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PAGE 2 | NOVEMBER 2012


On the cutting edge


Tri-County Electric is on the forefront of technology BY JULIANN GRAHAM, Communications Specialist





lipping a light switch is pretty simple but the infrastructure and technology behind the power





Tri-County Electric Cooperative is on the cutting edge when it comes to staying abreast of and participating in technology research.


The cooperative’s manager of Engineering and NERC Compliance Mike Swearingen sits on several prestigious and strategic committees.


Through the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), which Tri-County Electric is a member of, Swearingen represents cooperatives on the Center for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation (CEATI International) committee. His role includes advising NRECA on research projects he believes would  


Recently, Tri-County Electric was one of a select few utilities - and the only cooperative - participating in harmonics research through CEATI International. Harmonics are frequencies that appear on the electric power system as results of electric loads (mostly electronics) and can be a cause of power quality problems.


“The best way to think about it is imagine you are in your room listening to a beautiful song, when all of a  on a football game and has a party,” Swearingen said. “As the noise gets louder and louder from all the different sounds, it gets to the point that you can no longer clearly hear your music. It’s


distorted so you don’t get to enjoy the beauty of the music. It’s the same thing with harmonics. As the harmonics get greater and greater due to equipment that may be in the house, it distorts the original wave sent to the house and the  


A harmonics recorder was installed at the residence of one of the Tri-County Electric’s members. The research was conducted using a prototype of an advanced harmonics recorder that is not yet commercially available.


Swearingen was a project monitor for the research which was conducted by Roger Bergeron. It was funded by members of NRECA and CEATI International. As a project monitor, Swearingen provided guidance to Bergeron, such as whether the research was headed in the right direction.


Swearingen and Bergeron presented the  Advantage 2012 conference and the resulting report from the research has been shared with cooperatives and other


utilities around the globe. Utilities will be able to better understand harmonics using the report.


Swearingen frequently contributes articles to industry journals regarding harmonics and other electrical power engineering topics.


Another way the cooperative remains on the cutting edge is through the planned implementation of a broadband network that will allow for greater transmission of data between the cooperative’s meters, its substations and its personnel.


An initiative is under way to make the cooperative’s broadband network part of FirstNet’s Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network so that it would be available to emergency responders in the future. The network for the cooperative should be completed in 2013 but whether and when it will be available as part of FirstNet’s network is yet to be determined. For more information on the partnership effort under way, visit www.forceok.org. 


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