Protection and control: Reducing human error for a more reliable power system

BY DAVID COSTELLO, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.

Great time and effort are spent designing reliability into a utility power system. It is difficult to imagine any facet of modern society that does not depend upon the safe, reliable, and economical supply of electric power.

Reliability entities, standards organizations, utility and industrial engineers debate using the same versus different manufacturers’ relays for redundant tasks, the use of voting schemes, replacing copper wiring with fiber optic-based communications schemes, among others. Rarely, however, does the conversation revolve around simplicity, and practical methods to reduce human error.