San Francisco Chapter
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Next Meeting

IEEE San Francisco Communications Society and the Distinguished Lecture Tour Presents:

"Utility Communications for the Modern Grid"


Speaker: Jerry Ramie, ARC Technical Resources, Inc.,
 
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009, 6:30PM
Location: The California Public Utilities Commission, 505 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco
Website: www.ieee.org/sfcomsoc
RSVP: timryan@ieee.org

ABSTRACT
The existing power grid is aging, overloaded, unstable and incapable of meeting the power quality needs of an Information Economy. This fast moving overview of the modern grid, and renewable energy's place in it, details the problems of the existing grid and the features of a modern grid architecture that can address these shortcomings. The various "roadmaps" proposed to achieve this vision are presented.

An emphasis will be placed on describing the installation and maintenance of the communications overlay required for a modern grid infrastrcuture and the associated security of the grid's IP-based communications systems. Also described will be the Federal Government's recently proposed economic stimulus package which contains about $60 Billion for smart grid and green power investments in the next two years. With this much consensus for moving forward, the various choices in media to support the Advanced Metering Initiative are discussed, along with their relative strengths and weaknesses.

Bio:
Jerry is a 26 year veteran of the EMC, communications and power industries and has authored six books on substation EMC for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He has published articles on grid modernization and sits on the EMC Committee of the American Radio Relay League, ARRL, on the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley EMC Society, is a voting member of the IEEEP 1775 committee on EMC in BPL installations, a member of the IEEE Standards Association, an iNARTE certified EMC technician, Secretary of the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee C63R on EMC and a Senior Member of the IEEE.

Sign up at: https://ieee.org/sfcomsoc/

Useful links:
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* IEEE Portal: https://www.ieee.org/portal/
* IEEE Subscription link: https://listserv.ieee.org

DIRECTIONS
The Public Utilities Commission is on the corner of Van Ness and McAllister diagonally across from City Hall. There is a parking lot on Franklin between McAllister and Golden Gate and underground lots at Opera Plaza on Golden Gate between Franklin and Van Ness and at Civic Center Plaza on McAllister between Polk and Larkin. Parking under the PUC is not open to the public. Parking meters west of Van Ness are inactive after 6:00 PM. Any bus running on VanNess will stop on the corner.

Coming from the East by BART or Metro, it is best to transfer to a No. 5 Bus going west at the Powel Street Station. Alternatively, it is a 5 to 10-minute walk from Civic Center Station and about the same from Van Ness Station.

Coming from the West by Metro or bus, transfer to a bus going North on Van Ness.
There are two entrances to the building.  One is under the state seal at the top of the steps on the corner of Van Ness and McAllister. The other is on Golden Gate between Franklin and Van Ness. The gates for both entrances close at 5:30 pm. It is better to use the Golden Gate entrance because the meeting room is just inside.