Integrating modern substation automation systems with enterprise-level management

To maintain compliance with cybersecurity requirements for power systems, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) implemented a substation automation system managed by an enterprise system that supports the security, operation, testing, and maintenance of the automation components. This paper addresses the method by which the enterprise and substation components are integrated at LADWP to provide a secure and manageable system. Secure configuration management and centralized syslog monitoring solutions were implemented to ensure the integrity of substation equipment. Intelligent electronic device (IED) passwords are automatically changed regularly with conformance to complexity rules. IED event information is archived to a centralized server for ease of event analysis across the entire system. An enterprise approach to compliance was incorporated through synchrophasor protocol (IEEE C37.118) to satisfy a portion of NERC CIP PRC-002-2 requirements for dynamic disturbance recording.