sign, and improved manufacturing tech- manyfold in its 70 years of existence.
existence. To- are as great as or greater than ever before,
niques have resulted in lower costs and
lower weight and volume of material per
kilovolt-ampere of rating. In turn,
higher-rated generators and power plants
have resulted in more economic produc-
tion of power. Water-wheel generators
may be expected to deliver one-fourth to
one-half more kilowatts without increas-
ing size or weight. Turbine generators
will probably exceed 300,000 kw at 3,600
rpm.
The electric-power industry has grown
Discussion
C. W. Watchorn (Pennsylvania Water and
Power Company, Baltimore, Md.): The
statement in the section entitled "Energy
Requirements" that "The total installed
generating capacity as indicated in Figure 4
is required to supply peak loads throughout
the country with some margin for reserve"
is undoubtedly correct in the sense intended
by the authors; however, unfortunately this
simple expression frequently is misunder-
stood.
Too often it appears that the provision of
reserve, simply to provide a margin over
load, is overstressed. As a matter of fact,
generating capacity is installed only to carry
load; whether or not the reserve is there in
any specified a mount or percentage is imma-
terial so long as the load is supplied.
Capacity should be provided in such
amount as to result in reasonable assurance
Progress and Future
Transmission
S. B. CRARY 1. W. GROSS
FELLOW AIEE FELLOW AIEE
THE transmission lines are most im-
portant links in the electric power
supply system. This was recognized from
the early days of electric power, and has
become increasingly important as the use
of electricity has expanded until today it
is part and parcel of our everyday life.
This presentation deals largely with the
progress and development in the electric
transmission field. It also includes a brief
history of the art, and a discussion of the
present status and future trends.
At present, "transmission" usually is
thought of as lines of about 23 kv or
above, these comprising what might be
called subtransmission up to about 69 kv,
OCTOBER 1 952 Crary, Gross, Wagner Progress in Electric Transmission
day 80,000,000 kw, 500 watts per capita,
of capacity are installed. In the next 10
years, it is very likely that this figure will
be doubled. Energy generated today
amounts to about 2,500 kilowatt-hours
per capita per year, and continues to grow
at a rate of doubling in 10 years.
Certainly the art of power generation
has reached no ultimate peak, and the
industry can look forward to advances not
yet produced by the minds of men. The
money and effort for further development
of supplying the load, after providing for
necessary scheduled and routine mainte-
nance and for reasonable protection against
the contingencies of forced outages and
greater than expected loads. From the
planning standpoint, reserve generally is
expressed as the excess of the planned ca-
pacity over the expected load. Variations
in the actual loads as compared with those
expected (which are usually estimated 2 to
4 years in advance) result in variations of
considerable magnitude in the actual re-
serve as compared with that used as a basis
for planning. The reduced reserves that
may exist when the actual loads turn out to
be larger than those estimated serve as an
illustration of the use of the planned reserve
for the purposes for which it is provided.
Such condition is not per se an indication
of insufficient capacity having been pro-
vided since, if the planned reserve were not
used, at least from time to time, there cer-
tainly would be very little justification in
Trends in Electric
C. F. WAGNER
FELLOW AIEE
high-voltage transmission above that
range to 230 kv, and extra-high voltage
above this value. Going back some 60
years it is found that voltages now in the
distribution range were being spoken of as
transmission. In 1892, 4 kv was just
starting as a "transmission" voltage, and
Paper 52-255, recommended by the AIEE Power
Generation Committee and approved by the AIEE
Technical Program Committee fpr presentation at
the Centennial of Engineering-1952, Chicago, Ill.,
September 10 12, 1952. Manuscript submitted
June 12, 1952; made available for printing July 23,
1952.
S. B. CRARY is with the General Electric Company,
Schenectady, N. Y., I. W. GROSS is with the Ameri-
can Gas and Electric Service Corporation, New
York, N. Y., and C. F. WAGNER is with the West-
inghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa.
and the rewards to the industry will fully
justify the risks.
References
1. ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
REFERENCE BOOK (book), Westinghouse Electric
Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., fourth edition,
September 1950.
2. THE ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY, PAST,
PRESENT AND FUTURE. Electrical World (New
York, N. Y.), volume 131, May 21, 1949.
3. MID-CENTURY REVIEW AND FORECAST OF
WESTINGHOUSE ENGINEERING. Westinghouse Engi-
neer (Pittsburgh, Pa.), volume 10, January 1950.
providing it. As a matter of fact, the instal-
lation of capacity should be planned and
justified on the basis of a measured risk so
that at rare occasions the load may be as
much or more than the then available
generating capacity.
A. C. Monteith and A. A. Johnson: The
matter of margin for reserve in generating
capacity is a question which must be de-
cided by each individual operating group,
and over-all by each group of organizations
in a given area. The point concerning defi-
nition of margin or the meaning of excess
capacity over peak load, as discussed by Mr.
Watchorn, is well taken. It was not the
intention of this paper, however, in any
way, to determine or state what this margin
should be or how it is determined. Certainly
allowances must be made for routine main-
tenance of equipment and for forced outages
of equipment.
a 13-mile line was built, and transmission
"recommended" above a kv. Two years
later 10 kv was considered "available,"
and 15 to 20 kv "possible." A notable oc-
currence at that time was the start of a
plant transmitting at 2.5 kv over a dis-
tance of 41/2 miles.
In 1896 the record shows the following:
Transmission
Voltage D-C 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase
Volts ........... 8,000...3,000... 5,500-...11,000
Distance, miles.. 12 ... 3... 8... 35
Horsepower I, 000... 400... 200... 1 400
All these systems were reported to operate
successfully.
Two years later one critical stumbling
block to higher voltage transmission was
reported to be the insulators.
With the start of the century transmis-
sion-line voltages increased progressivelv
from 22 kv through 40, 60, 80, 100, to 150
until around 1920 when 220 kv was con-
sidered an engineering possibility and
lines of this voltage came into existence
963

I-0J
300
0
-J
200
- _
85 90 1900 10 20
YEAR
shortly thereafter; see Figure 1. Today
the highest voltage transmission in this
country is 288 kv which has been in serv-
ice over 15 years. There is now being
built in this country and Canada 330 to
345-kv, and in Europe 380 to 400-kv
transmission.
Initially small plants were built to sup-
ply local requirements for lighting and
gradually were increased in size to supply
power. The increasing demand for power
in the early stages required larger amounts
of power to be transmitted longer dis-
tances, and therefore higher voltage for
economical delivery and expansion.
The technical literature in the AIEE
abounds with engineering papers describ-
ing the thinking, analysis, theory, and ex-
perience of those pioneers who laid the
foundation for the transmission art and
contributed greatly to rapid and extensive
growth at that time.
The practice of 1 kv per mile was stated
early as a practical and economical rule-
of-thumb figure. While this figure is not
realistic today, transmission throughout
the years has followed this general pat-
tern, although in certain cases it has gone
as high as 3 or four miles per kv.
It is interesting to note that even in the
early days of electricity when the growth
of the electric power system was first
started, it was recognized and emphasized
that the economics and reliability of elec-
tric service always must be kept in the
forefront.
Physical Growth
A-c transmission had its beginning in
the late 1880's with the invention of the
transformer. During the past 65 years the
growth has continued until today there
are nearly 300,000 circuit miles of trans-
mission in the United States.
In 19501,2 there were in existence in the
United States nearly 220,000 circuit miles
of transmission. The distribution in cir-
cuit miles according to voltage classifica-
tion and type of structure (wood or steel)
964 Crary, Gross, Wagner Progress
Figure 1. High-
est transmission-
line voltages
_ _ _ _ _
30 40 50 60
is shown in Table I.
From a recent survey1 it is seen that the
circuit miles are increasing at a rate of
about 30,000 per year. About 50 per cent
ofthe circuit miles are in the voltage classi-
fication above 66 kv and the other half 11
kv to 66 kv. Also, these same surveys in-
dicate that there is an increasing percent-
age of higher voltage as compared with
lower voltage transmission. The growth
of transmission systems, as indicated by
the percentage increase in circuit miles,
is at greater rate than the percentage in-
crease in generating capacity. This in-
dicates a continuing trend to transmit
larger loads a greater distance. There
is every indication that this will continue,
particularly with the building of larger
generator stations at a distance from
their loads.
It is also of interest to note from Table
I that about 93 per cent of the transmis-
sion circuit miles below 100 kv use wood-
pole structures, whereas above 100 kv, 51
per cent use steel structures. Wood poles
are used up to and including 230 kv.
By 1927 the transmission systems al-
ready had been developed quite fully as
shown in Figure 2. This shows the cir-
cuits of 60 kv and above in the United
States at that time.
In the natural evolution of power sys-
tems higher circuit voltages are super-
imposed upon the lower voltage existing
system as the load density and size of
blocks of power to be transmitted in-
crease. Figure 3 shows the present 230-
kv and higher circuits now in use or defi-
nitely projected. Although small in per-
centage of total circuit miles, the higher
power carrying capability of the higher
voltage circuits make them important
elements of the transmission systems.
Lightning Protection
Lightning has been one of the most
formidable enemies of power lines and
equipment. Protection against its ef-
fects has taken entirely different courses
in Electric Transmission
for lines and for equipment. Lines with
their direct exposures, when no provisions
are taken to protect them, under average
conditions can have flashovers of the in-
sulators of about 100 per 100 miles of line
per year. With adequate lightning pro-
tection, this can be reduced to a few per
cent.
For transmission lines, this protection
usually takes the form of overhead con-
ductors that are grounded at each tower.
In the early days the ground wires were
located to give optimum coupling on the
theory that induced strokes was the phe-
nomenon to be guarded against. By 1930,1
however, the direct stroke theorv was pro-
posed. The data accumulated since then
have confirmed this theory. Ground
wires now are located above the conduc-
tors, preferably with a shielding angle of
about 30 degrees, although quite satisfac-
tory service can be obtained at the sacri-
fice of additional direct strokes to the con-
ductor if an angle as large as 45 degrees is
used.
It is not sufficient that the stroke
merely be intercepted by the ground wire.
The footing resistance of the tower must
be low. With a high tower footing re-
sistance, the entire tower including the
ground wire is raised in potential above
ground by the passage of the stroke cur-
rent through the footing resistance. Since
the conductors are parallel to the ground
wire, voltage is induced in them by mutual
coupling. The voltage across the insula-
tor string is equal to the difference in
voltage of the ground wire and of the con-
ductor. Thus the voltage that causes a
flashover of the insulator string is propor-
tional to 1.0 minus the coupling factor and
to the tower top potential. The latter
can be kept low only by means of a low
tower footing resistance.
Other factors that determine the line
performance are the magnitude and fre-
quency of occurrence probabilities of
Table I. Circuit Miles of Transmission, United
States
1950 Statistics, References 1 and 2
Circuit Miles
Type of Structure
Kilovolts Steel Wood Total
15.3 to 26.4 299... 25,743 .... 26,042
.0... 41,240
26.5 to 36.5 ...... 1,174 ... 40066
36.6 to 47.5. -1,412... .24,953.... 26,365
47.6 to 79.9..... 7,975 ... 46,407 .... 54,382
80 to 125 ...... 16,151... 21,777 .... 37,928
126 to 143 ......10,230.... 7,508 .... 17,738
144 to 188 2,651.. 3,689.... 6,340
189 to 253 3,051.... 506 .... 5,557
254 and up 791.... 0.... 791
Total .. .. 43,734... 170,649 ... 216,383
OCTOBER 1 952
Figure 2. Location oF transmission lines in
the United States operating at 60 kv and above
in 1927
lightning stroke currents, the span lengths
and, of course, the number of insulators
in the string. The over-all effect of these
factors is shown in Figure 4 for typical
steel tower lines5 from 69 to 230 kv in-
clusive, in which the flashovers are plotted
as a function of the tower footing resist-
ance. WA'hile practice varies with regard
to the number of insulators used for any
particular voltage, the full lines are drawn
'for the average number now in use in this
country. Similarly, the span lengths also
were taken for average conditions. These
curves emphasize the need for low tower
footing resistance. While in some regions
the normal tower footing resistances are
sufficiently low to provide satisfactory
service, at others special steps must be
taken to lower the resistance. Ground rods
or counterpoises sometimes are used.
Ground rods as long as 150 feet or more
have been driven at some locations.
Counterpoises usually are buried about 18
inches below the surface of the ground
and may be of the crow foot or the con-
tinuous type. To obtain the maximum
benefit from the porcelain insulation, the
clearances from the conductors to the
tower structure must be co-ordinated with
the flashover characteristics of the in-
sulator strings.
Equipment protection centers around
the lightning arrester. (In the beginning
a number of problems were presented by
OCTOBE-R 1 952 Crary, Gross, Wagner Progress in Electric Transmission
the lightning arrester, but now it is a re-
markably reliable and effective piece of
equipment.) Experience has shown light-
ning arrester failures to be extremely rare
when properly applied, on the order of
one in every 10,000 lightning arrester-
years of service. The whole theory of in-
sulation co-ordination and the detenrina-
tion of the basic impulse insulation levels
of equipment are based upon the perform-
ance of lightning arresters. In the high-
voltage field, most lines are equipped with
ground wires either for their entire length
or for about 1 mile out from the substa-
tion. In addition, ground wires fre-
quently are run over the substation it-
self. Thus, for substation protection, the
lightning arrester is not subject to the full
magnitude of the lightning stroke current
which might reach magnitudes of 150,000
or 200,000 amperes as extreme limits.
Most of the current is diverted to ground
by the ground-wire system so that, in con-
trast, the lightning arresters in stations
rarely are called upon to discharge cur-
rents in excess of 5,000 amperes.
Since the lightning arrester rating is de-
termined by the maximum dynamic volt-
age that can appear across its terminals,
solidly grounding the system permits a
sufficiently low-rated lightning arrester
so that, with the limitation in discharge
current just noted, a steady increase in the
proportion of substation transformers of
lower insulation is in progress. More and
more it is becoming the practice to lower
the insulation level of transformers one
level below that in use some 25 years ago.
These are the so-called "reduced level'
values.
The use of protective gaps as a primary
protection in substations is being aban-
doned rapidly. Only with full trans-
former insulation and with the gaps set to
such low values that switching surges
frequently produce flashovers can the gap
afford proper protection to the trans-
former. With the American practice of
using lightning arresters, not only is
better service obtained but, in addition, a
less expensive combination of transformer
and lightning arrester is obtained. The
additional cost of the lightning arrester
is more than paid for by the reduced cost
of the transformers and better protection
is provided.
Symmetrical Components
Prior to 1918 practically all system cal-
culations were made for balanced 3-phase
conditions. There was no convenient
tool with which to handle unbalanced
conditions. It was at this time that Dr.
C. L. Fortescue developed and presented
to the world symmetrical components.6
For years, however, it was felt that the
principal application of symmetrical com-
965
 Figure 3. Location of transmission lines in the United States and Canada operating at 220 kv
N. \and above in 1952
Circuits now in operation
- - - - Circuits deFinitely planned or projected for operation at 220 kv and above

WLATITUDE_ -

C
OIQ~~~~~
TS t ;~ X ) 4>.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

C)
H:\
 20 EXAMPLE OF CALCULATED SWING CURVE

4 cn
w
w
i&
CD
w
a
-i
z
a2 1
0
2
w
w
0 (Li
0. 4
s -J

0
a-z
z
(0)
c,)
41
-j 41
U. -j
CD
4

0 20 40 60 80 100
TOWER FOOTING RESISTANCE IN OHMS
Figure 4. Performance of typical well-shielded steel-
tower transmission line from 69 to 230 kv inclu- Figure 5. Example of calculated angular displacement of generators
sive, as a function of tower footing resistance and on a faulted system, showing stable and unstable conditions for
number of 53/4-inch spaced insulators diKferent fault clearing times

ponents would be for the analysis of
machines under unbalanced conditions.
It was not until 1925 that the value of this
tool was appreciated as applied to the
calculations of unbalanced faults7'8 on
symmetrical systems and as applied to the
stability problem. Today these latter ap-
plications are the most important ones
and account for the widespread accept-
ance of this method of analysis.
The great usefulness of symmetrical
components in the electric utility field
arises from the simplification that results
when the system itself is balanced and the
only unbalance is that arising from a fault.
In this case, the actual system voltages
and currents can be resolved into three
completely independent balanced systems
with their own associated impedances.
Today the terms used in symmetrical
components are the accepted parlance of
the industry. The terms positive, nega-
tive, and zero sequence form a part of the
working tools of the transmission engi-
neer. The application of relays and cir-
cuit breakers are based upon, and ex-
pressed in, terms of sequence impedances.
The degree of system grounding is ex-
pressed as a ratio of the zero- to positive-
sequence reactance. Relays that respond
to certain combinations of these compo-
nents of voltage or current have been de-
veloped. The use of the a-c calculating
board for system studies is based on the
concept of symmetrical components.
System Stability
Hunting of parallel generators driven
by reciprocating prime movers was one of
the first types of instability evidenced in
power system operation during the period
from 1890 to 1900. This problem of hunt-
ing was overcome largely by the use of
damper windings for the salient-pole type
of engine-driven alternator and by the use
of closed rotor slots for the turbine-driven
alternators. As a result, in the period
1900-1910, the hunting problem had been
fairly well solved so that during the next
decade, 1910-1920, attention could be de-
voted to the transient stability problem.
During the 1920's, the fundamental
theory began to be evolved which became
the basis for the present-day methods of
analysis. Both steady-state and transient
stability theory were developed to a con-
siderable extent in the 1920's and 1930's.
In 1937 the Subcommittee on Inter-
connection and Stability Factors of the
AIEE Transmission and Distribution
Committee presented "The First Report
of Power System Stability"9 which sum-
marized the development and application
of stability theory to power system de-
sign. This report includes a table of the
essential features of several of the major
high-voltage transmission systems exist-
ing at that time, with an extensive bibliog-
raphy. This bibliography has been ex-
tended to 1946 in reference 10.
The step-by-step solution of the multi-
machine transient stability problem as
originally described during the 1930's is
still used as the basis for determining the
system transient stability characteristics.
Figure 5 is typical of a calculated swing
curve. This is an example of a 4-machine
problem which shows the effect of quick
fault clearing. Today, stability studies
are considered a part of most system
studies and the methods of analysis have
been highly developed and continually re-
fined. Verification of the theory has been
obtained in many cases by actual system
oscillographic records and relay opera-
tions of system disturbances.

OCTOBER 1 952 Crary, Gross, Wagner Progress in Electric Transmission 967

 Table 11. A-C Calculating Boards boards are used primarily for the deter-
mination of power system performance,
Year including load flow and stability, and for
Name Location Installed the accurate predetermination of the re-

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

quired line and terminal equipment. The
(in co-operation with General Electric Company) .... ......... Cambridge, Masa. 1929 stability problem also has been solved
Westinghouse Electric Corporation Number 1
(later transferred to Purdue University) ..................... East Pittsburgh, Pa. ... 1929 more recently by the use of the differential
Pennsylvania Railroad .................................... New York, N. Y. 1932 analyzer and miniature systems using
Commonwealth Edison Company
General Electric Company Number
.......................... Chicago,
.................. Schenectady, N. Y.
193 rotating machine analogues. These lat-
5. 1 .....
Public Service Company of New Jersey ..................... Newark, N. ... 1938 ter methods are more effective for study-
Valley
Tennessee Authority ................................ Chattanooga, Tenn.
Bonneville Power Authority ............................... Portland, Oreg. 1938 ing special effects and are limited to rela-
Sao Paulo Tramway Light and Power Company ............. Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Potomac Electric Power Company .......................... Washington, D. C.
*. 1940
1941
tively few machine groups. The a-c cal-
11. Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario .............. Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1941 culating board is by far the most impor-
Public Service Company of Oklahoma ...................... Tulsa, Okla.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation Number 2.. East Pittsburgh, Pa.
.1941
tant means for solving the specific and de-
..
1942
Illinois Institute of Technology ............................ Chicago, 1945 tailed system problems involving many
15. Iowa State College ........................................ Iowa Ames,
16. Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas College Station, Tex.
..............
.1946
.1947
machine groups.
City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Los Angeles, Calif.
......... 1947 The methods of analysis which have
University of Kansas ..................................... Lawrence, Kans.
Associated Electrical Industries, Ltd ................ Willesden, England.
... 1947 been developed, combined with the use of
20. Georgia School of Technology ........................ Atlanta, Ga ........... .1947 the a-c calculating board, have resulted in
Pacific Gas and Electric Company........ San Francisco, Calif. ... .1948
Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company of a broad and basic understanding of system
Baltimore ............................................. Baltimore, Md.
United States Bureau of Reclamation ....................... Denver, Colo. 1948 performance under both steady-state and
24. Electricite de France ...................................... Paris, France. .. 1948 transient conditions. This has aided ma-
General Electric Company 2 ............................... Schenectady, N.
English Electric Company, Ltd ............................. Stafford, England.
1949 terially the rapid advancement of im-
26.

Jugoslavia ........................................................................ .1949 proved methods of operation and prac-

University of California .................................. Los Angeles, Calif.
India Institute of Science .................................. Bangalore, Hindustan. *1950 tical system design for improved economy,
Electricity Supply Commission of Johannesburgh ............. Union of South Africa. 1950 and has provided an effective engineering
Victoria State Electricity Commission ....................... Melbourne, Australia.
Commonwealth Edison Company .......................... Chicago, 1951 tool to cope with the rapid expansion and
Northwestern University
University of Illinois
..................................

......................................
Evanston, Ill.
Urbana, Ill.
1951
.1951
interconnection of systems.
35. Detroit Edison Company .................... Detroit, Mich. 1951 Another important calculating device
American Gas and Electric Service
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Corporation ..............

Comision Federal De Electricidad
Tabelec ............................. Brussels,Belgium
Improvement of stability characteris-
tics is now realized by a relatively small
increase in cost by proper co-ordination of
the design factors. The essential reason
for this is that the trend in system and
equipment design, in order to obtain high
loadings and low investment costs, neces-
sarily has been steadily in the direction to
improve the system stability character-
istics.
Machine Analysis
It was realized early in the development
of the stability theory that an adequate
theory for synchronous machine perform-
ance was also essential. Much of this
fundamental work was developed by
Doherty and Nickel" and Park'2 and from
this grew an understanding of the impor-
tant characteristics, particularly the re-
actances, which define the essential per-
formance of machines under steady-state
and transient conditions. This develop-
ment of machine theory was paralleled
with both system and generator tests,
verifying the correctness of the theory.
The machine analysis, coupled with the
method of symmetrical components, pro-
vided the basis for studies of the effect
of unbalanced faults and other dissym-
.........................
New York, N. Y.
Lima, Ohio.
.......................... Mexico City, Mexico
Magrini, S. A.Bergamo, Italy
metries. Later, the machine th
extended to include the effect of aory was
seur windings, excitation response
tion, and other characteristics s This
continually improved understai nding of
the performance of synchronous machines
provided a sound basis for evaluCating the
different characteristics of the
equipment and their influence oi system
design.
Calculating Devices
The economic importance of power
system studies and the excelleint back-
ground for analysis which had been de-
veloped from the theory of syTrimetrical
components, stability, and rotalting ma-
chinery resulted in the developu nent and
application at an early date of sp)ecial cal-
culating devices for the solution cif system
problems. One of the most outtstanding
developments was that of the a-c calculat-
ing board in 1929 which had E een pre-
ceded about 10 years by the wse of d-c
calculating boards for the determination
of short-circuit currents. The uLse of the
a-c network calculating board has de-
veloped at an accelerated rate diuriig the
past decade. Table II, which . lists 40
boards, indicates their wide use . These
1951
1951
is the transient analogue computer which
.on order has provided a means for studying a wide
.on order range of transient problems resulting
from faults, switching, and lightning
surges. By means of these devices it has
been possible to include the nonlinear
effects, for example, of saturation in trans-
~,satura- formers and lightning arresters, which
would have been far too difficult to solve
by ordinary methods. This type of de-
vice has been most useful in investigating
the causes of overvoltages and what had
electric
been heretofore complex and not well-
n
understood phenomena.
Overvoltages Other than Lightning
As the methods of analysis and ex-
perience were applied successfully to re-
duce the frequency and severity of out-
ages caused by lightning, increasing atten-
tion was given to all other sources of over-
voltages. A report in 1948 by the General
Systems Subcommittee of the AIEE
Transmission and Distribution Commit-
tee entitled "Power System Overvoltages
Produced by Faults and Switching Opera-
tions"'13 gives the historical background
and analytical and experience record, as
well as a bibliography of this material.
Reference 14 further extends this bibliog-
raphy. These studies, making use of the
analogue computers and test experience,
resulted in a greatly improved under-
standing of the cause of overvoltages and
the performance of protective equipment

968 Crary, Gross, Wagner-Progress in Electric Transmission OCTOBER 1 952

such as to provide a rational basis for the
reduction of line and terminal insulation,
all in the direction of further system
economy.
Preferred System Voltages
Standardization of voltages dates back
to the AIEE standardization rules of
1899. Since that time there have been
several revisions, the last of which took
place in 1949 through the activity of the
Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the
National Electric Manufacturers Associa-
tion (NEMA).'5 The latest revision be-
came necessary because of (1) the upward
trend of utilization voltages, (2) the in-
creasing use of high- and low-voltage net-
works, and (3) more complete studies of
voltage regulation problems. Table III
gives the results of the EEI and NEMA
recommendations. The first column in
this table gives the preferred nominal
system voltages. The maximum toler-
able voltage at which the system must
operate is of utmost importance to the
utility engineer in determining the volt-
age regulation conditions and to the
manufacturer in designing his equipment
to meet system operation conditions. It
was recognized that the maximum toler-
able voltage must be a function of loca-
tion in the system at which the equipment
is placed to provide for regulation. This
has been taken care of by establishing
different maxima for (1) the voltage
utilization point, (2) primary voltages at
distribution transformers, and (3) sub-
station and transformer svstems. These
three maxima are listed in Table III also.
In the higher voltages there is less need for
a distinction between these conditions,
and only one maximum which at 46 kv
and above is 5 per cent above the nominal.
Ground Wires
As stated previously, the function of
ground wires is to intercept the lightning
stroke and to prevent the stroke from
striking the current-carrying conductors.
Before the need for adequate grounding
and tower footing resistances was well
understood, the mechanical hazards, with
the poor construction then in vogue, fre-
quently overshadowed the advantages ob-
tained. However, during the past 25
years, with the better understanding of
its function and the improvement in
mechanical construction, the ground wire
has developed from the accessory or
nuisance stage to conductors having the
same reliabilities as the current-carrying
wires. Today they are usually made of
steel, reinforced aluminum, copper, cop-
OCTOBER 1 952 Crary, Gross, Wagner-Progress in Electric Transmission
Table 111. Preferred System Voltages above 1,000 Volts
From EEI-NEMA Preferred Voltage Report, 1949
Maximum Tolerable Voltage
Preferred Primary Substations
Nominal Voltage Voltages at and
System Utilization Distribution Transformers
Voltage Point Transformers Systems
2,400 .... ....... 2,540 ... ...... 2,600 ..... ..... 2,750
2,400/4,160 Y ........... 2,540/4,400 ......... 2,600/4,500 . ......... 2,750/4,760
4,800 .... ....... 5,080 ... ...... 5,200 .... ...... 5,500
6,900* .... 7,200 .................................
...............
7,200. 7,800 .................... 8,250
4,800/8,320 Y .......... 5,200/9,000 ........... 5,500/9,520
12,000 .......... 13,000 .......... 13,200
7,200/12,470 Y .......... 7,200/12,470 .......... 7,920/13,700
Y7,620/13,8200 ...........8.............................. 8,250/14,300 .......... 8,320/14,500
13,200 .................... 14,300 ................... 14,500
14,400 ... 15,000 .................... 15,500
23,000 ......................................................................... 25,800
27,600 ..... 31,000
34,500 ......................................................................... 38,000
46,000 ......................................................................... 48,300
69,000 ......................................................................... 72,500
115,000 ......................................................................... 121,000
138,000 ......................................................................... 145,000
161,000 .... 169,000
230,000 .... 242,000
* Since utilization at this level is confined principally to 6,600-volt motors in large steel mills, mines, and
so forth, a nominal designation of 6,900 volts is commonly used and is included herewith, even though it is
not consistent with other nominal voltages in the utilization group. The voltage zones for this level like-
wise are related to 6,900 volts rather than to 7,200 volts.
perweld, or galvanized steel, and are giv- in which a line that has been de-ener-
ing entirely satisfactory performance. gized for some time flashes over upon
being re-energized even under normal
Line Insulation voltage. This phenomenon appears to be
associated with the condensation of dew,
While, as was shown under the section which would not have occurred had the
entitled "Lightning Protection," the line been energized continuously.
number of insulators has a profound effect As can be seen from Figure 4, the num-
upon the lightning performance of lines, ber of insulators that are used most fre-
the actual number of insulators usually quently in practice at any voltage in-
are selected for other reasons. If light- crease progressively as the system volt-
ning were the only consideration, there age increases. The lines, as a result, also
wotuld not be much difference in insula- become progressively immune to light-
tion between lines of different voltages. ning. At about the 230-kv level of in-
Surveys indicate that, in general, the in- sulation, an increase in the number of in-
sulation increases with voltage. Table IV sulators does not appreciably improve the
gives the most common number5 and the lightning performance. Unless contami-
range of insulators that are used on wood- nation conditions dictate otherwise, it is
pole and steel tower lines. It is difficult to likely that beyond 230 kv a somewhat re-
determine precisely the insulation for a duced increment of insulation can be
given line. And, of course, this is borne used.
out by the range in the number of insu-
lators that are in use at the present time. Conductors
Contamination, whether from salt spray
or industrial depositions, plays an impor- The choice of conductor size in the
tant part. Table IV gives the 60-cycle early days appeared to be influenced
flashover values of different numbers of largely by the dictates of Kelvin's law.
insulators under both wet and dry condi- Today, however, there are many other
tions. These values are for clean insula- factors which influence the choice, such as
tors. Dirt might well decrease the flash- providing for suitable transmission-line
over so that the insulators, which under capabilities, and emergency requirements
wet conditions and clean, have a flash- as well as service reliability under the
over of five times normal, when wet and most severe operating conditions. Loads
contaminated might have a value of three on transmission systems are not fixed
times normal. This approaches a condi- throughout their useful life. They vary
tion under which switching surges could widely in some cases because of changing
produce flashover. Conditions also occur power flow between systems, possible
969
 Table IV. 60-Cycle Characteristics of Modern Lines
Wood-Pole Lines Steel-Tower Lines
60-Cycle Flashover 60-Cycle Flashover
Nominal
Voltage Number* Dry Wet Number* Dry Wet
in of Times Times of Times Times
Kilovolts Insulators Kilovolts Nominal Kilovolts Nominal Insulators Kilovolts Nominal Kilovolts Nominal**

4 270 . 6.8 . 180 ... 4.5............ 4.......... 270 .......... 6.8 .. 180. 4.5
69 .......... .........330 . 8.3 ......230 . 5.8 ............ 380......... 9.5 .
... 260
. 6.5
6 ....... 380 .. 9.5 .......... 270 ......... 6.8 . . 8 500 . 12.5 8.5. 340
5 6 380 . 5.7 .......... 270 ......... 4.1 . 6. 380 . 5.7 . 3.9.
260
115 .......... 8 . 00. 7.5 . 340 . 5.1............ 8.......... 500 .......... 7.5 . 340 . 5.1
10 600 9.0 420 .......... 6.3
..........
. 10 . 600 . 9.0 . 6.2. 410
8. 500 . 6.3 .......... 340 .......... 4.3 . 8. 500 . 6.3 . 4.3. 340
138 . ..9......... .......... 6.9 . 370 . 4.7
. .........0 600
10 .......... 7.5. 4105. 1
11....... 660 .. 8.3 .......... 450 . ......... 5.7 12 . 710 . 8.9 . 6.0. 480
i9 550 . 5.9 .......... 370 .......... 4.0 . 9. 550 .
660
11 ..........
5.9 .
7.1.
4.0.370
450 4.8
161 . 10......... . 600 .. 6.5 . 420 . 4.5 . .
(12 . 710 .. 7.6 .......... 480 ...........5.2 . 14 . 820 . 8.8 . 6.0. 560
14 . 820 . 6.2 . 560 . 4.2
230 ..... .16 . 930. 7 .. 630. 4.7
20 . 1140 .......... 8.6 .. 780 . 5.9
516 .. 930 .......... 5.6 .. 630 . 3.8
287. . . . .18
. 1030 . 6.2..
......... 710 . 4.3
22 .. 1250 . 7
...... .. 8.55...1
* Middle number represents most common practice; other numbers the range.
** Times normal line-to-ground.

failure of equipment or paralleling lines,
staged or forced outages of equipment for
maintenance, and system growth before
additional generating facilities can be in-
stalled. These are features which must be
considered in selecting the conductor
size.
In the extra-high voltage field, factors
other than copper loss must be considered.
Corona was given careful study in the
early 1930's prior to the building of 288-
kv lines. Radio influence is now another
factor which has received considerable at-
tention of late in the projected design of
extra-high voltage lines. The result of
this study shows the need to increase the
conductor diameter to limit radio in-
fluence; see Figure 6. On the other hand,
an offsetting influence is the requirement
of keeping the lines serviceable under sleet
conditions, which requires the use of a
smaller conductor than required for free-
dom from corona, radio influence, and
thermal limitations.
The use of copper for line conductors in
the early days has given way in a large
degree to aluminum with steel core in the
high-voltage field and long span construc-
tion. Today consideration also is being
given to all-aluminum conductors and
their use may prove feasible. Over-all
economy of line construction and the cost
and availability of the two metals will, of
course, set the pattern for the future.
Insulators, Arcing Horns, and
Grading Shields
As mentioned previously, line insula-
tors in the early days were one of the
major obstacles in going to higher trans-
mission voltages. This limitation was re-
moved in the early 1920's with the de-
velopment in the art of making insulators
with freedom from porosity and a better
performance under the thermal expansion
characteristics of porcelain and hardware.
This resulted in availability of porcelain
insulators not only of the suspension type
but also of the pin type, where required,
which have given an excellent account of
themselves since that time. Today there
is practically no insulator problem as
such.
The early design of high-voltage trans-
mission lines of 110 kv and above using
suspension insulators gave trouble in
some cases (in addition to faulty porcelain
and insulator assembly) due to insulator
damage by lightning flashover. This
situation was brought under control by
the use of arcing horns or grading shields
(so-called) which, with proper design,
held the short-circuit arc clear of the in-
sulator porcelain and minimized damage
to the insulators and conductors. It is
worth noting that when this development
took place, relatively long relay times on
transmission lines permitted a long dura-
tion and heavy concentration of short-cir-
cuit power, which was the inherent cause
of insulator damage.
Today, however, due to the high speed
clearing of line faults, arcing horns or
grading shields generally are omitted on
new lines.
Protector Tubes
As a further means of preventing light-
ning flashover of line insulators, protector
tubes came into use on an experimental
basis about 1933. Some of the first in-
stallations were made on 110-kv and 132-
kv lines. Limited trial installations also
have been made on 220-kv lines. Many
protector tubes are now in service on 110-,
66-, 33-, and 27-kv lines and are giving
good account of their ability to make the
lines lightning-resistant.
On the high-voltage lines (132 kv) the
tubes were mounted directly on the in-
sulator string assemblies and at every
structure. On the lower voltage lines the
tubes were supported directly on the
tower arms or from auxiliary arms or
bracing. To reduce cost on the lower
voltage lines, the tubes were mounted at
every third structure or so but usually on
all three phases of the line. A later prac-
tice on lines not using ground wires was to
install the tubes on the top phase wire
only, thus using the top line wire as a
shield or ground wire and diverting the
lightning to ground through the tube.
This practice has been reported as success-
ful.
Grounding Practices
In this country "solidly grounding" is
the preponderent method of grounding of
systems in all voltage classes above 23 kv.
Ungrounded and reactance-grounded sys-
tems are found principally in the 23- and
34.5-kv systems and at lower voltages.
Also, in voltages below 25 kv (distribution
range) is found the 4-wire system, a type
that appears to be indigenous to this
continent. It consists of a grounded-
neutral wire which runs the entire length
of the circuit and fans out with each
single-phase lateral. Loads may be taken
from such a system either from phase to
phase or from phase to neutral, the fourth
wire carrying the unbalanced components

970 Crary, Gross, IVagner-Progress in Electric Transmission OCTOBER 1 952

of load. The ground-fault neutralizer,
variously called the Petersen coil or the
resonant grounding coil, is used mainly in
the intermediate and lower voltage sys-
tems such as 34.5 kv.
Various reasons have been given for the
strong popularity of the grounded-neutral
system. Solidly grounding permits a re-
duction in the equipment insulation
through the lowering of the rating of the
lightning arresters that are applied for its
protection. Solidly grounding simplifies
the relaying system and provides it with
greater discrimination and positiveness.
Solidly grounding also reduces the mag-
nitude of switching surges and reduces the
possibility of arcing grounds and double
or consequent faults. It is also more
adaptable to interconnection. It further
permits the use of graded insulation on the
transformer neutral end. On the other
hand, solidly grounding can increase the
maximum fault current and in rare cases
increases the flow of harmonic currents in
the ground circuits. The latter on oc-
casion has been the source of trouble in
parallel telephone circuits. However, the
improvements in telephone systems and
the understanding co-operation between
the power utilities and the telephone
companies have advanced to such a
stage that today this phase of the problem
is of little consequence. The reduction
in cost, consequent to the reduction in in-
sulation, applies particularly to the sys-
tems of 115 kv and above. Below 115kv
the economy in going to the next lower
insulation level is not so significant, and as
a result these systems usually use full in-
sulation. In many cases, in the 34.5-kv
and 69-kv classes, solidly grounding is ap-
plied for relay protection, and permits the
2.2
2.0
1.8Al
1I.6
z System Outages
w 1.4
1.0~~
0
OCTOBER 1 952 Crary, Gross, Wagner-Progress in Electric Transmission
use of lightning arresters of lower ratings.
The use of the ground-fault neutralizer
is found most frequently on the systems
around 34.5-kv. In America this type of
grounding is used at about this voltage
for the two following reasons: 1. the cost
incentive of lower insulation applicable to
higher voltages is no longer present in this
range; and 2. lines in this category are
less likely to be equipped with ground
wires and are therefore more subject to
lightning flashovers. This condition in-
creased the need for a self-clearing de-
vice, such as the ground-fault neutralizer,
to clear the line-to-ground faults on the
line. The application of the ground-fault
neutralizer is more difficult to justify on
systems with ground wires because the
faults that originate as single-line-to-
ground faults constitute a smaller propor-
tion of the total system faults. With
ground-fault neutralizers only the line-to-
ground faults are self-extinguishing; all
other faults must be cleared by circuit-
breaker operations. While the propor-
tion of single-line-to-ground faults lies be-
tween 50 to 80 per cent, the proportion
varies with the type of system and with
tower footing resistance.
High-Voltage Cable
The earliest underground power "cable"
installed in this country in 1879 was a
220-volt Edison Tube. This consisted of
three copper rods insulated with jute and
asphalt and installed in an iron pipe. By
1888 lead-covered rubber cables were
operating at 1,000 to 2,000 volts. Solid-
type oil-impregnated paper insulation
was introduced in England in 1890 and
reached this country soon afterward. By
Figure 6 (left). Typical radio-
influence effects 100 feet from
under line conductor for vari-
ous line-to-line voltages and
450 conductor diameters. Fair-
weather conditions
Table V. Maximum Continuous Load Range
of Self-Contained and Pipe Cable
Voltage
Rating,
Oil-Filled
Cable in Ducts,*
Buried
Pipe Cable,**
Kilovolts Megavolt-Amperes Megavolt-Amperes
69 . 140 to 175 ....... 90 to 100
138 . 265 to 300 ....... 150 to 175
230 . 370 to 405 ....... 220 to 245
* Conductor size 3,000,000 circuLlar mils. If directly
buried, increase loading approximately 30 per cent.
** Conductor size 1,500,000 circular mils.
Five types of cable are currently available for use
at high voltages:
1. High-pressure self-contained oil-filled cable.
2. Low-pressure self-contained oil-filled cable.
3. High-pressure oil-filled cable.
4. High-pressure self-contained gas-filled cable.
5. High-pressure gas-filled pipe cable.
1921 this type of insulation was used up
to 33 kv and by 1926 up to 69 kv.
The voltage range available for under-
ground cable use was increased radically
when the first oil-filled cables (138 kv)
were put in operation in 1927. Oilostatic
was first used in 1932, and high-pressure
gas-filled pipe cable in 1941. Self-con-
tained gas-filled cable of the low-pressure
type was introduced in 1939, the medium-
pressure type was introduced in 1944, and
the high-pressure type in 1949.
Underground cable can compete eco-
nomically with a-c overhead transmission
only where a short cable line can be sub-
stituted for a much longer overhead line.
Underground cable lines rarely exceed 10
to 13 miles in length; this limit, however,
is economic and not technical. Longer
submarine crossings are being studied.
Cables often are used as links in trans-
mission lines. Otherwise for long cable
lengths the economic considerations will
require interconnection through trans-
formers to the higher voltage system.
The maximum required loads per circuit
which can be handled by 138-kv duct
cable are increasing. In the near future
loads justifying the use of 230-kv cable
are expected to be reached. Table V in-
dicates possible cable loadings.
As mentioned before, the pioneers rec-
ognized reliability of service as one of the
prime requisites of the electric power art.
This, of course, comprises not only the
transmission line but all the major equip-
ment entering into a power system.
Since the early 1920's when 110- to 132-
kv transmission lines were in service, and
shortly thereafter 220-kv lines, a great
deal of time and effort has been spent in
studying the outage performance (par-
ticularly lightning) of lines of this voltage.
In a 1946 report16 covering the operation
971
of all 220-kv lines in this country and
Canada, it was shown that lightning out-
ages per hundred miles of line per year
with an isokeraunic level of 50 ranged
from 0.14 to a high of 45, and with those
lines built with special consideration to
lightning resistance, were in the order of
about 3.8 outages per hundred miles of
line per year.
With our present knowledge of light-
ning and its effect on transmission lines
and remedial measures, these outages can
be brought within control and down to
nearly any practical value, although in
some cases other means of controlling the
power outages, such as high-speed re-
closing circuit breakers and duplicate
lines in service, also produce effective re-
sults.
Transformer Failures
Another factor which influences the
service reliability of electric power is the
transformer which supplies the trans-
mission lines. Without the transformer
the line is useless. In the transmission
range there were in the early days trans-
former failures which were a serious prob-
lem. Today, however, with the better
understanding of voltage stresses placed
on transformers in service including light-
ning, switching, and long-time power fre-
quency voltage, the transformer, by
reason of improved design and adequate
lightning protection, has become one of
the most reliable pieces of equipment in
the electric power system. In fact, so re-
liable has the large power transformer be-
come today that the general practice in
most cases, where practicable, is to use the
lower cost single 3-phase transformer in-
stead of the former practice of four single-
phase units, one serving as a spare. In-
deed, the failure of large power trans-
formers in service is an infrequent occur-
rence, and this feature is of such minor
concern today that a search of the records
fails to show any broad range accumula-
tion of data on "percentage of transformer
failures per year."
This reliability of present-day large
power transformers, of course, affects the
system layout and contributes to the more
economical first cost of the system.
Line Maintenance
No matter how well the line may be de-
signed and built, it requires maintenance
during various periods of its useful life.
In the early days with voltages not ex-
ceeding 5 kv, maintenance was done, in
many cases where the line could not be de-
energized, by protecting the workmen
972 Crary, Gross, Wagner-Progress in Electric Transmission
with rubber equipment. In the higher
voltage lines, however, even 12 kv, such
rubber equipment is not considered satis-
factory protection, and certainly is use-
less at the higher voltages. For this
reason, so-called "hot-line maintenance"
has been adopted as standard procedure
in many companies in this country. It is
being used on voltages up to and includ-
ing 288 kv. Special tools, such as tongs,
clamps, wrenches, and even tools for ap-
plying armor rods where used on the con-
ductors, have been developed and are in
practical use throughout the country.
Defective insulators in both the suspen-
sion and strain position can be replaced
by the use of such tools. Many other
operations such as repairing conductors,
installing armor rods, applying vibration
dampers, changing grading shields, and
making and removing tap connections are
now regular procedures with lines ener-
gized as high as 288 kv.
Circuit Breakers
System operation in the 1920's directed
attention to the need for quicker fault
clearing in order to overcome the stability
limitations as produced by multiphase
faults. In the early 1930's the first high-
speed high-voltage circuit breakers having
an opening time of 8 cycles were de-
veloped and placed in operation. This
was followed shortlv by the development
of 3-cycle circuit breakers of 2,500,000
kva interrupting capacity for the Hoover
Dam to City of Los Angeles transmission
line. With the subsequent interconnec-
tion of systems and the greater concentra-
tion of power in a single generating station
it became desirable to develop circuit
breakers of higher interrupting capacity.
In 1945, 3-cycle circuit breakers of 5,000,-
000 kva interrupting capacity were de-
veloped for 138 kv, 161 kv, and 230 kv.
The desirability of obtaining flexibility
of operation at the Grand Coulee Station
emphasized the need for higher interrupt-
ing capacity circuit breakers, rather than
to use electrical impedance between the
individual bus sections. This need led to
the development of 10,000,000-kva 230-
kv circuit breakers. This trend toward
the use of a solidly bussed high-voltage
transmission system has continued, re-
sulting in switchgear designed for 15,000,-
000 kva interrupting capacity and 1,600
amperes continuous current at 330 kv.
The high-voltage circuit-breaker develop-
ment in the last decade has been charac-
terized by the reduction in switching time,
increase in interrupting capacity, and
increase in continuous current capability.
These developments were the result of the
system requirement to obtain high cir-
cuit kilowatt loadings with a minimum of
system investment. With the increased
reliance placed on the switchgear be-
cause of the solidly bussed high-voltage
type of system, it has been necessary to
attain a very high degree of reliability
of the circuit breakers and relaying.
High-speed reclosing also was improv-
ing the reliability and economy of sys-
tems at the same time. Originally, re-
closing was accomplished in 35 or more
cycles. Development in the circuit-
breaker art has made it possible to de-
crease the reclosing time to 30 cveles and
then to 20 cycles. Some present circuit-
breaker mechanisms are capable of 13)
cycles, or even less, although actual use of
less than 20 cycles in the field is very
rare.
Single-phase reclosing has found an im-
portant but limited field of application.
A recent survey of high-voltage line out-
ages'7 indicates that single-pole reclosing
constitutes less than 5 per cent of the total
number of high-speed reclosing applica-
tions, whereas 3-phase automatic reclos-
ing is used for almost 40 per cent of the
total number of high-voltage circuit
breakers reported. The sur-ev empha-
sized the desirability of quick reclosing in
that 91 per cent of the reported outages
were capable of either quick or immediate
reclosure. It is accordingly expected
that high-speed reclosing will find in-
creasing application for high-voltage sys-
tems.
Protective Relaying
Protective relaying has been improved
continually to provide faster disconnec-
tion of faulted transmission-svstem ele-
ments. The evolution of carrier-current
pilot relaying for transmission lines has
reduced the operating time from a 6 to 12-
cycle range to a 1 to 3-cycle range. To-
day, the microwave-pilot channel is
available as an alternative to carrier cur-
rent wherever conditions justify its use.
Developments in high-speed bus and
power-transformer differential relaying
have kept pace with transmission-line re-
laying so that today economical and re-
liable high-speed relaying is available
for all elements of the high-voltage trans-
mission system.
It is most significant that this progress
has made feasible the standardization of
transmission-system relaying practices.
Only slight modifications are necessary to
adapt the equipment to such special ap-
plications as series capacitors and single-
phase switching. Such progress has been
made possible by the development of
OCTOBER 1952
analytical tools and techniques to the
point that basic and hence widely ap-
plicable solutions to the many problems
have been achieved. Future develop-
ments will continue to stress this aspect
as well as simplification and still faster
operation.
Sleet Melting
One of the causes of line outages which,
although not frequent, is particularly
troublesome when it does occur is that due
to accumulation of sleet and ice under
weather conditions around freezing tem-
perature. If ice is allowed to form on the
conductors under these conditions, not
only does it produce extra-heavy loads
which under extreme conditions may
cause a break in the conductor or tower
damage but also it may create conditions
where the unloading of the ice from the
conductors creates a short circuit result-
ing in a permanent line fault. To guard
against such conditions, several methods
of sleet melting have been devised for
high-voltage lines, and even for lines as
low as 12 and 33 kv in special cases. One
method consists of short-circuiting one
end of the transmission line known to be
in trouble and applying full voltage at the
other end, if sufficient line length can be
made available to control the current.
For shorter lines reduced voltage from ex-
isting lower voltage lines sometimes is
used. Another method of overloading the
stricken line is by switching of other cir-
cuits.
Melting times vary from 20 minutes to
11/2 hours, depending on the current
available. Melting currents of the order
of two to three times rated current are
used. Circuit breakers and carrier-cur-
rent line traps must be suitable for these
currents and durations.
To detect the approach of ice formation
an ingenious scheme is in use by at least
one company where significant variations
in the carrier-current magnitude which
normally flows in the line give warning
that glaze is forming
System Interconnections
System interconnections of high-voltage
transmission lines were first put into use
some 25 to 35 years ago, and their value
from many aspects has been so beneficial
that the practice has grown rapidly and is
still increasing. One company reports 16
interconnections with other companies in
a large 132-kv network.
Among the benefits derived from such
interconnection are the lower require-
ments for total installed generator capac-
OCTOBER 1952 Crary, Gross, Wagner-Progress in Electric Transmission
ity for each of the interconnected sys-
tems; the best use of the diversity load
factor for the different systems connected;
supply of emergency power in case of
equipment breakdown; and abnormally
low rainfall in case of a major hydroelec-
tric system.
Cases have occurred where acceptable
power requirements have been supplied to
an interconnected system even though one
of its major plants has been interrupted.
This practice has so many advantages
that it has grown enormously in recent
years. It is still expanding and will con-
tinue to do so in the future.
D-C Transmission
Because of the higher voltages at which
overhead transmission lines apparently
can be operated with direct current as
contrasted with alternating current, the
increased efficiency of transmission for the
same conductor has presented an attrac-
tive advantage. The permissible ratio of
direct voltage to alternating voltage is
still problematic as it depends upon such
factors as corona threshold voltage and
the relative characteristics of insulators
under alternating and direct potentials.
The advantages of d-c transmission may
be either partially or completely balanced
out by the cost of the conversion equip-
ment at both ends of the line. Economic
studies made in this country indicate that
d-c transmission with overhead lines can
only become attractive for projects in-
volving the transmission of loads in ex-
cess of about 350,000 kw, a straightaway
distance of at least 320 miles.
This country has been bountifully sup-
plied with natural fuel resources such as
hydraulic power sites, coal, gas, and oil.
There is hardly a location in which fuel in
good supply is not available within 350
miles of a point of substantial consump-
tion. D-c transmission in this country
therefore does not possess attractive pos-
sibilities. In addition, there are very
many technical problems to be solved be-
fore d-c transmission can become prac-
tical.
Where transmission by cable over con-
siderable distances is necessary, the ad-
vantages of d-c transmission are more
pronounced. The ratio of the permissible
direct to alternating voltage is much
greater in cables than for overhead lines
and, in addition, the limitations of charg-
ing current which are more important for
cables are not present. The Swedish
State Power Board, in co-operation with
Allmanna Svenska Elektriska Aktie-
bolaget (ASEA), is working on a d-c proj-
ect involving the transmission of 20,000
kw from the mainland of Sweden to the
island of Gotland,18 a distance of 60 miles.
It is contemplated that the first stage of
building will consist of a single conductor
cable with current return through the
ocean. The voltage will be 100 kv. D-c
transmission across the British Channel is
under consideration.
A considerable amount of work also
was done in Germany during the late war.
In this case cable also was used but buried
in the earth. It has been stated that stra-
tegic considerations were an important
element in this work as it was believed
that such a line might not present as con-
venient a target for aerial bombing as an
overhead line.
A number of important problems re-
main to be solved, such as the develop-
ment of high-voltage tubes for conversion
at both ends of the line, circuit breakers,
and lightning arresters. In the absence
of d-c circuit breakers it will be necessary
to use the conversion tubes to clear the
faults and to provide switching. The
lightning arrester presents a formidable
problem as an entirely new principle must
be devised, the a-c lightning arrester de-
pending for its operation upon the peri-
odic passage of the voltage through zero.
A definite limitation in d-c transmission is
its inflexibility with regard to taking off
additional loads or adding generating sta-
tions either initially or as the system
grows as each additional tap requires
expensive terminal equipment.
The improvements and developments
that are continually being made in a-c
transmission progressively increase the
difficulty of justifying d-c transmission on
a purely economic basis. The reduction in
insulation levels occasioned by the im-
provements in lightning-arrester charac-
teristics and the possibilities provided by
series capacitors completely eliminates d-c
transmission as a serious contender
against a-c transmission in the United
States.
Economics of High-Voltage
Transmission
The economics of high-voltage trans-
mission is determined essentially by the
following principles:
The cost per kilowatt of transmission-
line capability goes down with increasing
voltage, whereas the cost per transformer
kilovolt-ampere for a given size increases
with increasing voltage, and the cost per
kilovolt-ampere decreases with increasing
transformer bank capacity rating. Accord-
ingly, higher voltage becomes more eco-
nomical when it is used to transmit a large
block of power using large transformer
banks at the step-up and step-down ter-
minals. The higher voltage also becomes
973
more favorable as the transmission-line
distance increases as the line investment
becomes greater relative to the transformer
investment. Today, with modern concepts
of circuit loading, higher voltages can be
justified at much shorter distances than
were considered economical previously.
For example, depending upon local condi-
tions, it may be entirely practical with a
voltage such as 330 kv to transmit 500,000
kw, if required, a distance of 50 miles.
For a double circuit tower this would be
1,000,000 kw.
From the studies which have been made
of higher voltage systems, a pattern of
design has evolved which includes:
1. A system configuration such that the
paralleled line may be kept equally loaded
and relatively short by the use of high-
tension bussing at either end of the line
and by the use of intermediate switching
stations for the longer lines.
2. The use of step-up transformers directly
from the generators to the high-voltage bus
with possibly an autotransformer tied
from the new high-voltage system to the
existing lower voltage systems at the gener-
ator end of the high-voltage line as well as
at the receiving end.
3. The use of large conductors of 800,000
circular mils of copper equivalent or greater.
4. Use of double circuit towers to reduce
the cost of transmission, particularly where
the right-of-way costs are high.
5. Use of quick reclosing circuit breakers
and quick relaying.
6. The use of reduced insulation levels for
both the transformers and circuit breakers
(230 kv and above) as determined by the
lightning-arrester protective levels for
solidly grounded neutral systems.
7. The use of planned emergency measures
to cope with severe line outages.
One of the important advantages of the
use of higher voltage systems is that it
provides a means to effect a more efficient
transmission system as the old lower
voltage systems usually were built with
relatively large resistance-reactance ratios
from 0.2 to 0.5. The losses in such lower
voltage systems become prohibitively
high when used to transmit only moderate
blocks of power.
High-voltage systems (230 kv and
above) are expected to increase, par-
ticularly in the highly industrial areas
where it is becoming increasingly difficult
to obtain sites for generating stations near
the load. Transmission distances of 50 to
100 miles from fuel burning stations have
become quite common in order to use
favorable generating sites.
Higher voltage transmission makes
more attractive the use of larger turbine-
generator units and in this way also ef-
fects further economies. Transmission
costs per kilowatt of capability for moder-
ate distances at the higher voltage level
974 Crary, Gross, Wagner Progress in Electric Transmission
are relatively low compared to generating
station costs per kilowatt.
However, transmission of electric en-
ergy even moderate distances is not com-
petitive with pipe-line transmission of en-
ergy by oil or gas the same distance. At
the shorter distances oftentimes electric
transmission may be cheaper than coal by
railway and therefore may fully justify a
large generating station at the coal mine.
For distances from 200 miles to 600
miles, the series capacitor provides a
means of realizing an almost constant cost
of transmission per kilowatt-hour per
mile. It is expected that the higher volt-
ages will continue to be studied and ap-
plied, particularly during this period of
high rate of increase of kilowatt system
capacity.
It is highly desirable that utilities in a
given area adopt the same voltage for
their bulk power systems. The cost per
kilowatt-mile for transmission facilities is
fairly flat as a function of voltage which
permits utilities of different sizes to adopt
a common voltage without large penalty
to either large or small ones. The choice
of a common voltage provides the nucleus
of a high-voltage network for the area.
Extra-High-Voltage Transmission
The highest transmission voltage in
this country, as mentioned earlier, is 288
kv, the Boulder-Los Angeles transmission
system, and there is being built a 330-kv
system, one line of which is now in opera-
tion at 138 kv, and later will form part of a
system of several hundred miles of 330 kv
superimposed on the extensive 132-kv
network of the American Gas and Elec-
tric Company.
Another system is under construction
by the Aluminum Company of Canada at
288 kv in British Columbia. The B.C.E.
Electric Company, Vancouver, British
Columbia, has under construction a 345-
kv insulated line, to be operated initially
at 230 kv. 1 Reports are now current of
considerations being given by others to
system voltages higher than 288 kv.20
In Sweden there is in operation a 380-kv
system. A line exists in France designed
for 400 kv and now operated as a 2-cir-
cuit 220-kv line. In England a 275-kv
line is being built which is the beginning
of a projected system of 1,000 miles.
Extra-high-voltage transmission is cer-
tainly with us today, and with its de-
velopment and our present knowledge of
the art, still keeping in mind the funda-
mentals of the original pioneers that elec-
tric energy must be reliable and economi-
cal, it is believed that we are at the point
where the extension of extra-high-voltage
transmission may well be considered,
broadly speaking, in the pioneer stage.
The approach to the extra-high-voltage
transmission problem has been studied
and analyzed so thoroughly, and so much
research work has been done prior to the
building of such lines, that we can look
forward with confidence to the successful
operation of these lines as was the case in
developing 110-, 1.39-, 220-, and 288-kv
transmission.
References
1. STATISTICS OF ELECTRIC UTILITIES IN THE
UNITED STATES. Federal Power Commission,
Washington, D. C., 1950.
2. STATISTICS OF PUBLICLY-OWNED ELECTRIC
UTILITIES. Federal Power Commission, Washing-
ton, D. C., 1930.
3. TRANSMISSION HOLDS RECORD PACE. Electrical
World (New York, N. Y.), January 28, 1952, page
134.
4. DIRECT STROKES-NOT INDUCED SURGES-
CHIEF CAUSE OF HIGH-VOLTAGE LINE FLASHOVER,
C. L. Fortescue. The Electric Journal (East Pitts-
burgh, Pa.), volume 27, August 1930, pages 459-62.
Also AIEE LIGHTNING REFERENCE BOOK. AIEE,
1937, pages 546-49.
5. TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION REFERENCE
BOOK (book), Central Station Engineers. West-
inghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa.,
fourth edition, 1950, pages 589-90.
6. METHOD OF SYMMETRICAL CO-ORDINATES AP-
PLIED TO THE SOLUTION OF POLYPHASE NETWORKS,
C. L. Fortescue. AIEE Transactions, volume 37,
part II, 1918, pages 1027-1140.
7. FINDING SINGLE-PHASE SHORT-CIRCUIT CUR-
RENTS ON CALCULATING BOARDS, R. D. Evans.
Electrical World (New York, N. Y.), volume 85,
April 11, 1925, pages 760-65.
8. SYMMETRICAL COMPONENTS (book), C. F.
Wagner, R. D. Evans. McGraw-Hill Book Com-
pany, New York, N. V., 1933.
9. FIRST REPORT OF POWER SYSTEM STABILITY,
AIEE Committee Report. Electrical Engineer ing
(AIEE Transactions), volume 56, February 1937,
pages 261-82.
10. POWER SYSTEM STABILITY VOLUME II, TRAN-
SIENT STABILITY (book), S. B. Crary. John Wiley
and Sons, Inc., New York, N. Y., 1947.
11. SYNCHRONOUS MACHINES, R. E. Doherty,
C. A. Nickle. Parts I and II, AIEE Transactions,
volume 45, June 1926, pages 912-42. Part III,
AIEE Tranisactionts, volume 46, February 1927,
pages 1-14. Part IV, AIEE Transactions, volume
47, April 1928, pages 457-87. Part V, AIEE
Transactions, volume 49, April 1930, pages 700-14.
12. TWO-REACTION THEORY OF SYNCHRONOUS
MACHINES-GENERALIZED METHOD OF ANALYSIS-
PART I, R. H. Park. AIEE Transactions, volume
48, July 1929, pages 716-27.
13. POWER SYSTEM OVERVOLTAGES PRODUCED BY
FAULTS AND SWITCHING OPERATIONS, AIEE Com-
mittee Report. AIEE Transactions, volume 67,
part II, 1948, pages 912-21.
14. TRANSIENTS IN POWER SYSTEMS (book), H. A.
Peterson. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York,
N. Y., 1951.
15. PREFERRED VOLTAGE RATINGS FOR A-C
SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT, Joint Edison Electric
Institute-National Electrical Manufacturers Asso-
ciation Report. EEI Publication Number R-6,
NEMA Publication Number 117 (New York, N. Y.),
May 1949.
16. LIGHTNING PERFORMANCE OF 220-KV TRANS-
MISSION LINES-II, AIEE Committee Report.
Electrical Engineering (A IEE Transactions), volume
65, February 1946, pages 70-76.
17. REPORT OF JOINT AIEE-EEI SUBJECT COM-
MITTEE ON LINE OUTAGES, AIEE Committee Re-
port. AIEE Transactions, volume 71, part III,
1952 (Proceedings T52-6).
18. THE HIGH-VOLTAGE D-C POWER TRANS-
OCTOBER 1 952
MISSION FROM THE SWEDISH MAINLAND TO THE
SWEDISH ISLAND OF GOTLAND, Ake Rusck, B. G.
Rathsman, U. Glimstedt. Pqper Number 406,
International Conference on Large Electric High-
Tension Systems (Paris, France), 1950.
19. B. C. ELECTRIC PIONEERS 345-Kv TRANS-
MISSION, T. Ingledow. Electrical West (New York,
N. Y.), M\ay 1952, pages 71-73.
20. BONNEVILLE WILL TRANSMIT AT 300-345 Kv,
S. E. Schultz, R. S. Gene. Electrical West (New
York, N. V.), March 1952, pages 80-81.
Discussion
W. A. Del Mar (Phelps Dodge Copper
Products Corporation, Yonkers, N. Y.) and
L. F. Hickernell (Anaconda \Wire and Cable
Company, Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.):
Only one brief section, entitled "High-Volt-
age Cable," and one table, Table V, in this
otherwise admirable paper are devoted to
high-voltage cable, an amount hardly com-
mensurate with the importance of the sub-
ject. One statement in this section that
may be questioned is that solid-type oil-
impregnated paper insulation reached this
country after its introduction in England in
1890. The reference to England relates to
Ferranti's famous 20-foot rigid mains which
were insulated for 10,000 volts with wide
sheets (not tapes) of brown paper steeped
in Ozokerite wax, not oil. This audacious
installation was really an extension of the
Edison Tube system, substituting paper for
jute, and was in no sense a cable, but an in-
sulated bus.
There are many early instances of the use
of paper insulation, and its use on electric
power wires dates, in several cases, to 1880
or earlier. These isolated cases are not,
however, the ancestors of our paper cable,
for they all died without leaving issue.
A dry paper-wrapped wire that carried the
life germ which developed into the present-
day cable was made about 1872 by a paper
manufacturer of Richmond, Va., named
John H. \Vortendyke, who used it for an
electric bell system in his home. Worten-
dyke made a crude taping machine for this
purpose but apparently made no attempt to
commercialize his wire. About 1883,
Wortendyke had in his employ one Edwin
0. McCracken, who was interested in this
wire, made further developments in the tap-
ing machine and applied for a patent in
February 1884, which was granted as
Number 304,539, September 2, 1884. This
patent covered: "An electric wire having a
covering consisting of a spirally wound and
lapping strip or strips of paper composed of
pure vegetable fiber and applied in its un-
changed fibrous condition to the wire, the
paper forming, of itself, the insulating cover-
ing for the wvire."
At this time, in spite of voluminous
court testimony, it does not appear pos-
sible to apportion the credit for this inven-
tion between Wortendyke and McCracken.
McCracken, however, is the man who set
things in motion, for he and his associates
organized and reorganized a series of un-
successful companies to promote his patent:
first, the Norwich Insulated Wire Company,
of Norwich, N.Y., and finally of Harrison,
N.J.
The first impregnated paper cable having
helically applied paper tapes, oil impregna-
OCTOBIER 1952 Crary, Gross, TWagner Progress in Electric Transmission
tion, and a lead sheath extruded over the
core was a telephone cable designed by John
A. Barrett, of the American Telephone and
Telegraph Company. It was a 52-pair,
Number 19 American Wire Gauge cable, each
wire insulated to a diameter of 1/8 inch.
The order was placed in January 1888 by
Mr. Sargent, of the New York and New
Jersey Telephone Company, with the Nor-
wich Insulated Wire Company of Harrison,
N.J. The cable was completed and tested
in May 1888. The Norwich Company,
which was equipped with taping machines
for making dry core cable, was not able to
perform the other manufacturing operations.
Therefore, when they had applied the paper
tape, they sent the singles to the Kerite
Company, who performed the cabling opera-
tion. The oven drying and impregnation,
with a mixture of London Oil (rosin oil)
and rosin, was carried out under Barrett's
direction in the basement of the John
Robertson plant in Brooklyn, and the sheath
was applied by the same Robertson Com-
pany, then a well-established maker of
presses.
Impregnation of fabric with oily com-
pounds was well known before the days of
paper cable, but it was thought that the
mere immersion of the fabric in hot oil
would drive out the moisture by evaporation
and the air by expansion. It was J. T.
Jaques, of Boston, Mass., then associated
with the Faraday Electric Cable Company,
who patented in 1885 a process combining
vacuum drying with hot impregnation under
pressure. However, for many years after
the Jaques patent was issued, the open im-
mersion process was used in America and
was used until recently in Europe for low-
voltage cables.
The Norwich Wire Company began to sell
the product of its Harrison plant in 1887,
acquired a lead press in 1890, and sold out
to the National Conduit and Cable Com-
pany (a predecessor of the Anaconda Wire
and Cable Company) in 1891.
It was in 1891 that the General Electric
Company manufactured for the Chicago
Edison Company some Siemens-type 500-
volt cable insulated with three wraps of
paper, three wraps of jute, which were dried
and impregnated with a resinous compound,
and lead covered by a cold slug process.
This cable was put in service in 1892 and
used as a feeder to the World's Fair in 1893,
and continued in operation until 1932.
As late as 1897 Standard Underground
Cable Company recommended saturated
fiber yarn for voltages up to 2,800 whereas
paper was offered only for the lower voltages.
The success of Ferranti's daring installa-
tion fortunately helped the cause of cables
more than that of rigid tubes for, by the time
the Deptford mains were installed, Mc-
Cracken's patent on wire insulated with
paper tape, then 6 years old, came to be
noticed and people began to ask whether
taped cable might not be good for 3,000 volts
or even 6,600 volts if rigid conductors in-
sulated with wide sheets were good for 10,
000 volts.
Things must have moved very rapidly be-
tween 1895 and 1898 for on December 30,
1898, we find Alex. Dow writing as fol-
lows in Engineering News: "Electric light
practice today is about evenly divided be-
tween paper insulated cables and rubber in-
sulated cables, both lead covered."
The Cataract Power and Conduit Com-
pany of Buffalo, N.Y., still doubtful about
paper, adopted Dr. Habirshaw's rubber in-
sulation for its 11,000-volt lines in 1897.
We have not been able to find anything
definite about the first impregnated paper
cable used for power except that it was on
the system of the Chicago Electric Light
Company, now the Commonwealth Edison
Company. It may be a 3-conductor 4,500-
volt paper-lead cable was purchased by that
company in 1897.
It is probable that 1895 marks the prac-
tical beginning of impregnated paper cable.
Shortly after this date several companies
started to make impregnated taped paper
cable. In 1897, the first 13,000-volt paper-
insulated cable was made by the National
Conduit and Cable Company and installed
at Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. Some
early paper-insulated cables also were made
by John A. Roebling's Sons Company.
The National Conduit and Cable Com-
pany shipped about 400 miles of 5,000-volt
paper cable to England and Ireland in 1895,
which was installed under the direction of an
American engineer named Reid. This was
Europe's introduction to this type of cable.
That the uncertainty about paper per-
sisted to 1899, when a 25,000-volt system
was projected for St. Paul and Minneapolis,
is shown by the fact that in 1900 both rub-
ber and paper cables of that voltage were
installed on that system.
By 1902 paper insulation was fully estab-
lished and, substantially unchanged from its
original type, proved adequate to all needs
until the time of World War I, when the use
of electricity increased with unprecedented
rapidity and introduced new loading condi-
tions. Since that time the cable engineer's
problem has been to find ways and means to
increase the voltage and current-carrying
capacities of cables without increasing their
diameter beyond the 3 or 4 inches imposed
by duct diameters.
Cables for voltages as high as 380,000
volts are now in use.
H. L. Melvin (Ebasco Services Incorporated,
New York, N.Y.): There is little to add to
such an excellent paper as the authors have
prepared. Not only does it cover the prog-
ress and future trends, as the title implies,
but it also summarizes the basic stages in the
history and early development of electric
transmission. This has been of particular
interest to those of us who have partici-
pated in the problems from the early days.
I do not believe it is strictly accurate to
say that "the use of protective gaps as a
primary protection in substations is being
abandoned rapidly." On the contrary, on
many systems the continued use of such gaps
is made both on old and new substations.
However it is true that much greater use is
being made of lightning arresters, as a means
of preventing interruptions to service, in the
many instances where the performance of
the lightning arresters and gaps can be co-
ordinated without sacrificing opportunities
of economies in investment.
There is one point that I believe is worth
bringing out as a corollary to this paper.
Power-system stability becomes less of a
problem as the system capacity increases,
and as interconnections between systems in-
crease. The increased inertia and lower im-
pedance which accompany added generating
capacity and transmission lines should make
975
system instability a very rare occurrence in
the eastern half of the United States within
about 10 years. That this is recognized may
be justification for the recent proposal to
lower the short-circuit ratio on large turbine
generators so that more kilowatt capacity
may be obtained for a given size frame.
However, power-system stability prob-
ably will be a problem in the western states
for a long time because the distances be-
tween load centers are so great and, at the
present time, there is a large percentage of
hydroelectric power which is usually remote
from load centers. But, even in the west
where long transmission lines are necessary,
there are an increasing number of inter-
connections between power systems.
This brings up the second point I want to
add in this discussion, which is: tie-line
load control. With the probability of in-
creasing interconnection of major areas of
the United States, the use of tie line load
control will make such interconnections
physically manageable. I believe that inter-
connections between power systems cannot
be discussed without comments on the prob-
lems and developments in tie-line load con-
trol. In early work in the Northwest phase-
angle control was just installed to combat
the stability problem which later was modi-
fied to tie-line bias control. Bias tie-line
control seems to provide the flexibility that
fits in with the advantages of system inter-
connections.
In closing I would like to commend the
authors on this paper which should stand
as a milestone with which to make interest-
ing comparisons at intervals in the future.
P. L. Bellaschi (Consulting Engineer,
Portland, Oreg.): The determining factors
in the selection of higher voltages are the
lower annual transmission costs and the
greater power capability. Viewing current
developments, we find on the one hand the
need for higher transmission capabilities
and the urge foi more economical transmis-
sion of larger bulks of power, both attain-
able through the use of higher voltages. On
the other hand, technical advances in recent
years now make possible greater power
capabilities and economies at 230 kv in
amounts required for many cases, without
recourse to higher voltages. There are cer-
tain trends and conclusions which stand out
976 Crary, Gross, Wagner Progress in Electric Transmission
rather conspicuously at the present time:
1. A nation-wide trend to 230-kv trans-
mission superimposed on present 138-kv and
115-kv systems, especially for medium-size,
rapidly growing systems serving important
power consuming areas.
2. The combined importance of both 230
kv and the higher transmission voltages in
the future power development and growth
in the United States.
3. A development of higher transmis-
sion, above 230 kv, throughout the world.
To enlarge on the report by Crary, Gross,
and Wagner, attention may be called to the
fact that the Northwest is another region of
large power developments. Hydro plants
are in course of construction which involve
bulk transmission in each instance well up
to 1,000,000 kw and distances from 100 to
250 miles. Economic studies call definitely
for transmission voltages up to at least 345
kv for trunk lines to transmit the bulk of
power from the new sites of generation to the
load centers of this region.
The next few years will see transmission
voltages in the United States up to 345 kv
and possibly higher in years to follow. In
the interest of standardization, the transmis-
sion voltages selected for the higher voltages
and especially the basic insulation levels
(BIL's) should be limited to a minimum in
keeping with the over-all technical and
economic requirements for the future ap-
plications. It is of paramount irnportance
in adjacent regions where higher voltages are
considered that the same voltage be adopted
to facilitate future interconnection.
Herman Halperin (Commonwealth Edison
Company, Chicago, Ill.): The information
in this very interesting paper on electric
transmission could be supplemented by the
following additional data that applies to the
section entitled "High-Voltage Cable."
The first commercial operation of 69-kv
cable in this country was in Cleveland in
1924, not 1926. This was followed by the
installation of such cable in 1925 in Phila-
delphia, and in 1926 in Chicago. In con-
nection with the oil-filled cables mentioned
in the second paragraph as being put into
operation (commercial) in 1927, the first oil-
filled cable made in this country was for the
experimental 138-kv installation in Chicago,
which went into experimental operation in
1926.
The latter part of the paper gives some
information about extra-high-voltage trans-
mission for overhead lines here and abroad,
in service and contemplated. It might be
mentioned that the 380-kv system in
Sweden includes a small amount of high-
pressure, self-contained, lead-covered, oil-
filled cable. Also, some oil-filled cable has
been ordered for use in the 288-kv system
mentioned for the Aluminum Company of
Canada; some of that cable will have alu-
minum as the sheath material.
S. B. Crary, I. W. Gross, and C. F. Wagner:
All of the discussers have contributed to the
material of this paper. The discussions by
Mr. Hickernell and Mr. Del Mar and by
Mr. Halperin add considerably to the his-
torical information regarding the develop-
ment of high-voltage cable. The inforina-
tion given is much appreciated.
Certainly power cable is an important
element of the transmission system, and the
fact that so little space was given to it in the
original paper should not be considered as
either an oversight or a lack of appreciation
by the authors of its place in the electric
transmission system.
Mr. Melvin has questioned the accuracy
of the statement that "The use of protec-
tive gaps as a primary protection in sub-
stations is being abandoned rapidly." Per-
haps it might have been more accurate to
have stated, "Protective gaps as primary
protection in substations have been used to
some degree in the past, but at the present
time are not being extended appreciably."
Mr. Melvin's comment that system sta-
bility becomes less of a problem as system
capacity increases, and as interconnections
between systems increase, is, in general, cor-
rect. Also tie-line load control is a factor in
the present-day operation which has been
used to considerable advantage.
Mr. Bellaschi's presentation on the power
situation in the 'Northwest as relating to the
transmission system amplifies in a sense the
authors' comments that we are at a stage
now where the extension of extra-high-volt-
age transmission may be considered in the
pioneer state.
We wish to thank the discussers for their
very pertinent remarks on the paper.
OCTOBER 1952