CDE Lightband opens New Control Center

High-tech facility allows real-time monitoring, repair of power system

Clarksville, TN – CDE Lightband, the City of Clarksville’s electric power and broadband services utility, showed off its new control center last Thursday, December 1st, 2016.

The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition center, or SCADA, is the nerve center of CDE’s electric power delivery system. Using CDE Lightband’s fiber optic network, technicians in the center now monitor the system in real time, diagnose outages, redirect the flow of power if necessary and direct repairs.

“This the most modern and up-to-date technology available,” said Brian Taylor, CDE Lightband General Manager, at the grand opening ceremony. “The reason we have it is to provide the fastest and best service to our electric power customers –  who, of course, are the citizens of Clarksville and our ratepayers.”

The central feature of the SCADA is huge array of 16 flat screen 50-inch televisions, which can display the power-flow grid, maps, satellite images of city neighborhoods, weather information and other diagnostic information.

“Wow, I thought I had made a wrong turn and wound up at NASA,” Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan said as she viewed SCADA’s cutting-edge technology. “But this is all about the City of Clarksville being better and more responsive for our citizens and electric customers. These tools help us deliver services faster and more efficiently.”

During storms and outages, the center’s real-time data capture and analysis capabilities allow engineers, technicians and crews in the field to work together seamlessly to restore power to customers quickly and efficiently.

The center also houses CDE Lightband’s team of dispatchers who continuously staff a system of phones and digital systems that receive outage reports and service requests from customers.

The two-story building was added to CDE Lightband’s headquarters at 2021 Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, and was designed by Brad Martin, of Lyle Cook Martin Architects. It includes SCADA, the dispatch center and offices. The overall 5,600 square foot project also includes three drive-through service lanes and a 24/7 payment kiosk.

“The building was designed to withstand an F4 tornado, so this is probably the safest building in Clarksville,” Martin said. “This gives CDE the operational stability it would need during a weather crisis.”

The total cost of the project was $2.3 million.

Taylor credited the Mayor, the City Council and the Clarksville Power Board, a 5-member board appointed by the Mayor, with the vision and foresight to provide the resources for the new control center.

Wayne Wilkinson, Power Board Chairman, said the center was needed for efficient operation of CDE’s large and growing electric power system, which serves 65,000 households and businesses in the City of Clarksville. The service area covers 100 square miles, and includes 892 miles of power lines and 960 miles of fiber optic cable.

“The City and the Power Board listened to the needs, and worked to provide the tools to do the job,” Wilkinson said.