Sunday, 15 June 2008 03:29

When powerful thunderstorms and excessive power usage during an exceptional heat wave knocked out power in two New York communities this week, customers of power supplier Con-Ed were able to observe the progress of power restoration live over the Internet.  

Of course this is assuming that customers had a backup power supply that allowed them Internet access. Anybody that had that ability was able to witness an innovative method Con-Ed has developed to let customers know that they are resolving issues with the power grid.
Those who could sign on would have found a remarkable map put online by Con-Ed on May 30 that provided a graphical representation of what neighborhoods and how many customers had lost power.  The precise cause behind power loss was also listed, along with a time estimate for when power would be restored.

Every 30 minutes the information on the site was refreshed, so updates were available twice every hour.  The data was still based on customer complaints as a fully-functional smart metering system has not come online in the area yet.  Data on the site was developed from an algorithm that extrapolated information from called-in complaints from customers, and updates on power restoration progress called in by Con-Ed work crews and translated into a neighborhood-level map available on the Internet.

For example, assume two customers may call in to Con-Ed that power has gone out.  The algorithm determines that a transformer in the area was damaged.  Since the company knows how many customers are dependent on that transformer for power they can put a number on how many are temporarily without service.

The cause of the power failure, say a downed power line, and the time estimate for power restoration is provided by on-site work crews.

Visitors to the site saw neighborhoods served by Con-Ed listed.  Substations were named by internal Con-Ed names, rather than the common neighborhood nicknames.  The map graphic on the site displayed different colored areas representing the number of affected customers at different locations.  Red was used to denote an area where more than 5000 customers were affected, while orange meant between 1001 customers and 5000, for example.

About 6000 unique visitors did find a way to access the site and clicked on it some 108,000 times as they sought out information on the status of power representation in their own neighborhood, and surrounding neighborhoods.

Customers were able to report power outages using the site as well.  Con-Ed reported that 10 percent of power outages were reported in this manner, an increase of 2 percent since it first came online in January of 2008.  With a significant portion of customers reporting downed power over the Internet, Con-Ed’s call center as a result received fewer phone calls.  If it seems counterproductive to develop a reporting system that requires power to access, Con-Ed vice president John F. Miksad provides the answer by stating that customers found their way to the site either at work or by using battery operated devices that provided wireless access.  Customers can get quite resourceful about accessing the Internet during a time of need.

Miksad’s team at Con-Ed, electric operations, had a debate about how much information should be displayed on the Internet map.  Thankfully, they decided not to list specific street addresses to thwart would-be thieves looking for prospects.

“Maybe we’re paranoid New Yorkers, but we didn’t want potential burglars to say, ‘oh, all the alarms are out, let’s go there,” added Miksad.  

For anyone who has ever used Google Maps the site seems quite familiar.  However, there were some hurdles getting there.  One must click on the “Storm Central” link from Con-Ed’s welcome page and then on the link denoted as “Outage Location Map.”  Then a map will appear – once that occurs click on the “summary” button and you will be granted the total number of outages and customers that don’t have power as a result.  Clicking on “New York details” gives information by neighborhood.

The map is also interactive in that you can click and drag or zoom in or out to see different locations within the city.  The map informed a visitor that at 11am on Wednesday there were 880 customers without power in the Bronx, and another 343 without power in Queens.  The update at 2:30 informed visitors that 340 were without power in the Bronx, and 67 still didn’t have power in Queens.

The online information is a great leap for Con-Ed – the 250,000 Public Service Electric and Gas Company customers in northern New Jersey didn’t have that information – however it is still far short of what smart meters are capable of.  These devices provide communications between consumer and power provider and don’t rely on customer or work crew called-in information at all.

Con-Ed wishes to install smart meters and submitted a proposal to do so to New York’s Public Service Commission earlier this year.  The proposal, with an accompanying rate hike to pay for smart meter installations, was denied.

Consolidated Edison
4 Irving Place
New York, N.Y. 10003
http://www.coned.com

Public Service Electric and Gas Company
80 Park Plaza
Newark NJ, 07102
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