Case Study: Southern California Edison modernizes grid operations with Intel and the vPAC Alliance

Southern California Edison reduces substation devices by 50% with Intel

Southern California Edison, the primary electric utility for Southern California, faced significant challenges due to rising electricity demand, the integration of distributed energy resources, and the need to meet California's decarbonization goals. These factors were increasingly stressing the traditional power grid architecture. To address this, Intel helped form the Virtualization of Protection Automation and Control (vPAC) Alliance to develop a new software-defined architecture for grid modernization.

Intel, along with alliance partners including Dell, VMware, and ABB, developed a standards-based, open, and scalable vPAC solution. This involved virtualizing traditional substation hardware into software applications running on servers. The solution implemented with Salt River Project demonstrated a 50% reduction in substation devices and a 76% reduction in operation and maintenance costs, lowering both operational expenses and emissions for the utility.

Southern California Edison