Case Study: Salt River Project minimizes unplanned generator downtime and forecasts power demand with SAS Analytics

Salt River Project tames wholesale energy market with help from SAS®

Salt River Project (SRP) is a major public power utility serving about 1 million customers in the Phoenix area, where extreme summer heat and rapid population growth strain the grid. SRP faced the challenge of analyzing hundreds of thousands of machine sensor readings plus customer and weather data to accurately predict when combustion turbines need maintenance and to forecast power supply and demand up to five years ahead.

SRP uses the SAS/ACCESS Interface to the PI System and SAS Analytics to ingest real-time sensor, weather and usage data, predict turbine run-time for maintenance scheduling, and produce short- and long-term supply/demand forecasts for traders. The solution prevents unplanned generator downtime, preserves warranty compliance, enables coordinated plant maintenance, and gives traders timely insights to buy or sell energy and lock in better prices.

Salt River Project

Vince Boccieri

ECM Program Manager