FAULT CIRCUIT INDICATORS
MEA Electric Operations and Technical Summit
May 13-15, 2015
WE ENERGIES OVERVIEW

Electric, gas and steam utility

Generation and distribution

1,148,805 electric service customers

1,091,412 natural gas customers

423 steam accounts

Service area of 12,600 square miles

Electric capacity of 7,778 MW

Peak demand of 6,505 MW

Urban & rural service areas

Voltages from 4kV through 34.5kV

Electric distribution lines: 45,420 miles (Overhead:
22,210; Underground: 23,210)

Substations: 353

1747 feeders

Number of employees: 4,296
WHAT WILL BE COVERED
Types of fault circuit indicators
History
Current strategy and utilization
Challenges
Future plans
TYPES OF FAULT CIRCUIT INDICATORS
We Energies installs both
permanent and temporary FCIs
on overhead and underground
circuits to detect sustained and
temporary outages, and assist in
locating faults to reduce outage
duration.
Fault Circuit Indicator Types

Permanent (Automatic Reset)



Overhead
URD
Temporary (Manual Reset)

Troubleshooter/Reliability Tools
FAULT CIRCUIT INDICATORS
Many different types (OH vs URD)
Different manufacturers
Design & Operational Differences:

Installation requirements

Trip criteria/requirements

Battery vs Non-battery
TEMPORARY FAULT CIRCUIT INDICATORS
Deployed by Area Reliability
Managers when applicable.

Locate repetitive momentary faults on
main portions of feeders.

Critical to deploy in a timely manner.

Used successfully to locate difficult to
identify problems.

Used in conjunction with SEL Relay
data.

Troubleshooters use to locate faults by
sectionalizing feeders.
HISTORY
We Energies began using faulted circuit indicators in 2004 as a pilot
program during Top Feeder.
The majority of fault circuited
indicators are deployed through
the Top Feeder Program.
Review feeders for faulted
circuit indicators under other
proactive reliability programs
and based on requests from
Troubleshooters.
CURRENT STRATEGY AND UTILIZATION
Area planning engineers determine the location of the permanent
fault circuit indicators.
Locations selected are based on

Feeder Configuration

Feeder Length

Number of Customers

Available fault current
Location must be clearly
specified to achieve desired results.
Area protection technicians will specify the trip value for the FCI’s.
CURRENT STRATEGY AND UTILIZATION
FCIs are a tool that should be utilized in conjunction with traditional fault
locating practices:

Patrolling feeder to determine outage cause.

Utilizing SEL relay information (if available) to verify fault location.
Typical installation locations 
Riser installations

Mainline Feeders

Taps,

Manhole/vaults

GME
Summerfest Amphitheater on Lake Michigan

.
Large venues, public events,
critical infrastructure.
CURRENT STRATEGY - OUTAGE EVENT
EDC may use his/her discretion when deciding the first
location to dispatch a troubleshooter based on location and
information regarding the outage.

A systematic approach to
isolating the faulted circuit
portion should continue
until all customers have
been restored.

Bridging options shall be
considered and implemented if practical during the fault locating
process.
In the event FCIs are installed and are not performing as
expected, the EDC shall use traditional fault locating
practices.
MAPPING FAULT CIRCUIT INDICATORS
In the early stages of deployment, we didn’t do an effective job
mapping all locations.
All permanent installations
are displayed on various
mapping tools that should
be consulted while
diagnosing outages.
FCI target information is
recorded in CORS with
the phase tripped.
LEVERAGING GIS
Product performance (material issues with specific manufacturers
and vintages)

Water ingress

Component failures
OTHER CHALLENGES/ISSUES
Product reliability –

False targets or lack of targets. (Loss of trust in product usefulness).
Improperly installed.

Not on Jumpers

Not on Tree or insulated wire
Many different types
installed on the system –

How does each FCI work?
LESSONS LEARNED
Created online e-learning training.
Application guideline and ERM’s.
FUTURE PLANS
Communicating fault circuit indicators

Outage Advisor FCI – Cooper/Eaton

2G cellular network – Product no longer available.

Replaced by Grid Advisor FCI
Reports fault and load current via email and website.
Grid Advisor FCI – Cooper/Eaton

Multiple units currently under trial.

Communicates back to EMS (via integrated 3G cell modem and
VPN tunnel.

Reports: Faults, current, voltage, etc.
FUTURE PLANS
GOAL: Outage information from FCI’s (real
time) to EDC via EMS to aid in outage
restoration.
QUESTIONS