KCP&L Extends Automation To Its Rural 34-kv System

摘要

Customer service and satisfaction may be impacted when a utility has to rely on trouble calls from its customers to notify them of power disturbances. This was the situation at Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) where they use a 34-kV subtransmission system to deliver power to approximately 50 rural 347 12-kV substations. These substations and associated distribution lines had no automation and no communication infrastructure. KCP&L (Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.) operators typically relied on trouble calls from customers on circuits with particular equipment such as reclosers or regulators to diagnose the extent of their problems. Consequently, KCP&L began researching solutions with Telem-etric (Boise, Idaho, U.S.) that would provide low-cost communication to widespread areas of its rural system.