How Orlando Utilities Commission Prevents Outages with Real-Time Transformer Monitoring

After three blown transformers at a critical manufacturing customer, OUC deployed UbiGrid DTM+ to spot load spikes before they cause damage — and diagnose faults remotely instead of rolling trucks.

Download PDF

Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) — the municipal utility serving 400,000+ metered customers across central Florida — uses Ubicquia's UbiGrid DTM+ sensors to detect load spikes, voltage disturbances, and thermal anomalies at individual distribution transformers in real time. The result: outages prevented before they occur, and faults diagnosed remotely instead of dispatched to.

OUC serves the Orlando/Orange County and St. Cloud/Osceola County area, including 32,000 commercial and industrial (C&I) customers — large-scale manufacturers, healthcare facilities, and an international airport among them. The utility is proud of a reliability track record that has withstood repeated hurricanes and tropical storms. But in 2022, one of its C&I customers started experiencing unexplained outages that traditional monitoring couldn't diagnose.

Orlando Utilities Commission at a glance

400K+
Metered customers served across central Florida
32K
Commercial & industrial (C&I) accounts

The challenge: outages with no apparent cause

A large manufacturing plant on OUC's grid operated a well-designed system of three dedicated underground feeders and 10 three-phase transformers. In 2022, the facility began experiencing outages and low-voltage events with no apparent cause. Three transformers blew. Standard smart-meter data — reported in 15-minute intervals — wasn't granular enough to pinpoint which transformers were being overloaded or why.

An on-site visit revealed the answer: the customer had installed an 800-horsepower compressor and wired an entire process line to a fully loaded transformer. The compressor pushed the transformer past its current rating, blowing bayonet fuses. Without continuous visibility, OUC engineers couldn't have identified the load pattern remotely.

The solution: real-time visibility with UbiGrid DTM+

OUC installed UbiGrid DTM+ sensors and the UbiVu AI-driven asset management platform on the three overloaded transformers. The sensors captured voltage and current data thousands of times per second, along with oil temperature and pressure, and streamed the data to OUC's operations team via LTE. Load profiles, current spikes, sags, and harmonics all became visible in real time — long before they could damage equipment or interrupt the customer's operations.

What OUC gained from real-time transformer monitoring

Outages prevented before they occurDTM+ catches load spikes, sags, and harmonics in real time — giving OUC the visibility to intervene before transformer damage or customer disruption.

Faults diagnosed remotelyThe 2023 holiday outage was identified from the UbiVu dashboard — exact transformer, exact circuit — without a diagnostic site visit.

Fewer, more targeted truck rollsField crews arrive with the right part and go straight to the affected asset instead of hunting for the fault. OUC saves man-hours on every response.

Confidence serving critical C&I accountsContinuous transformer visibility lets OUC support manufacturers, healthcare facilities, and other operations where unusual load patterns can't be diagnosed with 15-minute smart-meter data.

What real-time visibility meant for OUC and its customer

The proof came during the 2023 holiday season. An outage that would have previously required diagnostic truck rolls was instead diagnosed remotely by OUC staff, who identified the exact transformer and circuit affected from the UbiVu dashboard. A single field technician was dispatched with the right part; the bayonet fuse was quickly replaced. Restoration was faster for the customer, and OUC avoided the unnecessary man-hours of a broader diagnostic response.

The manufacturing customer kept their operations running through the outage window with minimal disruption. Ubicquia's DTM+ and UbiVu didn't just prevent outages — they gave OUC's engineers the confidence to serve their most critical C&I accounts even when unusual load patterns appear.

Download the Orlando Utilities Commission case study

Full write-up on how OUC uses UbiGrid DTM+ for real-time transformer monitoring at a critical manufacturing customer.

Download PDF

Connect with Us

Ready to see what’s possible? Request a demo and we’ll take it from there.

Book a Demo

More case studies

See all case studies
Two illuminated LED floodlights mounted on a tall pole against a purple evening sky with clouds

Utilities

How One Utility Turned a Power Crisis into a Partnership Win

Entertainment Facility

When LED streetlights caught fire at a major entertainment destination, the utility was the first suspect and a two-week investigation seemed inevitable. Here is how real-time monitoring at the primary meter pinpointed the true cause in 45 minutes and turned a brewing dispute into a stronger partnership.

Modern office building beside a long reflecting pool with landscaped grounds of LA City

Utilities

How LADWP Improves Infrastructure Visibility with Ubicquia Asset Intelligence

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power uses Ubicquia's Street Audit — high-resolution imagery, AI-assisted asset classification, and GIS verification — to modernize records for pole audits, streetlight billing, illegal attachment identification, and NESC compliance reviews.

Multiple freeway overpasses carrying traffic through downtown Los Angeles with surrounding buildings and lighting poles

Utilities

How Florida Power & Light Advances Substation Situational Awareness with UbiHub AI+

Florida Power & Light (FPL)

Florida Power & Light uses UbiHub AI+ on existing substation lighting infrastructure to combine edge AI, thermal monitoring, cameras, and LTE — building continuous situational awareness across substation environments.