System and method for detecting and localizing non-technical losses in an electrical power distribution grid
AssigneesASTROLINK INTERNATIONAL LLC c/o LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION, DOMINION ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, INC. c/o DOMINION RESOURCES SERVICES, INC.
InventorsHenrik F. BERNHEIM, Jerritt H. Hansell, Marcia Reid Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for detecting theft of power in an electrical distribution grid. The system may include at least two communicating meters which form a transformer area network, a mechanism for measuring current and voltage at the meters, a mechanism for transmitting the measured current and voltage data to a data center with access to an electric grid database, and a mechanism that analyzes the transmitted data to inter unauthorized taking of electrical power.
Claims15
A system for detecting the theft of power in an electrical distribution grid, the system comprising:
- at least two communicating meters supplied with power by each service distribution transformer wherein power theft is to be detected, the meters forming a Transformer Area Network;
- a Measurement Agent configured to periodically measure current and voltage at each meter and transmit said measurements with a time stamp and an identifier of the meter which is unique within the Transformer Area Network;
- at least one Monitoring agent configured to receive the transmissions of the Measurement Agents;
- at least one communicating meter in each Transformer Area Network where theft detection is enabled, configured to transmit messages over a wide-area network;
- a software application hosted in a data center with access to a grid map database configured to receive messages transmitted by a communicating meter in a Transformer Area Network.
A method for detecting unauthorized, unmetered taps on the low-voltage side of an electrical distribution service transformer, the method comprising:
- providing a multiplicity of communicating meters supplied with power by the service distribution transformer;
- organizing the communicating meters into a Transformer Area Network;
- configuring at least one communicating meter of the Transformer Area Network to transmit messages over a wide area network;
- providing a software application in a data center with access to a grid map database able to receive messages transmitted from a Transformer Area Network;
- periodically measuring the current and voltage at each communicating meter;
- transmitting the current and voltage measurements on the Transformer Area Network, each transmission including at least an identifier unique within the Transformer Area Network of the communicating meter which made the measurements, the time at which the measurements were made, and the measured current and voltage;
- collecting the measurements made at the several meters at the same time within the time synchronization tolerance of the Transformer Area Network;
- adjusting the voltage measurements to account for the voltage drop accounted for by measured current flows;
- comparing the adjusted voltage measurements to identify meters at which the observed voltage drop is not proportional to the current flow at the meter;
- transmitting a wide-area message describing any observed anomaly consisting of at least one non-proportional voltage drop at a meter, the message comprising at least an identifier of the transformer or the meter where the anomaly was observed, sufficient to allow the component to be matched with its representation in a grid map database;
- receiving said wide-area message in a data center wherein a software application may process the message and issue an alert regarding a possible power theft.
A method for detecting tampering with electrical meters and unauthorized, unmetered taps in an electrical distribution network, the method comprising:
- providing a Transformer Area Network at each service transformer where tampering is to be detected;
- providing at least one communicating meter in each Transformer Area Network configured to send a message over a wide-area network;
- providing a software application in a data center with access to a grid mapping database configured to receive messages transmitted from the Transformer area networks;
- configuring the software application to receive notifications from other utility applications regarding planned changes in the grid;
- transmitting wide area messages from a Transformer Area Network whenever a change in the configuration of the Transformer Area Network is detected;
- matching the location information in the message with the location information stored in the grid map database;
- comparing the messages from the Transformer Area Networks to the notifications regarding planned changes to eliminate messages from the Transformer Area Networks which are explained by a planned configuration change;
- reporting as a potential tampering event whatever messages have not been eliminated
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.