Section 13:

Utility Interface Considerations

Bill Brown, P.E., Square D Engineering Services

Introduction
The vast majority of industrial and commercial facilities are served from public utilities. However, the utility
interface is often the most neglected aspect of system design. This is especially true at the medium voltage level.
Often, the service equipment manufacturer is expected to resolve issues that severely impact the design of the
system. This can result in unexpected costs and project delays. These issues should be addressed during the
system design stage, where the impacts to system reliability and cost can be adequately managed; only by
knowing the utilitys requirements is this possible.

The utilitys jurisdiction

Because utilities must serve multiple consumers, they must take the steps they consider necessary to ensure
reliable service over their entire system. Because of this, most utilities impose requirements on the design of the
systems to which they supply power.
Those elements of the system design over which the utility has jurisdiction vary from utility to utility. The utility
always dictates which service voltages are available for a given size of service. The utility usually has some
jurisdiction over the service disconnect and service overcurrent protection. Certainly, the utility has jurisdiction over
(and usually the only access to) their revenue meters and metering instrument transformers. However, in some
cases the utility will require jurisdiction over the entire service equipment, and can impose requirements upon
system protection, equipment control power, and other parts of the system design. In some cases, the over-all
arrangement of the system itself, including emergency/standby power systems, may be dictated by the utility.
Because in most cases the utility is the sole service provider for a given region, negotiating these requirements is
usually not feasible. Therefore, knowledge of the utilitys requirements is vital to successful, on-time, on-budget
system design and construction.

Utility service requirements standards

Each utility typically maintains its own series of standards for individual consumer service requirements.
Such requirements are often published in the form of a service requirements handbook or similarly-titled
publication. The format of the standards, and the standards themselves, vary from utility to utility. This can be
challenging to those engineers who design industrial and commercial facilities in different areas, and to
equipment manufacturers.
In recognition of this issue, EUSERC (Electric Utility Service Equipment Requirements Committee) was formed
in 1983, combining southern-California-based PUSERC and northern-California-based WUESSC, which were
older organizations formed in 1947 and 1950, respectively. The purposes of EUSERC are to promote uniform
electric service requirements among its member utilities, to publish existing utility service requirements for electric
service equipment, and to provide direction for development of future metering technology. EUSERC publishes a
manual [1] which delineates requirements for electric service equipment through 34.5 kV. At the time of
publication, 80 utilities from 12 states are involved with EUSERC. While EUSERC does not eliminate the need
for individual utility requirements, it does help a great deal in making electrical service equipment more
standardized and less costly.

System topology snf protection

Requirements for the system topology are designed to increase both the reliability of the over-all utility system and
with the reliability of service to the installation in question. These requirements typically take the following forms:
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Restrictions on the size of services

Restrictions on, or requirements for, normal and alternate services and transfer equipment between the two

Restrictions or requirements for the configuration of emergency and standby power systems

Restrictions on the types of service disconnecting devices allowed

Restrictions on the types of service overcurrent protection allowed

Requirements for service cable compartments in service equipment

Requirements or restrictions on the number and types of protective relaying

Requirements for the service switchgear as a whole

The most common requirement, which is applied to virtually every utility installation, is that the service
overcurrent device must coordinate with the upstream utility overcurrent device, typically a recloser or utility
substation circuit breaker. If there is standby power on the premises, the utility will typically require that
paralleling the alternate power source with the utility source not be possible unless stipulated in the rate
agreement for the service in question.
Requirements for restricted access to service cable termination and service disconnect compartments in the
service switchgear are another common. In some cases these must be in a dedicated switchgear or switchboard
section, increasing the service equipment footprint. In many cases grounding means must be provided with the
equipment to allow the utilitys preferred safety grounding equipment to be installed. In some cases, requirements
may be imposed on the entire service switchgear, such as electrical racking for circuit breakers or barriers that are
not standard for the equipment type used.
In some cases the control power for the service switchgear, such as a battery, must be designed to the
utilitys specifications.
Additional protective relaying may be required to prevent abnormal conditions which, although not harmful to the
system being served, affect the reliability of the utility system. In some cases the makes and models of protective
relays for the service overcurrent protection are restricted to those the utility has approved.

Revenue metering requirements

Often the utilitys revenue metering requirements can have an effect the over-all system topology. There are two
basic utility revenue metering arrangements:
Hot-Sequence Metering: The metering instrument transformers are placed ahead of the service disconnect.
Cold-Sequence Metering: The metering instrument transformers are placed on the load side of the
service disconnect.
With hot-sequence metering, the instrument transformers and meters may be placed on the last distribution pole
for overhead services, or in a dedicated utility-supplied metering compartment outside the facility to be metered
for underground services. In these cases, the effect of the utilitys instrument transformers and meters on the
over-all design for the facility power system and equipment is usually minimal. However, in many cases the
end-user, at their expense, must supply a utility instrument transformer compartment which houses the
instrument transformers. The design requirements for these compartments are often detailed, and are present to
insure that no tampering occurs with the instrument transformers or meters. These compartments typically take an
entire section, or part of a section, of the service switchgear or a switchboard, increasing the footprint of this
equipment. In some cases, the service equipment must provide housing for the meters as well, along with
convenient access for the utilitys personnel. The utility typically provides and installs the instrument transformers
and meters, although a few utilities require the end-user or equipment manufacturer to install these. In extreme
cases the end-user must supply the instrument transformers and send them to the utility for testing. Identifying the
requirements early in the design process helps to insure that all parties are aware of the costs involved.
Utility revenue metering instrument transformers for services up to 600 V typically consist of two or three current
transformers depending upon the system configuration, unless the service is small enough to be directly metered.
In some cases voltage transformers may be required as well. Both the current and voltage transformers are
designed for metering, with the current transformers typically being bar or wound-primary type. For services over
600 V, both voltage and current transformers are required, either two or three of each depending upon the system
configuration. In some cases the utility will not allow the voltage transformers to be fused.

Additional regulatory requirements

In some cases there may be additional state regulatory requirements which apply. These are typically concern
distributed generation and may severely restrict or otherwise impact the system design. These requirements must
be fully understood before the system design is begun to avoid expensive changes later in the process. The
Public Service Commission or similar governmental regulatory agency for the region in question typically controls
these requirements.

Utility information required for system design

In designing the power system for any commercial or industrial facility the following information is crucial to
adequate system design:
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Nominal service voltage.

Maximum available fault current and associated X/R ratio.

Minimum available fault current.

Data on the utilitys nearest upstream protective device (device type and ratings, relay type and
settings if applicable).

Latest edition of the utilitys service handbook or similar publication.

Latest edition of additional state regulatory requirements, if applicable.

Contact information for utilitys system engineer or equivalent for the region in question.

Utility rate agreement, if available.

All of these, except items 6 and 8, should be available from the serving utility. Item 6 should be available from the
regional Public Service Commission or similar governmental regulatory agency. Item 8 may not be available at the
outset, but should be taken into consideration as soon as it becomes available.

References
[1]

EUSERC Manual, Electric Utility Service Equipment Requirements Committee, 2005 Edition