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Substation Protection


Extend the Life of Your Circuit Breakers

What to ask to ensure proper circuit breaker testing and maintenance BY ROBERT FOSTER, Megger Protecting a utility’s assets is essential. There are many different apparatus in electrical substations that need to be protected. The circuit breaker (CB) is designed to stop the flow of...

Breakers & Relays


Storm-Hardened Switchgear

How to protect electrical equipment from Mother Nature BY ROBERT A. MURPHY, Trayer Engineering Corporation The U.S. National Weather Service called Hurricane Sandy the most destructive storm of 2012’s unusually active Atlantic hurricane season. Sandy delivered unprecedented damage across a wide...

Substation Technologies


Substation Automation Standard

Reducing engineering costs using IEC 61850 BY ADAM GAUCI, Schneider Electric As substation automation is moving towards software environments based on the International Electrotechnical Commission’s substation automation standard, IEC 61850: “Power Utility Automation”, the engineering process...

Physical Security & Monitoring


Lightning Protection


Pennsylvania’s Yaw Bill

In a significant move for Pennsylvania’s energy sector, State Senator Gene Yaw has introduced a transformative piece of legislation aimed at modernizing the state's approach to power plant development and capacity management. The bill, which has been the subject of considerable discussion,...

Substation Testing & Maintenance


Leakers, What a Mess!

Electric Substation apparatus, transformers and circuit breakers, are the workhorses of the electric transmission grid. Our focus in this article is on the issue of dielectric media leaks. Specifically, oil in large power transformers and oil or SF6 gas in power circuit breakers. Oil and gas leaks...

Electrical Substations

Protecting Substations Against Animal Invaders

A closer look at animal-caused outages at substations

BY BILL REICHARD, TransGard Systems

Every year, squirrels, raccoons, snakes, and other climbing animals cause substation outages across North America. According to a 2010 University of Minnesota study, the resulting estimated cost to electric utilities is between $15 million and $18 million per year. However, when commercial entities and consumer frustration are taken into consideration, the overall cost of these outages to electric utilities can cost the...

Electrical Substations Articles