The AVS/PowerViz Network Visualization System (PNVS) is a power network monitoring application created with AVS/PowerViz by Advanced Visual Systems for Consolidated Edison in New York City. PNVS provides conEdison with the ability to monitor the status of its Manhattan power distribution system (from substation to transformers that then deliver power directly to customers) in real time.

PNVS draws data from network sensors and presents conEdison system operators with a real-time view of Manhattan's electrical network performance. The application is viewed in a Microsoft Explorer browser on any Windows PC.

During network operations, the application opens with a graphical view of Manhattan delineating city networks that are colored based upon the number of electrical feeders that are out of service. Users can brush their mouse pointer over any network to quickly view electrical network status or click on the network to bring up a separate screen that shows the electrical network in greater detail; feeders represented by lines, transformers represented by circle glyphs, etc. Using a "zoom" feature, users can select a detailed view that includes street names in a conventional map format.

Operators working from conEdison's control room view the application on their desktop client PCs and the display is projected on two wall-sized monitors. The operators are responsible for monitoring the state of the distribution grid and to repair problems when they arise. The repair may involve rerouting power through another section in the city via information they receive from the PNVS application or sending a crew out to repair a device on site.

OpenViz helps ConEd achieve a balance of power by Tom Sullivan The need to integrate data and implement a user-friendly interface led Con Ed to AVS and OpenViz. conEdison found it far easier to integrate its legacy systems and the data housed in homegrown applications with OpenViz than it would have been to migrate the data to new systems. Click here to read the full article. © InfoWorld

Prime Benefits to conEdison

PNVS consolidates information provided from several legacy systems that in the past have reported information to operators in separate ways. The integration of real-time feeder and transformer monitoring data with geographic map information fuses two essential systems into a single application and permits manipulation and utilization of corporate data in ways that were previously not possible.

The flexibility afforded PNVS has enabled conEdison to rapidly implement changes to its' monitoring systems. Additional conEdison software programs currently in design and implementation will leverage AVS/PowerViz to reduce software development costs and shorten time to operations. As conEdison migrates legacy systems from mini computers to PC servers, PNVS and all other applications based on AVS/PowerViz will function without any modification.

Benefits to other utilities customers of AVS

Under the pressures of deregulation, utility companies have limited financial and human resources to invest in new technology that does not provide immediate cost and operational benefits. Advanced Visual Systems has developed AVS/PowerViz for timely implementation of a customized suite of solutions that permit intuitive, cost effective and benefit producing monitoring of any size electrical network.

The distributed nature of PNVS permits data to be easily delivered to a variety of different user groups from the Microsoft Explorer browser interface. For example, many utilities have a political need to keep municipalities informed on the state of their electrical network and because PNVS is viewed from a browser, utilities can report to these agencies without a major deployment effort. Also, PNVS allows repair crews to operate with pinpoint accuracy through real-time viewing of the status of an entire electrical network.

These quantifiable benefits have led to conEdison's satisfaction with PNVS. The unprecedented demands of the New York City power system clearly demonstrate the capacity and potential of the AVS/PowerViz Framework, and the AVS professional services team.