BGE Grid Reliability & Infrastructure 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of a SCADA system in BGE's grid operations?
- To bill residential customers automatically
- To monitor and control grid equipment remotely in real time (Correct answer)
- To schedule employee shift rotations
- To calculate transformer oil viscosity
Correct answer: To monitor and control grid equipment remotely in real time
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems allow operators to monitor and control grid components—like switches and breakers—remotely and in real time.
Question 2: Which organization sets reliability standards that BGE must follow as a transmission owner?
- EPA
- FERC-delegated NERC (Correct answer)
- Maryland PSC only
- U.S. Department of Energy directly
Correct answer: FERC-delegated NERC
NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation), under authority delegated by FERC, sets and enforces mandatory reliability standards for bulk power system owners like BGE.
Question 3: A distribution feeder experiences repeated voltage sag complaints from customers. Which device is BEST suited to correct this issue?
- Step-down transformer
- Voltage regulator (Correct answer)
- Lightning arrester
- Recloser
Correct answer: Voltage regulator
Voltage regulators automatically adjust voltage levels along a feeder to compensate for load-induced sags and keep voltage within acceptable limits.
Question 4: What does the term 'N-1 reliability criterion' mean in transmission planning?
- The grid must survive the loss of any single major element without cascading failure (Correct answer)
- One percent of customers may be without power at any time
- The network must have exactly one redundant path per substation
- Only one outage per month is acceptable
Correct answer: The grid must survive the loss of any single major element without cascading failure
The N-1 criterion requires that the bulk power system remain stable and within operating limits even after losing any single element, such as a line or transformer.
Question 5: BGE's transmission system operates primarily at which voltage level?
- 4 kV
- 13.2 kV
- 115 kV to 500 kV (Correct answer)
- 240 V
Correct answer: 115 kV to 500 kV
BGE operates its transmission network at high voltages ranging from 115 kV to 500 kV to efficiently move large amounts of electricity over long distances.
Question 6: What is the function of a capacitor bank installed on a distribution feeder?
- Store energy for backup power during outages
- Reduce reactive power demand and improve power factor (Correct answer)
- Increase fault current levels for faster breaker tripping
- Step down voltage from transmission to distribution
Correct answer: Reduce reactive power demand and improve power factor
Capacitor banks supply reactive power locally, reducing reactive power flow from the source, improving power factor, and reducing line losses.
Question 7: Which metric does BGE use to measure the average number of times a customer experiences a sustained outage per year?
- CAIDI
- SAIDI
- SAIFI (Correct answer)
- MAIFI
Correct answer: SAIFI
SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) measures the average number of sustained interruptions per customer per year.
BGE Grid Reliability & Infrastructure 2
What is the primary purpose of a SCADA system in BGE's grid operations?