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PG&E describes ADMS rollout and advanced distribution applications — SCADA, FLISR, VVO and state estimation

2687460 · March 18, 2025

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Summary

PG&E told the CPUC it has cut over SCADA to a single ADMS platform, is expanding FLISR and plans to enable Volt‑VAR optimization, load‑flow estimation and OMS consolidation in the 2027 GRC cycle.

PG&E presented an update on its Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) at the March 2025 CPUC workshop, saying it has moved primary SCADA operations into the ADMS platform and plans additional releases that PG&E says will yield operational efficiencies and enable advanced automation.

Chris Froff, Senior Manager for ADMS, described ADMS as a central “single pane of glass” for distribution operators. PG&E said the initial ADMS deployment began in 2018; in 2023 it implemented an ADMS SCADA pilot and migrated several regions from legacy systems. The utility said the SCADA cutover into ADMS is complete for operator displays and that it has retired the legacy RT SCADA control system as a live backup for control room operations, while some RT SCADA components will remain temporarily for RTU server management.

PG&E described three release groups: a SCADA foundation; an outage management/operations release (including outage reporting, crew dispatch and public‑safety power shutoff coordination); and advanced distribution applications that include automated fault location, isolation and service restoration (FLISR), load‑flow state estimation pilots, Volt‑VAR optimization (VVO) and integration with DERMS. The company said it is expanding FLISR to cover more feeders and will deploy OMS capabilities in 2026 to consolidate roughly 10 legacy outage‑management applications.

Chris Froff said ADMS will support improved situational awareness, reduced operator error, faster restoration and lower maintenance overhead for legacy automation products. He gave an example comparing legacy feeder‑automation (Flizzer/Yukon) programming time of roughly 40 hours per scheme under older systems to about four hours using the integrated ADMS model and automation, citing reduced servers and duplication as the source of savings.

PG&E said a pilot for low‑flow state estimation covers 14 substations and 54 feeders; load‑flow estimation is planned to scale to hundreds of feeders across 2027–2030. Volta‑VAR optimization was highlighted as a customer bill reduction opportunity through conservation voltage reduction and improved power quality; the company plans to integrate real‑time forecasting and engineering analysis into ADMS to support VVO and protection coordination.

PG&E acknowledged that many advanced benefits will accrue as later ADMS releases enter production (for example, the OMS release in 2026) and said the company intends to quantify benefits in the GRC filings where possible.