Smart electric grid could anticipate outages
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028621
New York Times : New smart meters and sensors being installed by utility companies across the US may pinpoint outages almost in real time, even before customers call the electric company to complain. Most disruptions occur not along the main grid supply lines, nor at individual homes, but on the regional networks. A failure in one area will ripple through and can take multiple states out, at a cost of as much as $200 billion a year in lost economic activity, according to Edward H. Kennedy, CEO of Tollgrade, which supplies such equipment to utilities. The new sensors, about the size of a shoe box, send a detailed status message when the power goes down and can even predict when a failure might occur. The advance warning allows power companies to carry out some preemptive work to reduce the risk of an outage.
