Since electric utilities began deploying self-healing grids, there's been a concern that there isn't a solid business case to support the investment. The business case that's typically made for self-healing grids revolves around the return on investment the utility itself will realize from the savings the automation will produce. But these approaches to the business case ignore one very important aspect: the savings that electricity customers realize from improved reliability. Self-healing grids can restore power very quickly to most electricity users, dramatically cutting customer minutes of interruption (CMI), SAIDI and, most importantly, electricity user costs. When these costs are considered, the business case is strong. In this paper, S&C Electric Company will present a framework for evaluating the business case for self-healing smart grids. The presentation will compare the actions taken in response to system disturbances in the "old grid" as compared to a "smart grid," and will explore the costs associated with the two approaches.
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