Case Study: Black River Electric Cooperative improves voltage regulation and catches transformer issues early with Landis+Gyr AMI

How Advanced Metering is Helping One Utility Fine Tune Voltage and Control Load

Black River Electric Cooperative worked with Landis+Gyr to improve peak demand management through voltage regulation, but first needed to understand whether lowering voltage would affect customer service quality. The utility used Landis+Gyr’s advanced metering system, including Gridstream PLC, E-130 FOCUS meters, PLC LCS Switch, and Command Center software, to gather detailed voltage and load data from its distribution system.

Using Landis+Gyr’s Command Center to request a coincident peak snapshot from 90 percent of its meters, Black River Electric Cooperative uncovered unexpected high-voltage conditions instead of the low-voltage issues it had anticipated. This allowed the cooperative to replace transformers with failing high-voltage coils before they caused damage or outages, helping Black River Electric Cooperative save money and successfully implement its voltage regulation program.

Black River Electric Cooperative

Charlie Allen

Vice President of Engineering