Energy management of traction power substations on the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system

Abstract

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Light Rail System (LRT) is unique among all other Light Rail Transit Systems in North America because it employs a real time, energy management demand metering system (EMS) to monitor and control traction power load. This system has been provided to reduce the cost impacts of demand billing imposed by the local electric utility. The fundamental requirement of the EMS is to predict the occurrence and timing of maximum peak loads and remotely control the power contributions from traction power substations to optimize the overall demand balance of each utility metering point.