Efacec ACS, a provider of smart grid solutions to the global electric power industry, has been chosen by the City of Griffin, Georgia to provide its PRISM™ Real-time Outage Management System (OMS).

The selection brings Griffin an outage management solution built on a real-time SCADA platform, allowing it to handle data faster and more efficiently than traditional methods – a vital feature in outage and emergency scenarios. The PRISM Real-Time OMS will also improve procedures and tracking capabilities, and incorporate mapping and visualization tools to meet the complex needs of utility outage management. The utility will benefit from the combination of outage tickets, switching, and tagging on the same map, for single-view efficiency.

"We were looking for a way to provide enhanced outage response and service to our customers," said Kim Morton, Operations Coordinator for the City of Griffin. "The PRISM OMS and IVR will seamlessly merge with the existing Efacec ACS PRISM SCADA System. This fully integrated solution means that Griffin can better respond to outages and to customer calls without having to manage separate systems."

The OMS solution includes DASmap™, a distribution network editing tool that enables a common source model and database to be used for SCADA, DMS and OMS functions.

DASmap imports and creates the electrical feeder network from the GIS, digitizes and edits the network displays, performs network tracing, and builds and colorizes the Network Topology Model.

Additional OMS features include:

•	Single Sign-on to corporate Active Directory
•	Ticket/Call Management
•	Work Order Management
•	Crew Assignment
•	Prediction Engine
•	Browser-based GUI
•	Reporter w/Indices calculations
•	Interactive Voice Response (IVR) interface
•	CIS interface

"We are excited to add the City of Griffin to our growing OMS user community," said Efacec ACS CEO Jose Barbosa. "The Efacec ACS solution will empower Griffin operations with a new level of visual tools and real-time data to allow the City to provide improved responsiveness throughout the outage management process."

Efacec ACS' fault detection, isolation and restoration (FDIR) technology went live this morning on Cobb EMC's distribution system serving over 195,000 meters. This proven technology enhances the reliability of electric service to consumers through intelligent automation. With FDIR, faults are automatically isolated within a smaller section of the distribution system, dramatically reducing the number of customers experiencing a power outage. Many outages that occur due to a fault can often be quickly restored by automatically re-routing power from another portion of the system. Primary benefits of FDIR include:

•	Shorter outage durations
•	Fewer sustained outages
•	Improved network performance
•	Greater operational efficiency
•	Improved service delivery

"The ability to automatically isolate and restore faults on distribution feeders is an advanced technology that we’re excited to be able to provide for Cobb EMC members," said Bhaji Dhillon, manager of power system technologies and planning at Cobb EMC. "Over the years we have aggressively deployed automation on our system to improve the reliability of service to our members, with over 650 SCADA-controlled switches installed. Deployment of FDIR on our distribution management system (DMS) from Efacec ACS is the next step in leveraging this installed infrastructure." Before activating FDIR, Cobb EMC carefully evaluated the technology and tuned the network model while operating the system in a manual mode.

"Cobb EMC has been a valuable partner and customer from the inception of our company over 37 years ago,” Efacec ACS’ CEO José Barbosa noted. “We are pleased to be able to continue working with them to deploy advanced DMS applications like FDIR to help them provide excellent service and reliability to their members."

Efacec ACS has been selected by Costa Rican utility JASEC (Junta Administradora del Servicio Electrico Municipal de Cartago) to deliver a new SCADA system and 91 remote terminal units (RTUs). Efacec ACS will supply, install, and program the PRISM™ SCADA and RTUs.

JASEC is the main electrical utility in the municipality of Cartago, Costa Rica. It is serves approximately 86,000 customers and is dedicated to the distribution and commercialization of energy in the following areas: Canton Central, Oreamuno, El Guarco, Paraiso y Alvarado.

The 91 RTUs distributed across JASEC's electric grid will allow communication, through JASEC's fibre optic and wireless networks, with every recloser and substation. The SCADA system will take energy management to a new level, allowing it to acquire data on the status of reclosers and substations. The deployment will facilitate communication between a variety of recloser manufacturers that use different protocols. The PRISM system will be linked via ICCP to the control centre of Costa Rica’s generation and transmission company, the Instituto Costarrisence de Electricidad (ICE).

Efacec ACS was selected by DELSUR (Distribuidora de Electricidad del Sur, SA de CV) to deliver important smart grid technology for management of the utility’s distribution network.

DELSUR is El Salvador's second largest electric distribution company, serving approximately 338,000 customers in the central and southern portions of the country.

The delivery will include new outage management (OMS) and distribution management systems (DMS) based on the PRISM platform, including system redundancy. The project will also involve upgrading the existing PRISM SCADA system and integrate operations with state-of-the-art geospatial information systems (GIS) and other corporate systems.

The solution adds enhanced customer relations management through the entire system. It will provide a best practices solution for the important work of system restoration and positions DELSUR for future smart grid capabilities.