A Baseline Evaluation of Situation Awareness For Electric Power System Operation Supervisors

Abstract

High levels of situation awareness (SA) are critical for successful power transmission and distribution (T&D) operations. Robust and efficient operations within power T&D require that system operators maintain high levels of situation awareness to fully understand the current state of the complex and dynamically changing power grid system, and to successfully project future system states in order to respond in a timely manner. This paper discusses the results of an evaluation study conducted at an electric power control room facility to form a baseline understanding of the impact that current control room conditions have on system operator SA. An objective measure of operator SA was collected during the study through the use of the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT), which was modified to accommodate the real-time operational demands of the control room. The study also gathered subjective SA measures for the system operator position. The insights gleaned from this analysis can provide guidance when generating recommendations for modifying or redesigning control center displays to support operator situation awareness.