It's safe to say that 20 years ago few electric utilities saw any need for fibre optics. Call it the dark ages.
However, in today's information-based world, utilities are seeing the light: a single strand of a fibre can hold a great deal of information and move it quickly.
For utilities, this provides an opportunity to connect their many assets with a speedy communications system.
It also provides a chance for additional revenue. Utilities with these systems can offer portions of them to local firms which rely on the efficient and effective movement of data.
North York Hydro, with a service area in the northern portion of Metropolitan Toronto, has seen the advantages offered by fibre optics.
"We have a number of requirements for it," said Robert Fanone, design supervisor for North York Hydro.
Like many modern utility companies, North York Hydro operates from a number of locations. These include administration and maintenance areas as well as the actual hard-wired assets belonging to the utility.
"To provide a reliable service, we have a lot of motorized switches operated from a central control room," Fanone said.
Those switches have, in the past, relied on radio signals or telephone hook-ups to be remotely operated. In either case, the utility was paying for "air time" on a system it did not control.
There is also the issue of power quality. The fast travel time of data on fibre networks allows
operators quicker response times to problems with the transmission system.
Revenue Generator
Recently, North York Hydro laid 2 km of fibre between offices of McDonald's Restaurants. The installation was in a busy corporate sector of the city where the utility had planned to install the cable eventually - McDonald's request hastened the action.
"We can offset some of our costs by leasing it out" Fanone said. "It doesn't matter what the signal is, whether it be telephone, data or video, fibre will handle it."
With McDonald's leasing only a small portion of the fibre that was laid, the remaining cables can be used as the utility sees fit.
The advent of fibre optics as a communications tool has proven especially attractive to electric utilities. Gone are the uncertainties associated with running a copper-wire-based system alongside power cables.
"If there was a failure on one, under certain conditions, the copper wire would be energized," Fanone said.
The dielectric fibre optic cable successfully puts an end to that concern - some manufacturers
actually install the fibre inside the core of their electrical cable.
Installation Techniques
"We decided about 15 years ago there would be benefits to the utility installing underground raceways (four-inch, concrete-encased ducts)wherever we install our plant," Fanone said.
The higher initial cost has been more than answered by the ease of service in these areas.
"The fact that we have this infrastructure with the raceways makes it extremely viable for North York Hydro to put another cable (fibre optic) next to one that's there," he said.
Above ground installation involves lashing which requires the installation of a messenger, a reinforced steel cable. A lashing device wraps the fibre optic cable around not only the messenger, but also the transmission line that is being installed.
North York Hydro, however, prefers to separate its fibre cables from its transmission lines.
"We install our fibre on a new messenger just below our secondary," Fanone said. "That way if something goes wrong with the electrical, it doesn't affect the fibre customer and vice versa."
The preparation for cable installation is done by Hydro personnel, whereas the actual installation is contracted out.
North York Hydro does not service the fibre optic cable beyond the installation and upkeep of the lines. It is a "dark" installation, leaving the communications hookups to those renting the cable.
Fanone considers the utility to still be in infancy of its dealings with fibre optics. Even so, corporate clients continue to ask for the service.
In the case of McDonald's, the company was looking for a separate system to close its communication ring.
"We closed off one loop, and Bell Canada closed of the other loop," Fanone said.
The 2 km installation for McDonald's took only four days, due to the raceways being in place. It is part a total of 8 km of fibre optics the utility plans to install before fall.
Typically, the utility installs tubes containing eight fibres which can be multiplied as the need arises. For the McDonald's job, three tubes, or 24 fibre optic, cables were installed. The fast food chain rents four fibres.
Despite the possibility of renting multiple bandwidths on each fibre, Fanone said the utility isn't interested at this time.
"The sophistication required to control and monitor the band width of a carrier is extremely expensive," he said.
This may, however, be an option for telephone or cable companies. They could, in effect, sublease bandwidth on a fibre it rents from the utility.
"The future is extremely interesting," Fanone enthused.
But there are concerns that must be met today. They include providing a way for utilities to work
together. In the Toronto area this is essential because of the unusual geographic boundaries that
separate utilities.
Future Concerns
A task force consisting of utilities from Toronto, North York and Scarborough is in place to create a system that communicates across municipal boundaries. There are customers whose operations are spread across the Metro Toronto area who would like access to high-speed communications systems. The task force will address this situation.
In North York, the technology continues to prove popular. Since completing the McDonald's installation, the utility has provided services for Sprint Canada and the North York Board of Education.