News
Con Edison Public Information
Richard D. Mulieri, Director
Telephone: (212) 460-4111, Office Hours,
(212) 460-6981, All Other Times
For Immediate Release: July 1, 1997
Contact: Joe Petta
CON EDISON WORKING TO SOLVE
POWER QUALITY PROBLEMS
When Con Edison engineers are called in by building owners
or managers to troubleshoot suspected power quality problems,
very often the trouble is found to be improper grounding or
wiring, which can cause interference in television and radio
broadcasts or even result in data errors on computer systems.
For many of Con Edison's large commercial and industrial
customers, power quality is an important consideration. An
understanding of power quality issues is especially important for
the successful operation of many high-tech customers in areas
such as broadcasting, finance, publishing and medicine. Con
Edison's Power Quality Service Center was created as a resource
for customers looking for solutions to various power-related
problems.
"Con Edison developed its Power Quality Service Center with
the intent of forming new partnerships with customers to promote
innovative and effective solutions to power quality problems. It
is the Center's mission to build solid, long-term business
relationships with customers by providing research, training and
knowledge for their benefit," said Peter Hofmann, Con Edison's
manager of the Center.
While Power Quality may not have been an issue 15 or 20
years ago, today's sensitive electronic equipment presents new
challenges. Con Edison is helping its customers meet those
challenges through a combination of problem-solving information,
on-site troubleshooting and project management for customers who
have chosen to undertake projects to mitigate their power quality
problems.
In addition, the company offers training for building owners
and managers that helps them to understand the wide range of
possible problems and how to identify them. "Many situations
that appear to be power quality problems often involve basic
compliance with electrical code, especially in the area of proper
grounding. While our training for facilities personnel is not a
code course, much of what is covered reinforces basic electrical
code," explained Hofmann.
The training raises customers' awareness of power quality
issues and covers topics such as harmonic distortion, equipment
monitoring and wiring and grounding. Currently there is a series
of six training sessions annually.
Another service Con Edison is offering its customers through
the Power Quality Service Center is the PQ Pager system, a power
quality monitoring instrument designed to be permanently mounted
near a building's service entrance equipment or a facility's
critical load, such as a data center or broadcasting studio. The
pager recognizes power quality events and describes them to the
customer using its built-in alpha numeric paging capabilities.
Facility managers can quickly obtain the status of incoming
service voltage quality, which is important in knowing how to
investigate equipment or process interruptions that may occur
because of voltage disturbances.
For more information about Con Edison's Power Quality
Service Center and the PQ Pager system, call the Center at 1-800-
522-5635, speak with your Con Edison account representative or
send an e-mail to pq@coned.com. Or, you can visit the Con Edison Power Quality Service Center
on the World Wide Web.
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