Turn on the Light

Municipal utility turns to software solution for better business practices

Since 1923, the city of Garland, Texas, has been providing electricity service to its citizens through Garland Power & Light with its locally owned and controlled not-for-profit municipal utility. With nearly 68,000 customers, GP&L is the third-largest municipal utility in Texas and the 41st-largest in the nation.

GP&L needed to enhance video surveillance protection of its wide-ranging infrastructure and facilities, well beyond the capabilities of its existing analog CCTV system.

The utility has three gas-fired generating plants, for a total of 640 megawatts of generating capacity, supported by a transmission system of 23 substations and 133 miles of transmission lines. In addition, the city is a partner in the Texas Municipal Power Agency, which operates the 462 megawatt, coal-fired Gibbons Creek Power Plant. GP&L’s energy distribution system has 1,007 miles of overhead lines and an additional 1,000 miles of line underground. For this extensive and widely dispersed infrastructure, GP&L required improved image quality, increased coverage and extended video retention capacity for its video surveillance system.

Preferred Technology Solutions, an authorized Intransa integrator, provided a complete solution to GP&L. The solution integrates three types of previously installed cameras, including Axis Communications’ megapixel cameras, for greatly improved coverage and higher image resolution. Eventually, GP&L officials envision more than 300 IP cameras for complete video coverage to meet the utility’s requirements.

“The IP surveillance system is a major component in our ability to monitor and protect our critical infrastructure,” said David Grubbs, regulatory and compliance director of GP&L. “The Intransa platform provides scalable capacity that will allow our new surveillance solution to cost-effectively meet our objectives, now and in the future.

“Working with Intransa, we have integrated the three brands of previously installed IP cameras and are able to use the newer technologies and cameras as they become available. We are impressed with the ease of expanding the system and are already beginning the next-phase expansion.”

A Milestone video management system now provides a new level of video management and control to meet GP&L’s needs for both live stream monitoring and video archiving capabilities. Milestone and Axis are both members of the Intransa VideoAppliance, certified for quick, simple and risk-free integration with Intransa platforms.

Supporting the new video surveillance solution is an Intransa recording and playback platform that supports modular recording capacity without ever halting recording.

“The platform used in the new Garland Power & Light IP video surveillance deployment provides a simple, single-system view of all of the video recording capacity supporting the Axis Communications, two other brands of IP cameras and the Milestone Systems VMS,” Grubbs said. “Because of the design of the system, we have been able to meet the bandwidth requirements of large numbers of cameras recording continuously, as well as vast storage capability to meet our storage requirements for up to 90 days of recorded video.”

The fault-resilient platform also delivers advanced RAID protection to eliminate the risk of lost video, which plagues CCTV environments. Hot-swap technology provides nonstop recording with unattended operation supported by e-mail alerts, and without need for scheduled downtime for maintenance.

Access to both live and recorded video, and to system management tasks, can be performed as needed from any authorized location with IP access, providing increased flexibility and reduced administration for GP&L.

This article originally appeared in the February 2011 issue of Security Today.

About the Author

Jeff Whitney is vice president of marketing at Arecont Vision

Featured

  • Integration Imagination: The Future of Connected Operations

    Security teams that collaborate cross-functionally and apply imagination and creativity to envision and design their ideal integrated ecosystem will have the biggest upside to corporate security and operational benefits. Read Now

  • Smarter Access Starts with Flexibility

    Today’s workplaces are undergoing a rapid evolution, driven by hybrid work models, emerging smart technologies, and flexible work schedules. To keep pace with growing workplace demands, buildings are becoming more dynamic – capable of adapting to how people move, work, and interact in real-time. Read Now

  • Trends Keeping an Eye on Business Decisions

    Today, AI continues to transform the way data is used to make important business decisions. AI and the cloud together are redefining how video surveillance systems are being used to simulate human intelligence by combining data analysis, prediction, and process automation with minimal human intervention. Many organizations are upgrading their surveillance systems to reap the benefits of technologies like AI and cloud applications. Read Now

  • The Future is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reason. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. But as the number of cameras grows and resolutions push from HD to 4K and beyond, the cloud’s limits are becoming unavoidable. Bandwidth bottlenecks. Latency lags. Rising storage costs. These are not abstract concerns. Read Now

  • Right-Wing Activist Charlie Kirk Dies After Utah Valley University Shooting

    Charlie Kirk, a popular conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, died Wednesday after being shot during an on-campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Read Now

New Products

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.