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Renewables & EfficiencyElectrical Engineering
The Engineering Division addresses technical issues that affect Vermont's electric utilities and their customers. It seeks to ensure that proposed generation, transmission, and distribution facilities are properly sited and maintained, and that all electric customers are provided with high quality, reliable electric power.
Transmission and Distribution Facilities. The Engineering Division is charged with analyzing, from a technical and financial perspective, plans for all new and upgraded transmission lines and substations in the state. It then negotiates with the relevant utility to modify, advance, or cancel its proposal. Ultimately, the Engineering Division provides an independent recommendation to the PSB to approve, disapprove, or modify planned facilities pursuant to 30 V.S.A. ' 248. In conjunction with the Planning Division and the integrated resource planning process, the Engineering Division also ensures that electric distribution systems are planned and constructed in a manner that is consistent with Vermont statutes, Public Service Board Orders, and the Vermont Electric Plan.
Distributed Utility Planning. The Engineering Division coordinates with the Energy Efficiency Division and the Planning Division to promote the newly emerging concept of Distributed Utility Planning (DUP) in which utilities plan for and install small, localized generation and demand side management resources in an effort to avoid or defer major investments in transmission and distribution infrastructure, provide customers with premium quality power, and provide enhanced environmental performance.
Energy Loss Savings. The Engineering Division,
in conjunction with the Planning Division, promotes comprehensive, least-cost
transmission and distribution planning studies among Vermont’s electric
utilities. Successful planning results in the cost-effective reduction of
energy losses throughout Vermont’s transmission and distribution infrastructure.
These studies include significant efforts in system measurement, engineering
modeling, and financial analysis that, when completed, provide utilities
with a blueprint for upgrading their systems in a reliable, least-cost manner.
The Engineering Division provides software, training, and technical advice
to the utilities engaged in these studies.
System Reliability. As part of its ongoing
efforts to improve Vermont ‘s electric system reliability, the Department
has worked closely with the state’s electric utilities to develop uniform
statewide standards for electric system reliability measurement and reporting.
Uniform measurement and reporting allows for the evaluation of reliability
trends, permits meaningful comparisons of reliability among utilities, and
provides information valuable for the design and subsequent assessment of
system upgrades and corrective measures. Calendar year 2001 was the first
year for Vermont ‘s electric distribution utilities to report their reliability
performance under the uniform methods prescribed in Public Service Board
Rule No. 4.900.
Service Quality. As part of its effort to establish electric utility service quality and reliability plans (SQRP), the Department has worked with the electric utilities to set minimum expected reliability goals. These reliability goals are set for a given calendar year and measured using the rules codified in Public Service Board Rule No. 4.900.