Roles of intelligent systems in power quality monitoring: past, present, and future

Power quality monitoring is the process of gathering some data about voltages and currents; transporting that data to somewhere it will be useful; and converting that data into decision-making information. The author gives a brief history of the subject from the 1920s' development of a lightning strike recorder through to the 1960s' power quality monitors, the mid-1980s' graphic power quality monitors, and EPRI's Distribution Power Quality project in the 1990s. The future ideal power quality monitoring system is outlined.