OSI to provide SCADA system to Sharyland Utilities of Texas

February 14, 2012 - Open Systems International (OSI) has been selected by Sharyland Utilities, L.P. (Sharyland) to provide a monarch (Multi-platform Open Network ARCHitecture) based SCADA/EMS system for Sharyland’s ERCOT planned transmission operations center, to be located in Amarillo, Texas.

This new system will operate all of Sharyland’s transmission assets located throughout ERCOT, including the new substations and transmission facilities that Sharyland is currently constructing in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains as part of Texas’ Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) process.

In 2005, the Texas Legislature established the CREZ process, in order to help encourage the development of wind generation in Texas by facilitating the construction of needed electrical transmission lines in the areas of the state determined to have superior wind resources. As part of the CREZ process, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) designated Sharyland to construct approximately 300 miles of new electric transmission lines in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains, including four collection stations and five 345 kV transmission line segments.

Sharyland’s new monarch EMS system will feature advanced SCADA and Transmission Security Analysis functionality, including OSI’s advanced Graphical User Interface (GUI); Patented Alarm Management System; Advanced Dynamic Transmission Operator Training Simulator; and Advanced Network Analysis Suite, including Topology Processing, Power Flow, State Estimation, Contingency Analysis and Common Information Model Interfaces to ERCOT.

“OSI’s system is the best fit for us as we develop our operations center in Amarillo,” said Mark Caskey, Senior Vice President of Sharyland Utilities. “The scalability of their system will be critical as Sharyland continues to grow in the coming years.”

“Sharyland’s mission to be an important transmission conduit in integrating the abundant west Texas wind-generation into the ERCOT market presents our company with a special opportunity to play a part and apply our technology to such an important project. We’re honored by Sharyland’s trust in OSI and our technology and we happily welcome them into our family of users. We look forward to a very successful and on-time implementation,” said Bahman Hoveida, OSI’s President and CEO.

Sharyland Utilities, L.P. is a Texas-based public electric utility that is fully regulated by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Sharyland Utilities is committed to providing quality customer service, affordable rates, safe and reliable electric delivery and increased investment in the electrical grid of Texas. Sharyland Utilities is unique in that it serves retail customers throughout Texas in both competitive and non-competitive areas of the state. Sharyland currently serves approximately 42,000 customers in 29 counties throughout Texas. Its corporate office is located in Dallas, with additional offices in Amarillo, Brady, Celeste, Colorado City, McAllen, Midland and Stanton. Sharyland Utilities is privately-owned by members of the family of Ray L. Hunt and is managed by Hunter L. Hunt.

OSI provides open, state-of-the-art and high-performance automation solutions to utilities worldwide. These solutions include Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Network Management Systems (NMS), Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distribution Management Systems (DMS) and Generation Management Systems (GMS); as well as individual software and hardware products and Smart Grid Solutions for utility operations. OSI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.