"Smart Power Grid" Using Electronic Intelligence the Key to Avoiding Future Blackouts

A team of engineers in Illinois has concluded that Blackout 2003, which on August 14 affected the Northeastern United States and parts of the Midwest and Canada, could have been avoided had a "smart power grid" been in place.   And unless an Internet-based strategy is introduced, this same team of engineers predicts that serious problems are inevitable in the future. Such a "smart" system has been developed.   It would monitor a wide-area network and, based on historical demand patterns, would predict power consumption and then communicate with utility substations to head off problems.   "Software agents" employing neural networks and fuzzy logic remember consumption patterns at local-area grids and are capable of predicting fluctuations in demand.   Working with substation software, these software agents are able to identify areas of lower demand and then use this information to balance consumption across a large network. Importantly, the cost associated with introducing and using such information technology is dwarfed by the cost of the alternative: the very high capital cost of upgrading major parts of a national grid. For the full story, see: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030825S0050. Summary by: Tina Nanov