New Infrastructure Investment Will Provide Enhanced Reliability and
Resiliency for Bay Area Customers
CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today unveiled its new,
state-of-the-art, $40 million electric distribution control center in
Concord, marking another significant milestone in its ongoing efforts to
provide its customers with safe, reliable, affordable and clean energy.
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The facility is the second of three new control centers – other
locations are in Fresno and Rocklin – that will manage PG&E's more than
the 140,000 miles of electric distribution lines that serve nearly 16
million Californians. The new, 38,000-square-foot, operations center
will enhance electric reliability and resiliency for PG&E customers
throughout the Bay Area and Central Coast by utilizing current and
future Smart Grid technologies.
A dedication event was held earlier today at the new center with local
civic leaders, PG&E executives and staff.
“Our investment in the Concord center will strengthen resiliency of the
grid, while enhancing electric reliability. Additionally, it increases
the flexibility of our system, allowing for broader integration of
clean, renewable energy,” said Geisha Williams, president, PG&E Electric
Operations.
The new distribution control center is just one of many infrastructure
investments in Concord and the Bay Area in recent years. In fact, PG&E
has invested more than $170 million last year in the electrical
infrastructure that serves Contra Costa County, and more than $1.1
billion in the greater Bay Area in 2014.
“The City of Concord is excited about this project. The Distribution
Control Center is exactly the type of high-tech, cutting-edge facility
Concord is encouraging for our community. This investment by PG&E helped
create 250 construction jobs and other local, good paying jobs that will
provide a strategic service to the delivery and reliability of our
region,” stated Concord Mayor Tim Grayson.
“I applaud PG&E’s investment to improve the reliability of their service
in our area. Locating this center in Concord will bring jobs to our
community and innovative technology to California consumers,” said
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier.
Smart Grid Technology
The new control center has been equipped with systems that support
today's current Smart Grid technology, but will also support future
upgrades as well. A new Distribution Management System incorporates
advanced electronic mapping and SmartMeter™ data to help operators
pinpoint the exact location of an outage.
Electric operators also played a key role in helping design the new
nerve center of the electric grid, helping to design the work stations
and technology that they will be utilizing to control the grid every day.
“Self-Healing” Grid Technology
Operators also have the ability to remotely control equipment and work
with automated "self-healing" technology that has been installed on
electric circuits throughout the Bay Area. These Smart Switches isolate
outages and help reroute the flow of electricity to minimize the number
of customers affected by an outage and restore others within minutes.
Enhanced Natural Disaster and Storm Resiliency
Constructed to a high seismic standard with redundant data and power
feeds, the new facility will further enhance PG&E’s disaster resiliency
capability. Additionally, the center has the flexibility to shift
operations to the two other regional control centers if support is
needed in the event of a major storm or natural disaster.
PG&E continues to make significant progress in electric reliability that
benefits customers throughout its entire service area. In 2014, PG&E
delivered record electric reliability to its customers for the sixth
straight year. Since 2009, the utility has consistently reduced the
average duration of power outages, with customers experiencing the
fewest number of outages in company history in 2014. Investments in the
grid, including the deployment of Smart Grid technology, played a key
role in delivering this performance.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E
Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas
and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco,
with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the
nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and
Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/
and www.pge.com/en/about/newsroom/index.page.
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Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company