Electric Energy T&D Cover Story: AMI Extends Alabama Power's Outage System Effectiveness in Historic Storm

AMI Extends Alabama Power's Outage System Effectiveness in Historic Storm

Electric Energy T&D – January 2012 Issue

Alabama Power Company had been preparing for severe weather to hit the state long before the morning of April 27, 2011. By daybreak, repair crews were already working to restore power to about 270,000 customers affected by a line of storms that had passed through overnight. With predictions of a dangerous, tornado-laden storm heading its way, bucket trucks and crews from utilities as far as Illinois headed to the Heart of Dixie in anticipation of more damage to come. Despite the helping hands, customers were advised to be prepared for extended outages.

Parent Southern Company had begun laying the groundwork for effective response management and system modernization well before the storm clouds formed when it embarked on an initiative to have its utility subsidiaries integrate their current outage management systems (OMS) with advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) systems. By fall 2010, Alabama Power had successfully merged a proprietary OMS in service for years with FlexNet™, an open-standards based, multi-application fixed-base two-way wireless communications network from Sensus to gain a number of key benefits, including real time situational analysis and grid stabilization. 

Click here to read the cover story from the January 2012 issue of Electric Energy T&D.