Automated analysis of power system events

Due to the ever-increasing capabilities of multifunctional intelligent electronic devices (TEDs), the amount of data available to analyze is overwhelming many utilities, and only significant events are being examined. Automatic analysis tools can provide decision support for engineering. The requirements for these tools are addressed in this article. Automating analysis at the system level, including adding the infrastructure to gather data, allows engineers to address substantive issues instead of performing low-level data gathering and organization tasks well suited to automation. In addition, the analysis of "insignificant" captured anomalies may lead to improved system reliability by providing predictions of upcoming equipment failures.