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January 1, 2006
SCADA Made Easy, Public Power Magazine, Jan-Feb 2006
| For More Information |
Tim Blodgett
303-526-4515
tblodgett@hometownconnections.com
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SCADA More Affordable Than Ever
Before the installation of its SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system, the Clinton, Tenn., Utilities Board simply had to wait for customers to call and report a problem. Now, thanks to a SCADA system from Survalent Technology, utility employees immediately know about events and can dispatch personnel. The Clinton Utilities Board is among the growing number of public power utilities turning to Survalent for easy-to-use and cost-effective utility automation solutions.
Members of the American Public Power Association may purchase Survalent Technology equipment, software and services from Hometown Connections at national group pricing. Survalent Technology’s SCADA systems provide automated, real-time monitoring and control of facilities for publicly owned electric, water and gas utilities.
Survalent’s SCADA software provides a straightforward Graphical User Interface, powerful setup tools and robust functionality. Utilities can start and add features as needed. Hardware, training and project management are included.
In late 2001, the Clinton Utilities Board received bids from six vendors for a SCADA system and two remote terminal units (RTUs). After a thorough evaluation process, CUB awarded the contract to Survalent Technology. “The Survalent SCADA system had all of the features that we were interested in, plus some that we had not even considered,” said Clinton Electrical Engineer Todd Loggins. “After a demonstration of the Survalent package, we were impressed with the user-friendliness of the graphical user interface, and we really liked that we could import our existing system maps. Finally, it did not hurt that Survalent was the lowest bid that we received. We even wondered if the Survalent deal was too good to be true, because the system we were quoted included many more functions than did any of their competitors’ systems, at a much better price. Yet from day one, the Survalent system has worked exactly as advertised.”
Loggins added, “Our SCADA system has improved the day-to-day operations of our electric system. Our dispatchers can get a caution order on a breaker at a substation instead of one of our line personnel having to make a special trip to the substation. We have monitoring and control at various locations along a distribution line that runs several miles through the mountains. In the event of an outage on this line, the SCADA system saves us numerous hours by being able to pinpoint the location of the problem. In addition to the day-to-day operational improvements and the improvements during outages, we are also benefiting tremendously from having much better data for engineering planning and analysis.”
In 1995, Clark Public Utilities in Vancouver, Wash., was experiencing significant growth. The existing SCADA system (installed in 1985) was inadequate to meet the utility’s expansion needs, and the utility wanted an off-the-shelf, proven system with growth and expansion capability for hardware and software. Of the five vendors making proposals, Survalent was the low bidder.
“One of the biggest benefits of the SCADA system from Survalent Technology is being able to see what’s happening on our system in real-time,” said Curt McNeal, manager of systems engineering and planning of Clark Public Utilities. “Before SCADA, we really didn’t know what our substation transformers or feeders were loaded to until days or weeks after the loading occurred. Now we can take steps to avoid overloading our equipment before it becomes a problem.” Clark is up-grading its Survalent system with new applications, including WebSurv for the delivery of real-time SCADA information to users via a Web browser.
When the contract with its SCADA supplier of 17 years was up for renewal, Washington, N.C., had a problem. “We were unhappy with the quality of service from our vendor and the price quote for a new five-year contract, said Electric Utilities Director Keith Hardt, P.E. “We wanted a new vendor, but one that could read over 60 remote terminal units already installed. Lots of vendors promised their SCADA system could communicate with our RTUs. But when we asked them to come in and prove it, they couldn’t. Survalent could.”
Survalent offered Washington a good price, a turnkey system, the ability to communicate with its RTUs, and many customer references.
“In 2005, we selected Survalent as our new SCADA vendor for three primary reasons: 1) price; 2) technical accessibility—the ability to talk to our RTUs via a Windows-based system that can run on low-cost communications lines; and 3) customer service,” said Hardt. “During the 17 years with our previous supplier, we received a software upgrade one time per year. Within the first five months of the Survalent installation, we received about a dozen upgrades via Web browser. Survalent’s policy requires all customers to run the same version of the software at all times, avoiding all sorts of confusion about who is running what.”
Today, when Hardt gets a call in the middle of the night from the dispatcher about a problem, he logs in from his home computer, reads the SCADA information and
decides what needs to be done. And many other utility employees may access this data for the first time. “With our old vendor, water and waste water operations that are 10 miles away could not access the SCADA system. Now, we have SCADA out there on laptops.”
“Survalent Technology has long been focused on and committed to public power utilities, and our 100 percent customer retention is testament to this commitment,” said Steve Mueller, president of Survalent Technology. “The partnership with Hometown Connections further cements that dedication and ensures public power will get the best product and pricing available.”
Visit the Survalent Web Site for more information.
• Survalent Technology
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