Is Your Legacy SCADA System Secure?
by Matt Cole
For the electric power industry and other service sectors, Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) has performed a crucial role by allowing better decision making through operating, controlling, monitoring and maintaining critical control systems.
With Smart Grid (SG) and Distributed Generation (DG) gaining more popularity results in more 3rd party stakeholders demanding access to utilities' SCADA system. Some utility SCADA systems are older legacy systems that are in dire need of replacing in order to have: a more secure system, access to the latest vendor security patch updates, and to allow for better functionality, etc.
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The Importance of Protection & Controls (P&C) and IEDs
by Matt Cole
Protection and Controls (P&C) engineering and design is extremely important in power grid protection and coordination especially with the use of intelligent electronic devices (IEDs). Proper P&C designs and coordination with protective relaying and IEDs is an essential part of electrical power engineering for protecting large expensive power equipment such as: generators, transformers, transmission lines (TLs), power circuit breakers, electrical bus, etc.
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Major Components for Improving Power Distribution Reliability
by the 3 Phase Associates "TEAM"
Electric power has evolved from a simple need to a major necessity. Everyday we rely more and more on electricity to do just about everything. When the lights go out, its not just a major inconvenience, but a catastrophe in some cases. A major focus for power distribution utilities is to deliver reliable power to its customers safely and at the lowest possible cost.
Newer state-of-the-art, digital devices are making it possible to achieve near perfect power reliability while offering more monitoring and control functionality of electric grids. Smarter grids are evolving with improved and faster automation systems, working in harmony with: IEDs, SCADA, FLISR, AMI, AMR, DMS, EMS, OMS, etc.
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Basics of Designing Power Substations
by Matt Cole
Power substations are the most integral part of a power utilities' electric system. Substations make up the various electric systems - power generation, transmission, and distribution systems. Power substations consist of power transformers, voltage/potential transformers, current transformers, electrical bus, foundations/structures, circuit breakers, switches, outdoor cabinets, control house, fencing, etc.
Many design aspects and processes go into engineering and designing a power substation from the ground up. This discusses the basic steps performed in planning and implementing a new substation.
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Cybersecurity Considerations for Power Substation SCADA Systems Using IEC-61850 Communications
by Matt Cole & Others
When including security controls into a SCADA system design, it is sometimes difficult to separate design
goals from security requirements. The foremost goal for a SCADA system is to provide protection,
automation, and data acquisition. This paper discusses major
vulnerabilities and cybersecurity considerations that require proper analysis when designing and
implementing a secure IEC-61850 standard-based SCADA system within a power substation.
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Distribution Utilities Now Affected by NERC CIP Regulations
by Matt Cole
As NERC CIP's regulations and standards continue to evolve with the recent approval of CIP-003-7, new compliance regulations will affect the low voltage distribution providers. Previous CIP standards were considered only for voltage suppliers delivering power at transmission level voltages (100kV and above).
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Major Advances with Motor Control Centers (MCCs)
by Matt Cole
MCCs are most widely used in the utilities, manufacturing, industrial, and large commercial industries that operate machinery and motors. MCCs offer enormous flexibility across differing industries and are suitable for many applications, such as: utilities, communications, oil, gas, chemical, pulp, paper, water, waste, mining, metals, industrial production, and mass-production manufacturing. MCCs are used to house various power distribution equipment and controls such as: main distribution panels (MDPs), main circuit breakers (MCBs), protective relaying, transformers, load centers, panelboards, etc.
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