"Using the GE MDS system, LILCO established a 90% communications coverage in just under nine months."

Larry Gelbien, Long Island Lighting Company

GE MDS engineered a high quality, reliable, and cost-effective solution to power outages and maintaining customer service for Long Island Lighting Company. While complying with FCC regulations, GE MDS also increased customer satisfaction and enhanced LILCO's image in the community. GE MDS is a world leader in wireless data networking solutions with applications in the SCADA, telemetry, telecommunications, and on-line transaction processing markets.

Problem

Power outages reduce revenues, increase the risks to public safety, and seriously reduce customer satisfaction. Operating in a deregulated environment, electric utilities must find ways to improve their quality of service to remain competitive.

LILCO's Auto Restoration System
To reduce power outages, the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) installed a computer-based network that identifies and corrects localized overload conditions before widespread outages can occur.

The network employs over 800 sectionalizer units that report real-time load data and switch status to each of LILCO's four Divisional Operations Centers. When a distribution breaker "locks open" the divisional control computer analyzes the data, and when necessary, issues recommendations for corrective action. This usually involves an operator opening a remote-controlled distribution switch to isolate faulted sections and restore power to unaffected portions of a circuit. All of this happens in minutes - minimizing the impact of the interruption to thousands of customers.

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Solution 

Reliable Communication-A Key Ingredient
Dependable communication between the Operations Center and the remote sites was a major consideration early in the system design. Due to the large size of the network, the system also needed to offer high data throughput, low cost, and ease of installation.

To meet the unique requirements of their network, LILCO selected GE MDS as the exclusive supplier of 900 MHz spread spectrum radios. These 1 Watt radios provide reliable wide-area, long-range coverage, even while operating in this densely populated area. The GE MDS radios comply fully with FCC Part 15 requirements. This eliminates the need for licensing, a major benefit to LILCO since it allowed for rapid installation of the equipment in areas where no licensed channels were available.

Data-transparency of GE MDS radios ensures that information is transmitted and received in its original format, without interruptions or alterations. This allows system engineers to focus on the information being sent, not the method of delivery.

Due to the high costs associated with leased telephone lines, LILCO has extended the range of its spread spectrum radios by repeating from one MAS cell to a second, or even third cell. A typical cell covers 5 to 10 miles and supports up to 50 remote switch and recloser sites.

Measurable Benefits
Since installing its Auto Restoration System, LILCO reports a 35% reduction in the number of customers affected by main line faults. This amounts to over 125,000 customers avoiding sustained outages in an 18 month period. GE MDS is proud to be a part of this advanced system and congratulates LILCO on the award of U.S. Patent No. 5,513,061.

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