UCA(tm) Users Group to Promote Communications Standards

The UCA Users Group is formed to help establish and promote the use of international standards for electric, water, and gas utilities world-wide. The standards involved were written by the International Electro-Technical Committee (IEC) Technical Committee 57 (TC57) and include UCA(tm) per IEC61850 and ICCP per (IEC60870-6 TASE.2)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

CONTACT:
Kay Clinard
Tel: 425-868-2773
Fax: 508-632-0262
kay@ucausersgroup.org
http://www.ucausersgroup.org

UCA(tm) Users Group to Promote Communications Standards

Sammamish, Washington (USA), 15 July 2002 - A group of 15 utility companies and 19 utility suppliers have joined together to create the UCA Users Group for the purpose of providing a forum to promote the use of the Utility Communications Architecture (UCA) in the electric, gas, and water industries. The UCA Users Group is a not-for-profit corporation incorporated in the state of Washington in 2001 with a mission to enable integration and interoperability of utility devices and systems through the use of international standards.

With the imminent publication of IEC61850 for substation and feeder automation and the world-wide success of other IEC standards for inter-control center communications we have an excellent foundation of globally accepted international standards that utilities can use today to improve the integration and interoperability of their systems and really lower their costs", notes Kay Clinard, President of the UCA Users Group. We have an excellent group of the leading utilities and industry suppliers that are totally committed that will help us get our important work started. We urge everybody with an interest in furthering our goal of interoperability and integration for utilities to join us."

The activities of the UCA Users Group will include conducting training and educational programs, disseminating technical and business information via the web, sponsoring promotional programs in coordination with industry trade events, providing a forum for members to coordinate their efforts with the various technical committees setting the standards, and implementing testing and product certification programs.                  
The UCA concept was originally developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of Palo Alto, CA to develop a common infrastructure for real-time utility communications across the utility enterprise. With the initial concepts in hand, technical experts from around the world convened under the auspices of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC -- see http://www.iec.ch) Technical Committee 57 to formulate globally accepted standards for utility automation.

The first such standard resulting from the UCA effort was published in 1996 as IEC60870-6 TASE.2 (telecontrol application service element number 2) and is used for inter-control center communications. The UCA 2.0 substation automation protocol is currently available as Technical Report 1550 from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE -- see http://www.ieee.org). A single world-wide standard for substation automation is being developed under IEC as IEC61850. The IEC61850 work is based on both UCA 2.0 and European experience and provides additional functions such as a substation configuration language and a digital interface to non-conventional current and potential transformers. Future plans will bring standards for system modeling and utility-specific enterprise application integration (EAI) under the UCA umbrella.

The same basic concepts embodied in the IEC standards for electric utilities are very applicable to all utility operations including water and gas utilities and transportation", says Clinard. We are already working with various water and gas groups to expand the UCA concepts into these areas as well."

The groups next meeting is scheduled for September 12-13, 2002 at the Sawgrass Marriott in Ponte Vedra, Florida. A live hands-on multi-vendor demonstration of UCA compatible equipment will take place during the meeting.

The UCA Users Group is a not-for-profit corporation consisting of leading utility user and supplier companies that is dedicated to promoting the integration and interoperability of electric/gas/water utility systems through the use of international standards-based technology. Membership information is available at: http://www.ucausersgroup.org/Archives/TUGInvite2002.doc

For More Information Contact:
Kay Clinard, President
UCA Users Group
23512 NE 19th Drive
Sammamish, WA 98074
Tel: +425-868-2773
Fax: +508-632-0262
E-Mail: kay@ucausersgroup.org
http://www.ucausersgroup.org

UCA is a trademark of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Used with permission.

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