

How California ISO uses Google Maps, big data to manage power - bond
http://gigaom.com/cloud/how-california-uses-souped-up-google-maps-to-manage-its-power/

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sophacles
STI makes a great product, and I have no doubt that they have contributed
greatly to various utilities operating effectiveness, there is one glaring
thing the article got just plain wrong.

STI is not responsible for changing the speed of information updates -- the 4
second update loop in power is a combination of 1. old sensors and
communications technology having a slow poll cycle and 2. state estimation
software running that often. This software is stil present and used in
operatons.

In the past few years, various grants from the stimulus packages have finally
allowed utilities to update infrastructure very rapidly, putting new high
resolution sensors on the grid. These generate a lot more data than
traditional SCADA systems, both in volume and in measurement types. All this
data must be managed -- this is what the STI software package does well: it
presents a lot of data in a way that makes sense to the users.

