California ISO Wins Award for Technology Innovation

Google Earth Mapping System Helps Manage Wildfire Threats to the
Grid
FOLSOM, Calif.--(Business Wire)--The California Independent System Operator Corporation (California
ISO) accepted an award this morning for its innovative use of
technology to help manage California's high-voltage grid during
wildfires. Utility Automation & Engineering T&D, an energy industry
magazine gives Project of the Year awards in four categories to honor
companies that find new ways to use technology to benefit themselves
and the energy industry as a whole. The California ISO won in the
Geospatial Technology category.

Wildfires can pose a significant threat to high-voltage
transmission lines. Knowing where a fire is burning in relation to the
lines is critical. The California ISO developed a system that merges
four different information sources into one composite display to help
manage the grid during fires. Google Earth's satellite mapping system
is overlaid with data that shows precisely where transmission lines
are located in California. The system then blends in weather data --
including temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. The final
piece is real-time information from California fire services that
pinpoints active fires.

"With all four information streams merged onto one screen, we know
where a fire is, how close it is to our lines, and we have a pretty
good idea of how fast it's moving and in what direction," said
California ISO Director of Grid Operations Jim McIntosh. "Our guys put
this together over several months last spring and it really helped
during the Southern California firestorms in October (2007)."

The fires in Los Angeles and San Diego forced outages on several
key transmission lines. The Southwest Power Link running between
Arizona and San Diego was out for several days and other lines were
also tripping in and out of service on a minute to minute basis due to
smoke, soot and ash that can foul the insulators. "It was absolutely
imperative to have good information about the changing threats to the
lines that were still in service," said McIntosh. "The system we
developed delivered the information we needed to decide how to manage
power flows and even to request fire retardant air drops in critical
locations to protect threatened lines. It helped us keep the lights
on."

While some of the data inputs to the system are proprietary, the
concept of merging local grid, fire and weather information onto the
Google Earth platform could be duplicated by other grid operators.
"Out of all the nominations we received in the geospatial technology
category, we felt the technology that the California ISO has
implemented was the most innovative and could potentially have the
greatest benefit to the power industry as a whole if it were to be
implemented on a grander scale in the future," said Editor Steven
Brown from Utility Automation & Engineering T&D.

Several California ISO employees share the credit for developing
the system; Lead Operations Support Specialist Steve Gillespie,
Operations Support Specialist Brian Murray, and from the Information
Technology group, Critical Systems Lead Eric Mscichowski, Senior
Engineering Specialist Devin Miroy, Senior Engineering Specialist Jim
Hiebert and Engineering Specialist Tim Willenberg.

The California ISO is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation
charged with managing the flow of electricity along California's
open-market wholesale power grid. The mission of the California ISO is
to safeguard the reliable delivery of electricity, and ensure equal
access to 25,000 circuit miles of "electron highway." As the impartial
operator of the wholesale power grid in the state, the California ISO
conducts a small portion of the bulk power markets. These markets are
used to allocate space on the transmission lines, maintain operating
reserves and match supply with demand in real time.

California ISO
Stephanie McCorkle, 1-888-516-NEWS
Director of Communications

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