Permanent Solutions for Temporary Loads an Alternate Approach to Electric System Design for Short-Term Loading

Traditional open-air substations are common among electric utilities and are generally considered to be the most economical method to serve industrial size loads. Additionally, they require a relatively large and permanent amount of land with a design life of 40 years and are typically only economical when designed for a specific propose for its distribution of power. However, these designs are not conducive to the requirements of the relatively short-term and/or mobile loads associated with industrial oil and gas production. The use of open-air substations with this type of short-term load can leave the utility with a large stranded investment in equipment that cannot be easily relocated when the short-term load is no longer needed. This paper explores an alternative approach to the use of open-air substations to serve these large but shorter-term loads.