Advanced Control Systems Announces Multi-Year Substation Automation Upgrade Program for Sierra Pacific Power

ATLANTA, GA, April 2, 2008 -- Advanced Control Systems (ACS), a leading global provider of smart grid solutions to the electric power industry, announced today that it has delivered several Connex 30 substation automation upgrade systems to Sierra Pacific Power. ACS delivered the systems as part of a multi-year contract that Sierra Pacific Power recently awarded to ACS following a competitive market evaluation.  Sierra Pacific Power, the electric utility that serves most of northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area of California, plans to roll out ACS Connex 30 substation managers for all obsolete and new substation RTUs. 

Sierra Pacific Power personnel use the ACS Connex Explorer configuration software to precisely replicate the original substation database and minimize master system changes. Installation engineers leverage installed I/O points to effectively upgrade each legacy substation RTU in just a few hours. ACS incorporates data concentrator functionality in the Connex 30 to support substation IED integration.

Over the past five years, ACS has delivered more than 300 upgrade systems for RTUs from Systems Northwest/Hathaway, L&N, L&G TeleGyr, Moore Systems, Harris, ILEX, QEI, and Ferranti. Leading investor-owned utilities that have deployed ACS upgrade solutions include, among others, Detroit Edison, Nova Scotia Power, El Paso Electric, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, NSTAR, Nevada Power, and Sierra Pacific Power.

According to Clint Cowan, ACS business unit manager for substation integration, “ACS continues to gain new utility accounts for our substation automation systems—our attractive value proposition reduces system downtime, lowers upgrade costs and provides superior functional capability.”

ACS chief executive officer José Barbosa concluded, “The continued success of our substation automation systems provides a strong market foundation for our overall utility smart grid strategy, which includes substation-based self-healing restoration as well as a comprehensive suite of control center-based advanced distribution applications.”

About Advanced Control Systems
Advanced Control Systems, an EFACEC company, is a provider of smart grid solutions to the global electric power industry. The ACS software suite provides integrated distribution and outage management, simulation, optimization, and enterprise business intelligence. ACS automation products include a wide range of flexible and cost-effective substation, distribution, and feeder automation solutions. ACS is powering the utility of the future – today. For more information, visit www.acsatlanta.com.

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