Station Equipment

The electricity industry is undergoing fundamental change in moving from a regulated monopoly to a competitiveindustry. Low load growth, over-capacity, uncertainty and speculation about the future state of the industry arecreating pressures on the availability of capital and the reduction of operating costs.

Now more than ever, there is a need to optimize the use of existing station plant assets and to develop new,lower cost, more efficient and reliable equipment applications. This new reality is complicated by the fact thata significant amount of station equipment in use today has already accumulated 30 or more years of service.Maintenance costs will rise as the inherent reliability of an aging plant starts an inevitable decline. At the sametime, technological developments in information technology, automation and design improvements raiseexciting possibilities and opportunities for a reconfigured electrical grid, enabling more effective monitoring andmaintenance techniques. All of this is essential in ensuring the reliability of supply, sustainability of operations,and affordability of electric service for customers.

The objective of this program is to bring together interested parties to facilitate research that will optimizethe life cycle management of station equipment and apparatus, reduce costs through collaboration of methods,practices and use of new technologies to help utilities plan future development of their stations.

Topics and Issues:

• Innovation & Design
• Maintenance Practices
• Condition Assessment and Monitoring
• Risk Management