LIPA's central control system "can't tell you where power is out or how long before the system comes back on line," says Mike Edmonds, vice president of strategic solutions at S&C Electric Co., Chicago. Modern "smart" systems, he says, use "a distributed intelligence approach based on GPS" technology.
LIPA did not respond to ENR's request for comment. But on its website, LIPA said on Nov. 13 that it had restored power to 99% of the customers who were able to safely receive power, with a total of more than 1.1 million outages restored. However, thousands remained without power in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Putting LIPA lines underground is unlikely, Edmonds says, because the procedure often costs 10 times as much as overhead wiring and LIPA rates are already among the highest in the country.
EPRI's Gellings says LIPA could do other things to "harden" the grid. Adding extra guy wires would stabilize poles. "Sometimes, if you put an extra one on a critical pole—like a corner one or one that has a lot of equipment on it—that pole is less likely to come down," he says.
Another way to improve reliability would be to configure distribution so that electricity could be routed along different paths during an outage. LIPA's smart switches can do this now, Edmonds says, but not the centralized control system.
Smart systems can identify where outages are and ensure that work crews know where to go, Gellings adds. EPRI plans to do a pilot test in Alabama this month with an unmanned reconnaissance drone that takes high-resolution photos and uses GPS technology. Utilities could use the drones to pinpoint outages and quickly dispatch repair crews, he says.
