In our Inside Look stories, The state’s journalists take you to places in South Carolina you may not have seen before. Read more. Story idea? statenews@thestate.com.
After making his way through a labyrinth of thick doors and sterile hallways, Lee Xanthakos stepped into a secret, cavernous room where some of the most important decisions in South Carolina are made.
Glowing lights and bright lines covered the entire wall from floor to ceiling as utility crews checked for signs of problems with Dominion Energy’s electrical grid. The illuminated area showcased the network of energy resources and transmission lines that Dominion depends on to provide electricity in South Carolina.
When a major power line goes down or is threatened, technicians will see it on the glittering wall and spring into action, using computers to remotely switch the energy available in one part of the network to restore electricity in other areas. preserve or restore. They also make lines safe for repairers to work on.
Control room workers have been extra busy since September 27 helping restore power to hundreds of thousands of people left in limbo by Hurricane Helene. On Thursday, the company said it had restored most power to customers and was working to bring every home and business online.
Xanthakos, Dominion’s director of electrical transmission and system operations, said the control room and the people who work there are critical to ensuring that Columbia and other places in Dominion’s service area have a continuous source of energy to heat, light and cooling.
Electric utility control rooms like Dominion’s are “hubs of reliable and secure energy coordination,” says Xanthakos, who led an unprecedented tour of the center for The State newspaper earlier this year.
“As soon as the first line went out during Hurricane Helene, control room staff moved aggressively to reroute power to restore energy, he said.
The control center, whose location is being kept secret from the public for security reasons, is important for maintaining and restoring electricity during other natural disasters, such as ice and snow storms.
Dominion control room workers restore power remotely using their computers, sending electricity from areas with extra power to areas without power. They work with linemen to make repairs so the system can deliver electricity again.
“System control is the brain: it continuously receives and sends signals to regulate critical energy flow, respond immediately to changing conditions, and coordinate all vital components to work as one – all in a carefully orchestrated manner to keep our customers safe , efficient and reliable service. every day, no matter the circumstances,” said Keller Kissam, head of Dominion South Carolina.
The control room also helps keep the electricity running during times when people are using more power than normal. During the 2022 Christmas holiday, the control center was buzzing with activity as Dominion fought to avoid outages during an extreme cold snap.
But the control room is not only important during storms or cold spells. Employees pay attention every day to small errors in the system that require attention.
Officials in the control rooms are also involved in daily efforts to boost certain energy sources to replace solar energy, which fades away when the sun sets. Often, hydroelectric power plants are used to compensate for the nighttime loss of solar energy, although coal and natural gas power plants are also relied upon.
All told, the control room employs at least three people at night, with six or seven working during the day, Xanthakos said. As a result of Hurricane Helene, eight additional employees were deployed to assist in the control room.
The control room aims to ensure that the main electrical wires, formally known as transmission lines, are operational. If those lines fail, entire areas could be left without power. Another control center oversees the distribution lines, or the lines that run from major transmission lines to neighborhoods, said Xanthakos and company spokeswoman Rhonda O’Banion.
Dominion’s control center is not unique. All energy companies have similar settings to ensure energy flows to the public.
Rob Hochstetler, president and CEO of Central Electric Power Cooperative Inc, said control rooms like the one at Dominion are important to electricity supply. Central Electric represents the state’s electric cooperatives, which receive power from utilities.
“Control centers are crucial for balancing power supply and demand, ensuring there is always electricity when you need it,” he said in an email.
