SCADA. Do the utilities still use carrier current communications between the power plants and the substations? It’s a question for any freepers who may work for in the electric power generation sector. I see some of the equipment installed at various substations, but I’m not sure that those systems are still in use. An outside control network, especially one that uses a public telcom network, would be a really, really bad idea. Controls for power generation and distribution really need to stay a closed system, with no access to the outside world.
I think many went from carrier signal to a dedicated fiber optic fiber buried in the transmission right of way.
There are NO power plants (that I know of) that are completely segregated from the “outside”.
I’ve operated many facilities that we’re thought to be independent of the web, only to find that little one item was missed.
Most power plants rely on signals from the local RTO (regional transmission operator) telling facilities what and how much to generate. We see these signals in real time.
I can command the generators locally in my control room to do what I want, but I still need to “see” what the grid in my areas is doing.
In a nutshell- there’s no such thing as a power plant off the net.
We have to see what’s going on outside of our plant to operate. That info is running through ... Wires connected to the net.