Protecting physical infrastructure and equipment at transmission and distribution sites continues to be a high priority for many energy and electric companies. Preventing intruders from entering a utility site and tracking potential threats well before the threat reaches a site is vital. In order to ensure limited security staff are focusing on the most important threats, it’s also critically important to be able to reduce nuisance alarms by distinguishing between people, animals, vehicles, and movement in the environment, such as wind, to prevent security personnel from wasting time or start ignoring alarms because the alarm isn’t accurate.
Alabama Power needed knowledge and visibility into its transmission and distribution sites that wasn’t available before to have a more targeted response to potential threats. By implementing an event-based, layered security approach using GroundAware radar solutions, Alabama Power was able to improve security practices and better protect its physical infrastructure by gaining insight into its electric sites, as well as implementing:
- Real-time surveillance with minimal human monitoring
- Classify threats to know whether a response is needed, for example, knowing the difference between an intruder and an animal around the facility
- Trigger automatic deterrent/response actions when intrusion is detected (such as turning on flood lights, audio systems)
- Integration with other systems that allows sending security event data to the PSIM and auto-slewing cameras through VMS when threats are detected
- Send alerts to responders in convenient format, such as mobile devices or security operation center.
GroundAware’s radar surveillance “…gives us a perspective we’ve never had,” said Scott Moore, Senior Vice President of Power Delivery for Alabama Power Company. To see more of our interview with Scott Moore and hear how radar technology has impacted Alabama Power’s transmission sites, check out our video below.
