Last month (May 2009), Xcel Energy hosted a two-day event to introduce the public to the first SmartGrid-City™ in Boulder, Colorado.

Xcel Energy’s mission was to deliver reliable energy that is complemented by the company’s commitment to finding more environmental ways to meet the growing energy demands of its customers. The concept of a smart grid is a way, of course, to create the next generation of electric service. It’s an important milestone in a nation-wide industry effort to modernize the aging power grid network across the country.

A smart grid uses emerging technology to fundamentally modernize the way we aggregate, deliver, and use energy. While the industry has various definitions of an intelligent grid, a smart grid must be built on a design for a fully inter-connected system that allows customers to more actively participate in decisions about their own energy use. That includes fiber optic technologies that will allow the utility to reliably produce and deliver that energy through real-time, automated controls.

The SmartGridCity™ in Boulder is a multi-phase project expected to be completed in December 2009. The first phase, from March 2008 through August 2008 tested capabilities and gauged customer reaction. The second phase is a full deployment with a larger reach to a broader consumer base. This includes the complete installation of a distribution and communication network for remaining areas within Boulder (an additional 2 substations, 20 feeders, and 35,000 premises).

As imagined, this is no small feat. To execute this, Xcel Energy, along with its partners, enrolled a field crew of up to 115 people dedicated to the deployment and build out of SmartGridCity™. Contractors included B&M Telecom which was charged with the splicing and testing of the fiber optic network that will run the systems. That system will be the backbone for providing the real time monitoring of the usage and performance of the SmartGrid.

Grid Components and Technology
Xcel Energy’s vision of SmartGridCity™ is a fully connected and horizontally integrated system that creates heightened abilities to communicate and analyze data. Of course, this calls for considerable modernization of infrastructure along the entire energy pathway.

One of the goals of SmartGridCity™ is to provide a state-of-the-art electric power distribution monitoring, automation, and control system running from transmission lines, through the substations and to the meters. This includes infrastructure upgrades to the smart stations that will create more sophisticated intelligence in the substation. This allows the utility to better monitor and adapt to customer needs, while making real-time decisions based on current grid conditions. (See Figure 1.)

The first step in deploying SmartGridCity™ was the installation of the high-speed communication network and sensing equipment on the distribution network. Beginning in June 2008, contracted crews from PAR Electrical Contractors, Inc. began installing and B&M Telecom, Inc. began splicing/testing ~190 sheath miles of aerial and underground fiber optic cable throughout the city. Nearly 90 percent of the city will be connected to the smart grid.

This wasn’t the first smart grid project for B&M Telecom. They had worked on another broadband-over-powerline (BPL) project in Dallas, Texas, from October 2006 to October 2007. This first project’s network architecture, however, was initially designed to offer residents and commercial customers BPL offerings. As such, the Dallas project was built in the same fashion as a cable TV network with spur fibers coming off of one pedal. It was straight-forward and not nearly as complex as the smart grid project in Boulder.

In Boulder, Colorado, the network engineering was quite different. There was no intent for BPL to be offered residentially or commercially for general communication of entertainment systems. The BPL was slotted only for internal usage by the companies involved with the smart grid technology. Another key objective for this particular network design was to limit the amount of fiber necessary for the entire project.

As a result of these different objectives, the Boulder network was designed complex, to say the least. Instead of a spoke-and-wheel-like build, the Boulder fiber build was created more like a spider web with device chains intertwined within multiple sheaths and pathways. Imagine traveling between any two points on city streets; there are hundreds options to arrive at the same destination. In this case, the fiber network uses them all to create redundancy. In a project like the Dallas build, splicers would come to a splice point and be presented with one option on which to act. The engineering of the fiber path only allowed to go clockwise or counterclockwise around the backbone. Given Boulder’s spider-web-like design of the fiber network, the splicers faced quite a different situation. As they come to a splice point, they may be confronted with multiple options from which to choose based on the path requirements of a particular chain. Not impossible, but fairly complicated, to say the least.

That’s where Steven Hooper and his committed team came into play. The project required up to 15 men to work for 11 months to complete the fiber splicing and testing. The process required countless long hours, braving every type of element that Mother Nature could conjure. One day entering a residential back yard in 3 feet of snow, the next repairing damage created by 80 mph winds on the busiest street in town, all the while dealing with the troubleshooting of the complex network. Although it may sound horrible, each milestone brought with it, a sense of accomplishment unparalleled in the fiber splicing industry.

The True Stars
And though technology appears to be the featured star of this project, the fact of the matter is this: there would be no smart grid without the people behind it. In this case, Steven Hooper, the project manager for the splicing team from B&M Telecom, believes his team is cream of the crop. Hooper enthusiastically volunteers, “The team assembled for this project is one of the best I have ever worked with, from the General Contractor, Par Electric, to the partners of Xcel Energy and Current Communications. B&M has been very fortunate to work with all of them.”

“But truly, this is about the young men who, at an average age of 22, have a golden work ethic,” Hooper continues. “I am so proud of these men. I have worked with them ever since they started doing this type of work. The linemen pulling the cable and the fiber techs who work in the heat of summer and freezing cold of winter should be recognized. They are all the kind of man I wish I could be.”

Damon Jackson, Director, B&M Telecom, summarizes the commitment of all those involved from B&M Telecom. “Our team is proud of their contributions to these projects as they will touch the lives of many people and impact the environment for future generations.” (See Figures 2-5.)

Indeed, it takes a team to make a smart grid. Partners of Xcel Energy’s Smart Grid Consortium include:
• Accenture, which will be project managing the integration and management of data flow, including automating processes, transmission and distribution of electricity. To develop the smart grid, Accenture will integrate diagnostic software, intelligent distribution assets, and outage management software into Xcel Energy’s existing IT infrastructure, and will be building a lab-like environment for testing power outages, reliability, and potential impacts to the grid.
• Current Group, which will use their fully integrated CURRENT Smart Grid™ solution that combines advanced sensing technology, two-way high-speed communications, 24/7 monitoring and enterprise analysis software, and related services to provide location-specific, real-time data. The solution provides consumers information and control over their energy usage, and enables the widespread deployment of renewable energy sources.
• GridPoint, which will use their SmartGrid Platform™ to apply information technology to the electric grid to provide an intelligent network of distributed energy resources that controls load, stores energy, and produces power. The platform enables Xcel Energy to evaluate technology and system capabilities such as advanced demand management, supply management, solar photovoltaic integration, PHEV smart charging, online energy management, instant backup power, performance monitoring, and customer support.

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