“An unconnected substation is not a modern grid asset. It is expensive steel and copper waiting for permission to become useful.” – MJ Martin
Introduction
A modern utility grid can look complete while still being fundamentally unfinished. The substation is built, the poles are installed, the transformers are installed, the breakers are tested, and the control building is energized. From a construction perspective, the project may appear ready for service. But if the telecommunications systems are missing, incomplete, poorly commissioned, or not integrated, the asset is not truly operational. It is a stranded investment sitting in the field.
After decades around utility infrastructure, I have learned that telecommunications is often the hidden dependency that determines whether a project succeeds or stalls. It is not an accessory. It is not a late-stage add-on. It is the nervous system of the utility.
What exactly is a substation and what do they look like? They take many forms depending upon where they are in the flow and what they do in the flow. Some are obvious. Others pass themselves off as a house on the street. (See below)
The Invisible System That Makes the Grid Work
Electric utilities now depend on communications for almost every critical function. SCADA, protection and control, AMI, distribution automation, distributed energy resource management, outage restoration, and cybersecurity monitoring all require reliable connectivity.
In the past, a utility could operate many assets with limited remote visibility. That world is disappearing. Today’s grid is increasingly dynamic, distributed, and automated. Devices must communicate with control centres, substations must exchange data with other substations, and field assets must report status in near real time. Without communications, the utility loses visibility, control, coordination, and confidence.
A substation that cannot communicate is like a black hole in the power grid. Energy may exist there, but operational intelligence disappears.
The Common Project Failure
One of the most preventable mistakes in utility projects is treating telecommunications as a secondary scope item. A large transmission or substation project may receive excellent attention from civil, electrical, protection, and construction teams, while telecom is assumed to be simple or handled later.
Then the project reaches the final stage. The equipment is installed. Testing is nearly complete. The in-service date is approaching. Suddenly, the team discovers that the fibre route is not complete, the radio path was never validated, the network equipment is delayed, the licencing was not secured, or the cybersecurity requirements were not addressed.
At that moment, the project stops. The utility cannot safely operate what it cannot monitor or control. Capital cannot be fully placed into service. Crews remain engaged. Contractors wait. Schedules slip. Costs rise. The root cause is not usually technology failure. It is planning failure.
Why Telecommunications Is Different
Telecommunications work inside a utility environment is specialized. It involves engineering, frequency planning, fibre design, tower access, right-of-way, permitting, vendor coordination, network architecture, redundancy, latency, cybersecurity, testing, and commissioning. Many of these activities have long lead times and hard dependencies.
A general project manager may be highly competent and still miss critical telecom risks. The issue is not project discipline. The issue is domain knowledge. Telecom has its own failure modes. A fibre path that looks practical on a drawing may be impossible in the field. A wireless link may be blocked by terrain, trees, and buildings. A network design may lack redundancy. A device may not meet operational technology security requirements.
These are not minor details. They determine whether the utility can operate safely and reliably.
The Value of Telecom Project Management
A telecom-specific project manager brings technical judgment to schedule, scope, risk, and coordination. They understand that communications must be designed early, procured early, permitted early, tested properly, and integrated before the final commissioning window.
They also serve as the bridge between engineering, operations, cybersecurity, procurement, construction, vendors, and control room staff. That coordination role is essential because telecom touches nearly every part of a modern utility project.
Good telecom project management reduces surprises. It produces realistic schedules. It identifies risks before they become delays. It ensures that communication systems are not merely installed, but functional, secure, tested, documented, and ready for operations.
A Practical Path Forward
Utilities should involve telecom and operational technology teams at the beginning of every major capital project. The telecom scope should be defined, owned, budgeted, scheduled, and managed with the same seriousness as civil or electrical work.
For some utilities, the answer will be internal capability. For others, it will require external telecom project management support. Either approach can work, provided accountability is clear and expertise is present from the start.
Grid modernization depends on communications. Automation depends on communications. Safety, visibility, reliability, and control all depend on communications. The lesson is simple: a connected asset is a utility asset. An unconnected asset is a liability waiting to be explained.
About the Author:
Michael Martin is the Vice President of Technology with Metercor Inc., a Smart Meter, IoT, and Smart City systems integrator based in Canada. He has more than 40 years of experience in systems design for applications that use broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless, and digital communications technologies. He is a business and technology consultant. He was a senior executive consultant for 15 years with IBM, where he worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He is a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).
Martin served on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). He has served as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology. He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) [now Ontario Tech University] and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario – Centennial College, Humber College, George Brown College, Durham College, Ryerson Polytechnic University [now Toronto Metropolitan University]. For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section.
He holds three master’s degrees – in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has three undergraduate diplomas and seven major certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology. He has completed over 80 next generation MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) [aka Micro Learning] continuous education programs in a wide variety of topics, including: Economics, Python Programming, Internet of Things, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive systems, Blockchain, Agile, Power BI, Big Data, Design Thinking, Security, Indigenous Canada awareness, and more.
Martin in a volunteer, a photographer, a learner, a technologist, a philosophizer, and a romantic optimist.