energy integration and greenhouse gas
reduction. The utility has completed the
first cycle of competitive procurement
through a request for offer (RFO) and
recently released a second RFO with
procurement decisions coming at the
end of this year.
SCE
SCE got a head start on storage due to the
requirement to obtain 50 MW of storage,
which needed to be met quickly due to
constrained capacity. The utility has issued
RFOs for third party storage behind the
meter and for transmission and distribution. This latest RFO is written to secure
enough storage to allow SCE to skip the
next RFO cycle. The bidders responses
were surprisingly attractive. As for utility-owned storage, the company has a 2.4
MW distribution pilot under development, as well as distribution demonstration projects totaling 8 MW.
Oncor
Oncor is focused on using storage for
feeder reliability. The company has issued
a request for analysis to determine which
feeders to target. In addition, a request for
proposal to study ownership and services
models includes 87 selection criteria. On
the ground is a demonstration project to
support homes during outages. In addition, five 25 kW and 25 kWh batteries
are installed near transformers in Dallas
neighborhoods. So far, more than 1,000
minutes of outage have been avoided.

ADDITIONAL WORK NEEDED
In many ways, energy storage remains
an emerging technology, presenting challenges to be worked through. Those
challenges include:
Integrating storage. At this point,
there is general agreement that control
systems can handle one or two battery
systems. It is unclear, however, what
happens when many more units are
integrated across a fleet, including
storage behind the meter. Control
systems are not ready for that yet
and additional communications infrastructure must be in place.
Dealing with heterogeneity. Oncor is
grappling with integration of a heterogeneous group of batteries and distributed energy resources with different
control systems. In its Lancaster microgrid project, the company integrated
35 storage, solar and other equipment
vendors to assess interoperability.
Contract vehicles. There are ownership models where storage is provided
as a service to the grid by third parties.
These services could span the gamut
from installation to operation, with or
without utilities owning the asset. If a
contractor were to provide reliability
services to a utility, service level agreements would need to be put in place
to ensure that utilities would be first
in line for energy storage resources.
With the cost of storage declining rapidly and increased penetration of renewables on the grid, utilities should already
be testing energy storage applications
and developing insight on the value of
energy storage at nodes in the distribution grid. The business case requires
benefits from stacked services, so systems must be able to support multiple
services. A well-reasoned strategy will be
needed sooner rather than later.
14 | August 2016
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1608PG_14 14
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Bob LoGalbo is chief data scientist at Leidos.
BY BOB LOGALBO, LEIDOS
Data Science Takes Byte out of Challenges

R
egulated business environments

inherently have less room to grow.
As a result, exposing savings opportunities
is often a route to increased profitability. If institutionalized in a utility, data
science can clearly define those savings
opportunities for executives. Without data
science, utility executives are relegated to
less informed and insufficiently impactful
decisions. The growing awareness around
data science combined with the growing
availability of data science prowess offers
utilities the opportunity for better decision
making and financial growth.
MOVING UP THE DATA SCIENCE
VALUE CHAIN
To some degree, all utilities already
incorporate at least the basics of data
science. If a chart is generated from
Microsoft Excel, strictly speaking, a
first approach of data science has been
applied. Changing the view of a spreadsheet pivot table is essentially what data
scientists do when examining data sets.
Excel-based analysis provides insight
and informs decision making. This level
of analysis is already familiar to any business leader who has scrutinized a chart
on a presentation slide. The term data
science, therefore, should not be intimidating to the point that it scares people
into avoiding what data science has to
offer. Given that Excel-based (or similarly generated) data science is already
relied upon by utility executives, the

latest high processing data science using
the latest algorithms should provide only
more perspectives, insight and value than
what Excel could ever offer.
If only standard hardware and software
are relied upon for data science, there is
a physical limit to the amount of insight
that can be generated. A laptop and Excel
have only so much available processing
power and memory to wrest out insight.
Executives are then relegated to a limited
view generated from a constrained architecture. Using cloud computing power
and memory are orders of magnitude
more cost effective than daisy chain-
When compared
to other industries,
many utilities risk
being classified
as technological
laggards. This
classification
damages reputations
and can potentially
dissuade young talent
from considering
employment within the
utility industry.
ing desktops, and, by running mature
data science algorithms (i.e. the definition of Big Data), previously unexplored
insight can be flushed out. Some utilities
have realized this and are fully committing to investing in big data programs.
Others remain on lower rungs of the
data science ladder. A utility that simply
considers, explores or dabbles with big

data risks lagging behind. A utility may
lose either a competitive market edge
or public support if it doesnt realize the
same efficiencies as the utilities that have
matured their big data programs.
OUTSIDE, LOOKING IN
When compared to other industries,
many utilities risk being classified as
technological laggards. This classification
damages reputations and can potentially
dissuade young talent from considering
employment within the utility industry.
More than 400 universities in the U.S.
now offer degrees in data science, and
many also offer dual degree programs
with data science and other degrees such
as electrical engineering, business and
even anthropology. Dual degree options
are becoming not only a more common
offering at universities but also a more
common choice for incoming freshman.
This trend indicates that academia sees
data science as vital for not only engineering but for all disciplines. The most
capable entry-level candidates know this,
which therefore makes dual data science
degree graduates a perfect fit for an
organization like a utility, that is flush
with data. This is true only if the utility
is all in with respect to data science.
If not committed to the benefits of data
science, the utility is sure to be passed
over by these candidates.
HAZARDS OF DOWNPLAYING
DATA SCIENCE
Given the potential strength of data
science to significantly accelerate any
savings or revenue enhancement, there is
CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
16 | August 2016
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BY JOSEPH BOIKE, ADVANCED CONTROL SYSTEMS
Protecting
Aging Substations
From Cyberattacks
Cybersecurity threats are a serious and

ongoing challenge for the energy sector.
As attacks become more numerous and
sophisticated it is critical to perform
the right steps in order to keep the high
standards of reliability and resiliency our
nations electrical grid needs. A cyberattack can have a significant impact on the
ability of an energy automation system
to perform critical functions, affecting
public safety and well-being, national
security and the economy. The 2015
Lloyds Emerging Risk Report says that
the impact on the economy of a blackout
across 15 U.S. states affecting 93 million
people could reach $1 trillion. All this
makes cybersecurity one of the most significant investments in the power business, requiring allocation of substantial
resources in order to mitigate all possible risks. The North American Electric
Reliability Corp. (NERC) maintains a set
of Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP)
guidelines that many utilities are obliged
to adhere to. NERC CIP requirements
address a vast range of critical cyber asset
and cybersecurity issues, including the
substation and the substation automation system. Compliance to this standard
will ensure that best practices are in
place and the likelihood of future system
cyberattacks are substantially reduced.
Implementing defensive measures can
also help avoid the NERC CIP v5 compliance violation and associated $1 million
per-day penalty.
This can be easy to address when
designing a new installation with the
latest technology. Problems might arise,
however, when addressing older substations with aging automation systems in
place. Modern technology, which possesses features that will help utilities
comply with NERC CIP requirements,
must be developed and integrated so
that a smooth transition, in a timely
manner and under budget is possible.
Utilities should then view the NERC CIP
standard as a guidance tool for security;
it does not specify the technology or
methodology but rather the goals, which
can be reached through a combination
of features supplied by hardware, software and procedures. Therefore, if its
possible to upgrade the existing substation remote terminal unit (RTU) with
the most critical security features, and
then couple it with other technologies
and procedures, a full RTU replacement
can be avoided in favor of the upgrade,
saving time and resources. To be a valid
solution, the upgraded RTU must have
a minimal level of authentication and
authorization, protection against the use
of unnecessary physical and logical ports,
and audit ability.
Joseph Boike has a bachelors

degree in electrical engineering
from Georgia Institute of Technology and a master of science
degree in electrical engineering
from the University of Missouri. Prior to joining Advanced Control Systems, Boike held
positions in the research & development departments of McDonnell Douglas Corp. and
Zellweger Analytics. After joining ACS, he became the primary hardware designer for the
RTU product lines, driving the transition to surface-mount technology. Boike is currently the
R&D hardware manager, and is responsible
for driving compliance to industry-standard
security requirements.
18 | August 2016
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AUTHENTICATION AND
AUTHORIZATION
Without the appropriate authentication and authorization methods in place,
unauthorized users might gain access to
the system or system functions. Access
must be restricted to certain systems or
functions following the principle of least
privilege, which only allows the minimum required access to perform a given
operation. In addition, utilities should
enforce roles within their organization
and implement role-based access control, grouping users based on their role,
with different levels of access for each
groupnot evaluating each individual.
To facilitate the compliance with these
NERC CIP requirements, the upgraded
RTU in the substation has to bring features
such as an embedded remote authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS)
client, so that centralized authentication,
authorization and accounting management is possible. With this feature, several NERC CIP requirements are directly
addressed, including: CIP-005 R1 (1.3),
met by setting access levels for credentialed users and denying all others; CIP005 R2 (2.3), because the embedded
RADIUS client provides the capability to
multi-factor authenticate all Interactive
Remote Access sessions; and CIP-007
R5 (5.1), as the RTU configuration tool

requires authentication before allowing
interactive access to the RTU. In addition, CIP-007 R3 (3.1) compliance is
aided by restricting the group of users
with permission to update the units firmware. RTU security is further enhanced
by requiring the firmware being installed
to be properly signed and encrypted with
a privately held key.
UNUSED PORTS
Every unused port that remains
enabled can be a potential entry point.
Whether logical or physical, the upgraded
RTU must be capable of disabling what is
not being used. As with the principle of
least privilege for users, here the principle
of least functionality gives access to only
what is required to perform a specific
function. Although the disabling of ports
should be accomplished by software with
configuration tools for easy re-enabling
by an authorized user, a port lock should
always be available for physical ports.
Because these requirements are specific to the equipment, the RTU upgrade
process must bring a solution that clearly
addresses the NERC CIP requirements.
CIP-007 R1 (1.1) refers to the enabling

of only the logical network accessible
ports that have been determined to be
needed. A solution, via the configuration
tool, that gives the user the ability to
individually enable and disable those
ports is clearly recommended. Looking
at the physical ports, according to CIP007 R1 (1.2), there is the same need
to disable any unused ports. It is also
strongly recommended that the configuration tool have the enable/disable
function. For communication ports, it
can simply be disabled unless specifically
assigned as a protocol port. (All communication ports disabled by default.)
AUDIT ABILITY
Recording system activity is as important as disabling unused ports and controlling user access. Recording the system activity generates an audit trail,
which is vital for monitoring all activity.
It also identifies potential cyberattacks
in time to take action and provides
August 2016 | 19
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1608PG_19 19
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information for post-event investigations

if an attack occurs. It is necessary that
an RTU upgrade include time synchronization capability to time stamp all
the events logged, which is every single
action performed by any user.
To comply with the NERC CIP standards, the upgraded RTU must, as a minimum, provide features that enable the
creation of log files, thus complying with
CIP-007 R4 (4.1) and CIP-008 R1 (1.1).
A way to accomplish this requirement is
to have Syslog supporta Syslog client
in the upgraded RTUso that the log
file can be retrieved via the configuration
tool or configured to periodically send all
Syslog entries to a Syslog server. All firmware update attempts, whether successful
or not, must be logged. Simultaneously,
the configuration tool should also maintain a separate configuration log within
each configuration file, which details all

changes made to a configuration and the
responsible user.
FROM LEGACY TO SECURE
Substation automation is a vital part of
the power systemit is the intelligence
that brings visibility to and allows control
from the operator in the SCADA room
or the advanced energy or distribution
management systems. Because substation automation equipment is crucial to
reliable electricity delivery, it has become
a desirable target for cyberattacks. NERC
CIP provides guidelines needed to reach
a minimum security level and mitigate
risk. It is important for owners and operators to understand that the standards
goal is not to define which technology
to use. Cybersecurity involves different
equipment, processes and departments.
This goal-driven characteristic of the

NERC CIP standards gives the utility
the option to upgrade the aging substation RTU rather than purchase a full
replacement. It is not necessary for a
single piece of equipment to comply
with all requirements. For authentication
and authorization, CIP-007 R5 (5.55.7)
can be addressed by using an external authentication server in the control
room, acting as the RADIUS server for
the RADIUS client in the upgraded RTU.
An equivalent Syslog server can exist for
the Syslog client in the substation, and
utilities also can have the firewall functionalities directed by an external firewall
router to address CIP-005 R2 (2.1-2.2).
If an upgrade path for the old RTU exists,
a substation can go from legacy to secure
in a reasonable time and at a reasonable
costtoday.
DATA SCIENCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16
a clear risk that not going all in might

leave the organization in a compromising
position. Not advancing a data science
program to higher processing power
leaves money on the table. More mature
data science algorithms wielded by internal or external data science experts can
provide significant value to a utility.
Downplaying data science can reduce the
value of a utilitys data and even lead to
poor decision making.
System complexity, regulatory policy
and competitive pressure are increasing
rapidly, and lower-level data science architecture can be easily overwhelmed by
the processing required to accommodate
these intricacies. Big data can align the
varied factors and determine the optimal
solution to maximize savings. In some
cases, a reliance on limited data science
architecture (such as laptops and Excel)
to unknot these complicated variables

might provide not only limited insight,
but also poor options from which to
choose, steering executives into making
damaging decisions.
In addition, with an aging subject
matter expert (SME) population in the
utility industry, competing to hire the
best and brightest is no longer the sole
building block to corporate growth. Big
data through machine learning has the
potential to capture and execute automated SME expertise. The ability to build
infrastructure and code solutions, however, requires adept and adroit white hat
hackers with a data science background.
A commitment to a big data program will
either attract internal data science talent
or allow outside experts to truly provide
transformational data science support.
GOING THE FULL DISTANCE

TO GROWTH
Utilities have access to terabytes of
data that, upon analysis by data experts,
can provide not only value from overlooked insight of current analytics, but
also can be used to generate predictors.
The predictors can take a current state
and project a future state with a potentially high degree of accuracy and precision. It is those predictors that provide a
magnifier of corporate revenue. Even in
a regulated environment, the right data,
providing the right insight, will lead to
the right decisions. Utilities willing to
internally build an advanced data science
program or to bolt on outside data science expertise will be strongly positioned
for growth.
20 | August 2016
www.power-grid.com
1608PG_20 20
8/4/16 10:06 AM
CANUS can

"

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!
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including electrical

E LECT RICAL INSP ECTION
S U BS TAT ION TE S T ING
UTIL ITY M AIN TE N AN C E
1608PG_21 21
8/4/16 10:06 AM
BY JASON GLASSBERG, CASABA SECURITY
Defending Against the

Electric power companies face a range
of threats, from physical sabotage and
malicious insiders to vulnerable network
ports easily discoverable by almost anyone using the Shodan search engine.
A recent attack on an electric utility in
Michigan, however, highlights the growing risk of another threat to the power
industryransomware.
In April 2016, municipally-owned
public utility Lansing Board of Water &
Light was infected by ransomware after
an apparent email phishing attack. The
infection forced the utility to shut down
all of its corporate IT systems, including
administrative, accounting, email and
online customer service, as well as phone
lines, fax machines and other technologies. A similar incident struck Israels
Electric Authority in January 2016. It too
was forced to shut down its network and
administrative functions. In both cases,
however, the ransomware did not affect
power service or industrial operations.
Power companies need to pay close
attention to these attacks because ransomware is a threat that will not go away
any time soon. In fact, its likely to get
worse. Between 2013 and 2015, the
number of ransomware samples detected in the wild jumped 270 percent,
according to McAfee. In January, security
researchers also discovered that hackers
are now creating ransomware-as-a-service, like Ransom32, which is being
sold to criminals as a complete package,
making it easier for anyone, even those
with less technical skill, to deploy this
type of attack.
Following is a summary of what
Threat
operators need to know about the ransomware threat.
WHAT IS RANSOMWARE?
Ransomware is a type of computer malware that uses encryption as its
weapon. There are several different
types of ransomware. Some variants target all discoverable files and data, like
Word documents, spreadsheets, PDFs,
etc., others may encrypt the entire hard
drive and certain variants freeze the Web
browser to make the computer unusable.
In addition, its also possible for them to
hijack the computers boot-up process.
There are millions of different ransomware variants out in the wild, but they
all have the same goallock the targeted
company out of its computers and data
until it agrees to pay a hefty ransom.
In many instances, it will not be possible for the victim to remove the ransomware infection without overwriting the
hard drive and losing its data. As a result,
companies are often forced to pay the
ransom in order to regain access to that
data. The value of the ransom demand
can vary widely, from tens of thousands
to millions of dollars.
Ransomware has been around for
many years. In the past the malware itself
was less sophisticated and it tended to
be geographically limited to Russia and
Eastern Europe; that has changed considerably. Ransomwares highly successful
business model has made it extremely
popular with criminal groups the world
over, especially among developed countries. The U.S. is now the No. 1 most
targeted nation for ransomware attacks,
Jason
Glassberg
is
co-founder of Casaba Security, a cybersecurity firm specializing in white hat hacking,
vulnerability detection and
security policy development.
The company advises critical
infrastructure companies, in addition to financial services, technology and government entities. Learn more at www.casaba.com.
comprising 38 percent of all file encryption ransomware and 52 percent of all

locked screen ransomware, according
to Symantec. Eleven of the 12 worst
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countries for ransomware infections are

now in the G20. In addition, many established criminal groups, like the notorious
Dridex botnet gang, which once dominated the banking malware field, are
now switching to ransomware.
HOW ARE YOU INFECTED?
The two most common ways for a
company to get infected are phishing
emails and drive-by download Web
attacks.
By now, most companies are aware of
phishing emails, but its important to not
underestimate this threat. Power companies in particular should expect to be
targeted by more sophisticated phishing
campaigns, which may spoof an executive or employee email address to make
it seem like a legitimate message.
Criminals may also do research on the

company and its employees to further
improve the emails chances of success.
They may use urgent appeals, like past
due invoices, to trigger an emotional
response among employees, getting them
to click before they think.
Typically, hackers will use an attached
file, such as a Word document, spreadsheet, etc., to infect the employees computer when opened. They may also
embed a URL in the body of the email
that will redirect the employee to a malicious website.
This leads to the second method
of ransomware infectionsdriveby attacks. A drive-by is basically a
stealthy download of a malicious file to
a computer, where the victim doesnt
suspect a thing. Hackers will seek out
legitimate websites with poor security

and install malicious code on the site
that will infect anyone who lands on the
page. Its becoming increasingly common, especially among more sophisticated groups, for hackers to seek out
websites that are popular within a specific industry. For instance, it might be
an industry forum, vendor or government agency website. Hackers call this
a watering hole attack.
Hackers also might exploit vulnerabilities in the companys network to infect
it with ransomware, or use pre-existing
malware infections to remotely install
ransomware into the companys computer system.
Once ransomware establishes itself
on an employees computer, it will look
for other pathways on the network by
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which it can spread itself to additional

computers, servers and equipment.
HOW DOES RANSOMWARE IMPACT
OPERATIONS?
To date, ransomware infections in the
energy sector have been limited to officebased networks. The impact, therefore,
has been on administrative functions,
like email, accounting, logistics management, etc., and not on the actual industrial control systems (ICS) for power
generation or distribution.
Electric facility operators need to keep
a few things in mind, however. First, even
if the infection is limited to only the
office network, it can result in a serious
and costly disruption of operations and
services. It also poses additional safety
and security threats, because the network
must be shut down, making it more difficult to properly monitor the ICS.
Security firms also remain concerned
that ransomware will eventually invade
the ICS/SCADA environments, affecting
actual power generation and distribution
operations, with obviously dramatic consequences. Because it is extremely difficult, dangerous and expensive to replace
or rebuild live ICS/SCADA systems, this
type of event would be catastrophic for
any operator.
In addition, given the growing popularity of ransomware, it is likely that at
some point this attack will be used by
a criminal or activist group for whom
money is not a motive. This is an equally
frightening scenario, as it could shut
down a utilitys main operations for an
indefinite period of time, as well as result
in a permanent loss of critical data.
SECURITY RECOMMENDATIONS
Utilities need to take several steps to
ensure their networks are prepared for
the ransomware threat.
Reduce the risk of exposure

Install email whitelisting programs
and script-blocking browser plugins
on all employee computers.
security information and event management (SIEM) or intrusion detection/

prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to detect
malicious activity quickly.
Train employees in basic security

awareness, particularly with regard to
phishing emails.
In the event of ransomware, shut

down the network immediately and
contact an incident response (IR) team
with ransomware experience. Certain
ransomware variants can be decrypted
and removed from a network without
jeopardizing the data. An experienced
IR team can make that determination.
Make sure all computers and servers

are regularly updated with the latest
software and security patches.
Use robust malware-detection programs with anti-phishing support and
a modern firewall.
Prevent the use of thumb-drives and
other external devices or media from
being connected to office machines.
Duplicate data
Conduct regular data backups to
external hard drives and/or cloudbased accounts.
When using physical storage devices,
make sure they do not remain connected to the network except when
performing the actual backup, as they
too can become infected.
Use cloud-based storage for certain
types of data, as this will provide an
additional level of assurance for full
recovery. (Data backups are the most
important element of a ransomware
defense. Even if the system becomes
infected, the company can resume normal operations by replacing equipment.)
Divide and isolate
Segment the office network as much as
possible to make it harder for malware
to spread from an infected machine.
Air-gap all sensitive systems and
industrial control processes from the
office network.
Fast response
Use network monitoring tools like
Ransom payment
In the event that an attack succeeds
and the ransomware cannot be
removed, utilities must make a tough
choice. If the company has lost access
to critical data or systems that it must
have to operate, it will probably have
to pay the ransom. Keep in mind,
of course, that youre dealing with
criminalsthey may not honor their
promise to remove the ransomware or
they may re-infect the network again
soon afterward.
Use a cybersecurity specialist to negotiate with the criminals and to facilitate the payment (often done using
Bitcoin), if necessary.
CONCLUSION
Ransomware poses a complex and
growing threat to the power industry
and must be prioritized in the security
planning process. Its important for operators to focus equally on prevention and
post-breach defense in order to limit the
potential for damage. Although this attack
can be challenging to defend against, it
is possible with the right defense-indepth approach in place. Operators are
encouraged to consult with cybersecurity
specialists ahead of time to plan out all
contingencies for this type of event.
24 | August 2016
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BY ROD WALTON, SENIOR EDITOR
Have Sun, Will Travel
Community Solar Emerging as Option to Rooftop Costs

The sun also rises and it shines on
everyone, both King Solomon and Ernest
Hemmingway agreed in their respective
poetic fashions. Not everyone these days,
however, can afford to harness its power
via photovoltaic panels installed on their
rooftops or in their fields.
Jim Burke, program manager for Solar

Shares, which has been offered by the
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
(SMUD) in northern California. You had
to own it.
Thousands of utility customers nationwide are now buying into communi-
Active or Planned Community Solar Programs
The desire of many utility customers to partake in emissions-free energy

without paying big for it has sparked
the movement in community solar. This
is an option in which utilities or third
parties can build smaller solar farms
that are still viable for interconnection
into the grid.
Lots of people like solar energy
but not everybody could get it, said
ty solar programs in about two dozen

states. A recent report by the Deloitte
Center for Energy Solutions noted that
only two shared solar projects existed in
2010, and now 77 utilities are administering projects throughout half of the
nation.
Community solar advocates say it
gives numerous possible advantages over
individual rooftop solar For starters, its
much cheaper in that customers have no

capital costs and only pay on monthly
bills. They dont lose or have to move
solar panels should they change residences. All of the investment risk stays
with the utility or developer.
So community solar is all sunflowers
and unicorns, right? Isnt it pretty to
think so, to quote Mr. Hemmingways
novel. The solar gardens come with
ripe entanglements, developers say,
such as siting, neighborhood opposition, loading concerns and proximity
to substations and distribution systems, among others.
Yet the gardens keep growing. Xcel
Energy expects to gain approval for
Minnesota community solar projects
north of 250 MW by the end of the
year. The utility also has Colorado projects totaling 18 MW in capacity and
attractingg 1,000
,
customer subscribers
since 2012.
To me, I like the community aspect,
Kerry Clemm, manager of the customer
choice and renewables program with
Xcel Energy, said. Rooftop is perfect for
some people, but not everybody owns a
home.
In June, Colorado-based developer Clean Energy Collective (CEC)
announced it was expanding in
Massachusetts with 14 new projects
spread out in both Eversource Energys
and National Grids territories. These
fledgling gardens will add about 21 MW
in solar capacity. CEC, which started up
only seven years ago, boasts more than
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(courtesy of SMUD)
COMPARISON OF MODELS
100 Roofless Solar efforts with 26 utility partners in 12 states.
Siting is the earliest, and sometimes
toughest, challenge that developers and
utilities face after committingg to community solar efforts. CECs Jonathan
Fitzpatrick noted that it all really boils
down to location, location, location and
nothings ever simple with that.
The default is a flat site that does not
have any encumbrances or is not in any
way tied up by other interests, he said.
Its unshaded and near an existing utility
structure.As a rule of thumb, the closer to a substation the better, the closer to
a major load center the better.
The biggest engineering hurdle for
CEC from the outset is getting actionable data from utilities on certain sites,
Fitzpatrick added.
The less information we have, the
more were trying to figure

whats happening inside the
black box, he said. It varies
by a given utilitys comfort and
experienceUtilities that have
done it more generally understand it better.
Tucson Electric Power (TEP)
has offered the community solar option
to customers since 2010. Like many similar programs, customers pay for cost of
the energy moved and to offset the utilitys expenses via a fuel adjustment surcharge and renewable energy surcharge.
Those additional costs average
g to about
$4 per month.
TEP,, however, reportedly has spent
TEP
at least $50 million on the various solar
gardens and distribution upgrades built
within its 1,000-square-mile territory.
The utility takes on all the risk of owning, building and operating the sites, and
its seen one common challenge throughout the six-year history.
We learned from the larger scale
plants, in the early days and even today,
that theres still a little public opposition
to where you site them, said Carmine
Tilghman, senior director-energy supply
for TEPs parent company, UNS Energy. I
think they are fascinating to look at but,
for some reason, theres always public

opposition on the larger ones.
The theme to many neighborhood
or regional fights is the its all right for
the other guy but not in my backyard,
argument, some say. On the smaller
ones, Tilghman pointed out, the thorny
issues in the Tucson territory are finding sites appropriate for interconnection,
determining how it affects loading on the
given circuit and looking for limited-use
locations available for scores of panels.
We take all of these into account on
every project, he said.
Smaller systems
y
gget tied into distribution systems and stepped up to connect with 138-kV lines. The larger ones
get tied into 345-kV systems. TEP has
about 25 utility-scale projects within
its territory and uses 10 to 12 different
technologies: from single-axis tracking to
multiple fixed arrays to thin film, mono
crystal and concentrated PV. The utility
studies them all for the long term.
Well get some winners and some
losers among the various panel technologies, Tilghman said. At the end of the
day, 25 years from now well know what
works well and what doesnt work.
A hard days drive northwest of Tucson
in Sacramento, the publicly-owned
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utility has been doing community solar

just about longer than anyone else. Born
in a state bursting with fast-rising rooftop
solar installations, SMUDs Solar Shares
harkens back to 2008 and was pitched
as making solar available to customers
no matter whether you rented or owned,
no matter if your roof was covered by
shade trees.
SMUD does not build the solar energy,
but instead buys it from a third party
and resells it to SolarShares participants.
Currently, some 674 residential customers are on board, although SMUD is
exploring an expansion into the commercial and industrial sectors in the near
future. The power comes from a 1.1
MW solar garden on a turkey farm in the
Sacramento service area.
Were over our sales target, SMUDs
Burke said. We attempt to subscribe
about 1 MW; you dont want to oversell.
The sales goal is 95 percent of (available)
megawatts, and were at about 97 to 98
percent right now.
The benefit to SolarShare customers
is ease of use, Burke added. They dont
have to deal with contractors on rooftop
projects. They initially sign up for a years
commitment, than on a monthly basis
after that.
Its equal and easy, he said.
The challenge is not so easy for utilities tasked with trying to incorporate
distributed generation from rooftops and
gardens into the grid while maintaining reliability. Xcel Energys Clemm was
not throwing shade at solar when she
noted the difficult aspects from time
needed to evaluate opportunities and
technical requirements of planning, construction and interconnection.
Xcel Energy is currently midway through a third-party process
review across multiple states that will
benchmark against utility industry best

practices and provide actionable recommendations to streamline the current
interconnection process for community
solar along with other distributed generation, Clemm said. Part of this project
scope is for the third party to conduct
surveys and interviews with solar developers in order to better understand and
address the most pressing challenges the
developers face while participating in
the Solar Rewards Community program
and interconnecting to Xcel Energys
distribution system.
As issues arise, we listen to the developer community and determine whether
there is room for a solution that works
for all parties, she said.
Not everyone is happy with the way
community solar expands. Groups that
normally are enthusiastic about carbon-free energy have expressed opposition to new proposals in Minnesota
and Arizona. The Sierra Club, for one,
expressed concerns about a proposed
pilot program by Minnesota Power.
We were concerned that the community solar pilot program submitted by
Minnesota Power was limited in design
and solely controlled by the utility, limiting the amount of solar that will be put
on the ground, constraining consumer
choice and restricting market innovation, Jessica Tritsch, senior organizing
representative for Sierra Clubs Beyond
Coal to Clean Energy Campaign, said
in response to emailed questions from
POWERGRID International.
As Minnesota pursues the goal of
transitioning away from fossil fuels to
clean sources of electricity, and thus
bringing energy jobs and dollars directly
into our communities, we need community solar garden programs that allow
communities to maximize the benefits of
solar energy and community engagement

in solar, Tritsch wrote. While these programs may differ from utility to utility, it
is critical that the programs are set up to
truly benefit our communities.
National installers, such as industry
leader Solar City, have opposed some
investor-owned utility-scale community
solar programs on charges that they may
damage third-party competition. A new
plan by TEP, which was still awaiting an
administrative law judges recommendation by press time, calls for a fixed energy
tariff on a redesigned community solar
offering.
The solar industry is disputing it, that
we could offer a fixed-rate tariff when
they cant, TEPs Tilghman said. They
dont think its fair.
Regardless of what happens at the
regulatory level, community solar is
here to stay and will grow. It takes away
from the financial barriers involved with
rooftop solar and spurs clean-energy
investment by both utilities and installers. A Navigant Research report forecasted that total installed capacity from
community solar programs in the U.S.
will reach 1.5 GW in four years and
then grow four times more than that
by 2025.
Sounds good, except that engineers
and siting experts will be burning the
midnight oil, so to speak, on figuring
where the solar gardens and farms can
go in relation to land-use and interconnection on the grid. Xcel Energys Clemm
pointed out that some programs have as
many as seven small sites feeding into the
same substation.
I think there are limits, she said.
The limits are going to depend on
each substation and each feeder. Each
piece of that highway can only take so
much traffic.
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BY JERRY DOLINSKY, VERISAE
The Cloud in the Field is Taking Utilities by Storm
n-premise vs. the cloud is the dilemma utilities face when upgrading
their field service solutions. Historically,
utilities have invested in on-premise IT
infrastructures, including field service
management solutions, treating them
as capital expenses similar to other
infrastructures such as plants and distribution lines.
Using the cloud for field service solutions, however, might be a better fit in
todays rapidly changing utility environment. For example, storing data in the
cloud allows companies to shift technical
responsibilities away from themselves
to their vendor and take advantage of a
platform that scales to many users and
many organizations.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
This is the era of the empowered customer. Gone are the days when utility
customers had only one energy provider
option. Customers have more options now
than ever before for heating and lighting
their homes, such as gas, traditional electric
service providers and rooftop solar power.
They can seek alternatives to traditional
local, regional and national utilities.
This new, competitive landscape makes
service (and the technology behind it) a
critical differentiator for utilities eager
to attract and retain customers. Service
can no longer be delivered at minimal
satisfaction levels. Customers now expect
the latest technology and a higher level
of service. They have little patience for
FIGURE 1: Cloud or Cloud Hybrid Strongly Preferred for Field Service

All others
n=179
Best in class
41%
40
35%
34%
30
23%
20
19%
17%
13%
17%
Source: Aberdeen Group, September 2015
50
10
0
On premise
Cloud
Hybrid of on
premise and cloud
No
preference
Jerry Dolinsky is CEO

and president of Verisae,
a provider of SaaS solutions that connect the
maintenance and service network globally to
manage asset and equipment maintenance,
energy usage,mobile workforces,environmental sustainability and compliance for companies in the utilities, telecommunications, retail
and service management industries.
companies that are slow to adapt.

To meet customer expectations, utilities
must ensure their field teams have the
skills, information and tools to resolve
customer problems quickly. Best-in-class
organizations provide their service technicians with mobile tools to access real-time
data to do their jobs. This same data also
gives management important intelligence
regarding equipment performance, customer needs and service resources to
enable better planning.
WEIGHING THE OPTIONS
For industries that traditionally maintain on-premise IT infrastructures, it
can be a challenge to evolve technology
and maintain reliability over time. An
on-premise solution alone is no longer
viewed by the best-in-class service organizations as the only path to a scalable
and adaptable infrastructure. The benefits of a cloud technology infrastructure
allow utilities to be nimble and contain
costs involved in investing in the latest
technologies.
According to a survey by the Aberdeen
Group of best-in-class service organizations, 47 percent prefer a cloud or cloud/
on-premise hybrid field service solution,
30 | August 2016
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customer service are both important

business objectives, but they can be at
odds. Does a utility send a certain technician who is 30 miles away because
that technician knows the customer?
That would provide excellent customer service, but sending a technician
who is located nearby could be more
efficient. How a service team defines
optimal, helps determine the right
scheduling balance.
while just 17 percent still prefer to wholly
host their own infrastructure.
These service organizations are finding
that a cloud or cloud hybrid infrastructure provides:
Software that is always current and
adaptable to changing needs
The ability to quickly and easily scale
the field service footprint across a
growing network
Technology that gives technicians
real-time access to information to fix
problems
For utilities, old objections to cloud IT
infrastructure are falling away in favor of
reasons to adopt it: speed, versatility, scalability, mobility and more. The advantages
of the cloud are becoming increasingly
important for utilities looking to improve
service planning, as well as keep customers smiling, in three key areas:
1. Having the right workforce in place.
A successful utility service organization
needs technicians with the right skills in the
right locations to perform the work. The
challenge is anticipating customer needs
and trying to align them with the expected
workforce. Too few people cause service to
suffer. Too many people cost the business.
2. Scheduling the workforce in an
optimal manner. Efficiency and
3. Being ready to handle exceptions.

In field service, exceptions can happen at
any time. The right workforce can be in
place with work scheduled in an optimal
manner to meet business objectives, but
then a technician gets stuck in traffic. So
much for the days plan. Dispatchers need
to be ready and able to deal with exceptions and shift jobs between technicians.
Service planning is complex. Crucial
to success is having the most up-to-date
field service technology that can be
updated, expanded and adapted so that
a service organization can be smarter
about service and continuously make
adjustments to improve customer satisfaction.
Following are some lessons from bestin-class service organizations for adopting cloud field service technology:
Look beyond the cost to find the true
value. As your organization grows into
new markets, the ability to scale the
technology infrastructure and field
service capabilities will be a strength.
Cloud infrastructure is highly adaptable
to meeting the demands of a growing
customer base and expanded footprint.
It allows quick scaling without compromising the security of data or the
infrastructure.
Give your field team the tools and

flexibility to deliver results. The cloud
enables you to support your field team
with the right tools and the latest technology capabilities. You can push updates to
their devices as needed, ensuring technicians have the tools to do their jobs while
avoiding long, costly and drawn-out
software upgrades.
Mobility is at the heart of solving problems in real-time. Mobile devices are in
most of the field teams hands, enabling
them to collaborate with others. With
cloud infrastructure, service organizations
can store more customer and equipment
data without increasing technology costs.
Get IT on board for service excellence to
meet customer demand. Service success
and profitability demand that IT give
field technicians the tools they need to
resolve customer problems. A combative
relationship between the two groups can
only hurt the customer experience.
Put the business in control with easy-touse tools and technology infrastructure.
Your field team is often in remote locations or off the grid. Without providing
them easy-to-use tools to deliver service
excellence, as well as a dependable technology infrastructure that can adapt to
changes, the field team is destined to fail.
The service landscape will continue to evolve as industries like utilities,
which historically had little to no competition, now deal with competitive factors and a more congested environment.
Empowered customers demand much
more from service organizations, and
not stepping up will lead to lost revenue.
Cloud infrastructure offers utilities scalability, nimbleness and quick innovation
to help improve service excellence.
August 2016 | 31
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Steps to Becoming a Utilities

BY ALYSSA FARRELL, SAS
an you remember a day in the past

few months when you havent seen a
headline about how the Internet of Things
(IoT) is going to change utilities world?
IoT is one of the hottest topics for
utilities today. Defining IoT, becoming its master, and effectively putting
it to work to recognize business value
represent an enormous advantage for
utilities attempting to progress to full
smart grid status. In simplest terms, IoT
involves objects containing sensors and
other connected devices. Collectively,
the connected devices have the power to
create an increasingly autonomous grid

that can handle billions of endpoints on
utility networks at speeds fast enough
to protect vulnerable areas of the grid
while integrating more renewables and
simultaneously bringing utilities closer to
digitally-savvy customers.
IoT provides the channels that can
deliver more granularity and timely
insight into electric grid operations. In
the past, detailed diagnostic data about
asset performance was captured but not
transmitted unless there was an outage.
Analysts then would pore over those
IoT Ninja
artifacts looking for clues about what had

gone wrong. With connected devices,
data can be streamed back at appropriate
intervals to increase visibility into the performance of assets and decrease the time
between event detection and correction.
SURVEY SAYS DATA-DRIVEN
DECISION MAKING IS TOP PRIORITY.
If utilities can use real-time data
through IoT to pinpoint areas of operational improvement, they could save on
operations and maintenance costs. These
savings could be allocated to capital
Alyssa Farrell is the Global Energy-Utilities Industry marketing manager at SAS. Follow her
on LinkedIn and
@alyssa_farrell on Twitter.
32 | August 2016
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spending in new areas such as renewables and distributed energy resources.

Energy sources such as wind and solar
power tend to be intermittent in their
production, therefore, utilities must carefully manage how they bring that capacity onto the grid to maintain reliability
and avoid unplanned outages.
A recent study asked utilities leaders to prioritize how they planned to
use IoT (and the related technology
machine learning). Even though the list
of choices in the survey was common
across both categories, the only common
response that made it into the top five
for both IoT and machine learning was
improved data-driven decision making.
The research revealed that executives perceive the top benefits associated with IoT
to be customer-facing, such as customer
service and energy efficiency. The benefits
named for machine learning, which will
be covered in part two of this series, are
more grid-oriented, including areas such
as service restoration and cybersecurity.
IoT, whether a consumer actively manages his or her energy profile for financial
or environmental reasons. Consumers
might choose to participate in time-ofuse rate programs and receive smartphone alerts. More advanced technology
might connect a consumers phone and
thermostat to sense when to pre-heat or
pre-cool a dwelling. Commercial customers who are vigilant about energy consumption might use IoT-enabled
notifications to switch to on-premise
generation during peak pricing.
MEANINGFUL CONSUMER
ENGAGEMENT IS EASIER WITH IOT
Utilities dont yet segment consumers
with the granularity achieved by some
retailers, but IoT data can help provide
better comparisons across energy consumers with similar usage behavior to
improve energy efficiency campaigns.
This helps utilities optimize marketing
expenditures and improve the data provided to consumers about peer group
consumption and potential home maintenance problems, such as inefficiencies
in insulation, windows or HVAC.
The IoT provides utilities the opportunity to craft personalized energy services
for consumers keen on managing their
energy profile. That might be one of the
most exciting disrupters associated with
Initial steps for getting started include:

1. Develop a strategy. Technology investments implemented without a strategic
plan have a shorter shelf life. Edge
analyticsanalytical capabilities positioned within or near a connected
device rather than only in an enterprise
networkmight be all the rage, but
take the time up front to map edge analytic needs to what can be supported
by new IoT gateways and existing computing nodes throughout the network.
HOW DO YOU BECOME AN IOT NINJA?

When thinking about ways to extract
value from the IoT, the possibilities boggle the mind. The vast pool of use cases
makes it important to start small and
seek incremental successes. In doing
so, a utility can try one use case, glean
lessons learned, fail or succeed, adjust
accordingly, then quickly move to the
next use case. In no time, being an IoT
ninja will become second nature.
2. Pick a project. Whether youre

increasing the model segmentation or
pricing analysis, start with an area that
is already data-rich. Implement on a
smaller scale, but consider larger problems once youve had some success.
3. Dont overlook change management.

Engineers and customers both are
notoriously difficult to influence. Put
a plan in place to increase adoption
of IoT data in decision-making. Much
of utilities world is predicated on a
centralized model with a human in
the loop, but IoT and machine learning transforms that model. Utilities
should prepare to make changes to
their core business model and prepare
employees for these changes.
4. Learn from other industries.
Benchmarking is critical to keep the
industry moving forward. Sometimes
adopting new language can change
mindsets. Intel, for example, uses the
terms tweeting and streaming to
describe the way it plans to use connected devices.
5. Plug into other utilities. Utilities
continue to invest in research and
have test beds of technology embedded in smart grid demonstration
projects. Connecting with other utilities opens the door to best practices,
whats worked and what has not, vendor feedback, and future projects.
6. Invest wisely. Robust analytics make
sense of all that IoT data. But the
infrastructure around the analytics are
equally important. An effective infrastructure includes a streaming engine
coupled with a distributed computing
architecture (including analytics at the
edge). These help determine when
system performance is outside expected boundaries and can pave the way
to initial success.
Editors note: This article is Part 1 of a
two-part series on IoT. Look for Part 2
in POWERGRID Internationals September
issue. For more information about IoT in the
utilities industry, download the whitepaper,
The Autonomous Grid: Machine Learning
and IoT for Utilities at sas.com/whitepapers.
August 2016 | 33
www.power-grid.com
1608PG_33 33
8/4/16 10:11 AM
PRODUCTS
Fleet Operations Team App
Fleetio introduced Fleetio Go, a native
Online DGA Measurement Device
mobile app that allows fleet operations
Vaisala presents a new online measure-
teams to put the power of fleet manage-
ment device for transformer dissolved gas
ment software in their pockets. Fleetio
analysis (DGA). The Vaisala Optimus DGA
Go allows users to instantly update infor-
Monitor for transformers solves many current problems in
mation and access fleet data anytime,
transformer maintenance, including no false alarms. It
anywhere. Fleetio Go empowers drivers to be more
carries an IR sensor based on Vaisala core measurement
productive by providing an easy way to perform vehicle
technology and components manufactured in Vaisalas
inspections, report issues and log fuel from a smartphone
in-house cleanroom. It uses vacuum gas extraction, which
or tablet. Drivers can even look up an asset by simply
gives a fully representative sample and means no data
scanning a barcode. The mobile app allows users to stay
fluctuation due to oil temperature, pressure or type.
on top of vehicle maintenance with helpful reminders and
Hermetically sealed and protected optics prevent sensor
maintenance history as well as provide important details
contamination, and long-term drift is eliminated with a
through photos and documents. Using Fleetio Go, teams
unique autocalibration functionality. The Vaisala Optimus
can customize user access, facilitate meaningful conversa-
DGA Monitor is designed to be installed in less than two
tions and successfully collaborate on fleet management
hoursjust by connecting the oil, power and communica-
tasks.
tions. Browser-based user interface brings ease of use, as
Fleetio
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Vaisala
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Handheld Group, a manufacturer of rugged mobile
Manhole Event Prevention System

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incidents such as manhole fires, smok-
an all-in-one mobile computer that can handle all the
ing and explosions. An estimated 2,000
tasks of a days work, with built-in ruggedness
manhole events occur in the North
that allows it to be used anywhere from a
America each year, or 5.5 per day and
warehouse to challenging outdoor environ-
the number is increasing as utility infra-
ments with moisture, dust, extreme high or
structure ages. PreVent is a manhole event suppression
low temperatures and potential drops. The
solution that actively reduces incidents and protects the
Nautiz X2 offers the most complete and
public. Active venting removes combustible gases and
versatile set of features and capabilities avail-
prevents gas accumulation to improve overall manhole
able: Computing power comes from a quad-
environment. Water control features limit exposure to
core processor and easy-to-use Android 5.1
salt water and debris, and the real-time smart monitor-
Lollipop OS; High-quality, high-speed scan-
ing system uses cloud-based sensors to predict incidents
ners offer 1-D or 2-D capability; Integrated camera offers
and transmit immediate alerts. Design features include:
8-megapixel clarity, with autofocus and flash; The Nautiz
Ventilated cover is crowned with water dams and air slots
X2 delivers 4G/LTE Android phone functionality; It comes
to limit water and salt intrusion; Ventilator reaches down
with Google GMS, allowing users to use Google Maps
into the manhole to better extract combustible gases;
and download Play Store apps; Sunlight-readable 4.7-inch
Customizable design options fit any size manhole, without
capacitive display offers multi-touch sensitivity.
Handheld Group
the cost of extra rings.
Novinium

34 | August 2016
www.power-grid.com
1608PG_34 34
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August 2016 | 35
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1608PG_35 35
8/4/16 10:11 AM
PARTING THOUGHTS
TALK
We are running at four
to five megadeals every six
months, which is historically
very high.
Joseph Fontana, EY Global Utilities Leader,
Transaction Advisory Services, commenting about utility
mergers so far in 2016
While the agency deserves

credit for its outreach to state
utility commissions, it has
through the Clean Power Plan
largely supplanted them as
the institution responsible for
determining what resource mix
best serves the public interest.
Travis Kavulla, president of the National Association
of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, testifying to a U.S.
House subcommittee about allegations the EPA has made
a power grab through the CPP
TRENDS
Electric co-ops deliver about 11 percent of
the nations electricity sales. Despite reaching
fewer customers than other utility types, 69
percent of community solar programs are
administered by co-ops.
Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions, Unlocking the Value of Community Solar
Sixty-nine percent of consumers expressed an interest in

purchasing a smart appliance and 68 percent of consumers
expressed an interest in participating in a smart-thermostat
program. More than 55 percent of consumers expressed
an interest in transitioning to either a peak time savings or
time-varying rate plan.
Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, The Empowered Consumer
The movement toward smart grids is increasingly focused on the ability

to effectively manage distributed energy resources (DER) within a city
the smart cities technology market is expected to total $136.9 billion
from 2015 to 2024.
Navigant Research, Smart Energy for Smart Cities
TWEETS
Were passionate about leadership roles for
women. Learn more: http://bit.ly/291v8fE
@leidosinc
It was a very long and very hot

weekend for our customers who lost
power. We greatly appreciate their
patience and their kindness to our
repair crews, who have been working
long hours to restore power as
quickly and safely as possible.
John Smith, Duke Energy senior vice president, as
power was restored to most of 170,000 customers in
North and South Carolina after hurricane-force winds hit
the region
We #ThankALineworkerin fact, we thank all of themfor their hard work

in all weather.
@PPLElectric
When searching for Pokmon, never enter

a substation and always avoid power lines.
#PokemonGo
@AEPnews
Dont forget that #IoT is going to play a role in the future grid. #smartgrid
#IEEEPESGM
@IEEEIoT
36 | August 2016
www.power-grid.com
1608PG_36 36
8/4/16 10:12 AM
Raymond Okeke
Project Engineer
Alexa Tereszczenko
Project Assistant
Jim Calder, Senior Manager,
Power Delivery Services
Tap into forward thinking.

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1608PG_C3 3
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All Rights Reserved.
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1608PG_C4 4
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POWER-GRID.

COM : AUGUST 2016

Sharing the Sun

Paying Attention to T&D Storage

Protecting Aging Substations

6 Steps to Becoming an IoT Ninja

YOUR POWER DELIVERY MEDIA SOURCE

Go to pgi.hotims.com for more information.

Dont Compromise When You Can Have Everything

Safety Audits and

AUGUST 2016 VOLUME 21.08

16 Data Science Takes a Byte out of Challenges

Photo of Suneson family courtesy of

From the Editor 4

18 Protecting Aging Substations From Cyberattacks

22 Defending Against the Ransomware Threat

30 The Cloud in the Field is Taking Utilities by Storm

32 6 Steps to Becoming a Utilities IoT Ninja

The utility industry is just beginning to discover the

PowerGrid International (ISSN 1547-6723).

are also available on microfilm and microfiche

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Two Results. One Solution.

How often are you sending

Over 80% of faults occur

Put that budget

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Reduce truck rolls and customer outages with

Learn more at sandc.com/ts16

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FROM THE EDITOR

Now is the Time to

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NORTH AMERICAN

TransmissionHub Senior Analyst Corina Rivera-Linares

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

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NEXTERA ENERGY ANNOUNCES $18.4B DEAL TO BUY ONCOR FROM EFH

distribution lines in the state. As part of the

M&A front. In early July, the Hawaii

FERC APPROVES EMPIRE STATE CONNECTOR HVDC TRANSMISSION PROJECT

Empire State Connector Corp.s CEO.

for New Yorkers, said Douglas.

BLACK & VEATCH, SCHNEIDER TEAM UP ON MICROGRID AT MARINE AIR STATION

manager, energy and sustainability services, Schneider Electric USA.

BROADBAND 5G DEPLOYMENT FORECASTED TO BEGIN IN 2017

Experts LLC, said in a release. American

wont be ready to go until 2020. However,

CAL-ISO: STUDY RESULTS REVEAL EXPANDED GRID WILL ALLOW CALIFORNIA

The studies conclusions mirror the

The market simulations undertaken

BY ROD WALTON, SENIOR EDITOR

GRAIN BELT EXPRESS WIND LINE REJECTED BY MISSOURI REGULATORS

courtesy Clean Line Energy Partners

my call for these enhanced landowner

tremendous progress in developing

EYE ON THE WORLD

terms of product development and project management, as

TenneT Investing $6.6 Billion into Dutch Grid