Bulk Electric System Power Outages and Restoration Considerations

1. Bulk Electric System Power Outages and Restoration Considerations Peter Heiman Western Area Power Administration (Desert Southwest Region)

2. Blackouts • What are they? • A blackout is a condition where a major portion or all of an electrical network is de-energized with much of the system tied together through closed breakers • What causes blackouts? • A combination of circumstances that stress the Bulk Electric System beyond its capability • Natural phenomena (such as severe storms) • Human error (including poor maintenance practices) • Equipment malfunction (inadequate design/protection schemes) • Tools/Trees/Training

3. Blackouts • How frequent are they? • Serious power interruptions or blackouts occur at the rate of about 35 a year in the US • Half of these (on average) exceed 100 MW and involve up to 45,000 customers at a time • Notable US Blackouts • November 9, 1965 (NERC created) • July 2 and August 10, 1996 • August 14, 2003

4. Blackouts • Concerns/Impacts • Any widespread electric outage draws a lot of attention from: • Politicians, Governmental agencies • Consumer advocates, Environmentalists • Large customers • Media • Impacts: • Business (Loss of productivity, Product, and Property) • Health Issues (Food contamination, Medication problems, Anxiety) • Safety (Traffic accidents, Civil unrest)

5. System Restoration • System Restoration Plans • Regionally (Reliability Coordinator Plan coordinating the restoration efforts of Balancing Authorities) • NERC Standard EOP-006-0 (Reliability Coordination System Restoration) • LRCC Restoration Plan for the Desert Southwest Sub-Region • Maintain a database that contains all blackstart generators used for system restoration within it’s respective area • Database includes: name, location, megawatt capacity, type of unit, latest date of test, and starting method

6. System Restoration • System Restoration Plans • Locally (Each Balancing Authority) • NERC Standard EOP-005-0 (System Restoration Plans) • DSW Blackstart and Bulk System Restoration • Generators • Adjacent Balancing Authorities • Sub-Balancing Authorities

7. System Restoration • Basic Steps during Restoration • Determine Status of your System • Stabilize what remains of the System • Communicate System Status • Restore Strongestties first • Jointly agree to Resume normal operations • Make proper Notifications

8. System Restoration • Concerns during Restoration • System Status • Visibility of the System (System Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) status) • Communication • Voice communication with field personnel and adjacent Balancing Authorities

9. System Restoration • Concerns during Restoration • Voltage Control • High line voltage conditions (Ferranti Rise) • Switching Surges (Transient Over-voltages) • Protective Relaying • Reduced Fault Current • Improper setting for restoration conditions

10. System Restoration • Concerns during Restoration • Frequency Control • Place governor control at zero droop (isochronous) • Start with frequency slightly elevated • Pick up small (5-10 MW) blocks of load • Load Restoration • Cold Load Pickup • Loss of Load Diversity • Motor In-rush Current

11. System Restoration Questions?