PSE&G Energy Strong technology strengthening New Jersey grid
After being pummeled by the winds and waters of Superstorm Sandy, the Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) teamed up with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in a $1.2 billion program to increase grid resiliency.
Dubbed Energy Strong, the program expanded use of technology such as remote monitoring and control of the electric system. Microprocessor relays have been deployed, as well as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology routed to a centralized station for remote control and visibility of distribution circuits. The goal: not just increasing endurance, but making it easier to respond during the next storm, rather than after the fact.
“When Superstorm Sandy hit, it was difficult to gauge just how bad the damage was until PSE&G crews were deployed to the scene,” Jorge Cardenas, PSE&G vice president of Asset Management and Centralized Services, said. “Our investment in smart grid technologies has improved our ability to assess damage during storms, prevent power outages and get the lights back on faster when outages do occur.”
As of today, the company’s advanced measures aid around 2.1 million customers–a massive increase, considering before Sandy only 650,000 had such technology helping them. As a result, the company has been awarded the 2018 POWERGRID International and DistribuTECH Grid Optimization Project of the Year award.
