Dive Summary:
- Exelon’s Commonwealth Edison finished its first of 10 smart substation conversions, upgrading the Wallace subway station in the South Side of Chicago, thereby improving power supply reliability for 28,000 customers in Northern Illinois.
- Following the authorization of Illinois' smart grid law in 2011, ComEd is investing $2.6 billion throughout the next 10 years to integrate smart grid upgrades and technologies to enhance electrical system monitoring and reduce problems with power outages.
- The digital technology at the Wallace substation features sensors that thwart power outages by collecting and analyzing 1,500 data pieces every two seconds and alerting ComEd utility operators of issues.
From the article:
"....the utility is going forward with a program to perform digital upgrades to 10 more substations over the next five years at a cost of $7 million each. The next two upgrades will be in west suburban Franklin Park and in the Clearing neighborhood near Midway Airport. ..."