Advanced Control Systems (ACS) won the 2014 Company of the Year Award from the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) Smart Energy Society at an awards ceremony on the campus of The Georgia Institute of Technology on December 4th.

ACS outlasted the other finalist for the award, energy data firm Urjanet, to secure the honor based on its exceptional leadership as a Georgia-based technology firm advancing energy innovation in the electric power industry. 

In remarks at the awards banquet, ACS CEO José Barbosa cited the role that the 27,000 members of the Technology Association of Georgia – and the Smart Energy Society in particular -- play in advancing the region's contributions to the electric power industry. 

Barbosa noted the industry-leading projects undertaken by "a co-op, a muni, and an IOU -- representing the three ownership models of utilities" and how ACS was able to serve each. The projects cited include:

• Investor-owned utility (IOU) Georgia Power used ACS' Centrix Feeder Automation system, which proved its value when Winter Storm Pax struck hard across the region earlier this year. The system lessened the impact of outages and shortened restoration times during severe weather and helped the utility avoid 7.2 million cumulative customer-minutes of interruption (CMI) in 2014. 
• Municipality Marietta (GA) Board of Lights & Water's engagement with ACS and fiber company PCS was to design, install and maintain a 120-mile, fully digital 48-fiber backbone ring and fiber optic network that now provides high-speed connectivity between the ACS PRISM SCADA system and utility's 17 electrical substations and 144 automated switches. 
• One of the nation's largest co-operatives, Cobb EMC, uses ACS' advanced technology for fault detection isolation and restoration (FDIR) on more than 180 feeders to minimize the scope of outages and automatically re-route power to get customers back on line fast.                           

ACS was also recognized for its role advancing industry thought leadership in 2014 through multiple outlets, including customer presentations at DistribuTECH and the launch of its series "How Utility Automation Must Change" in Public Utilities Fortnightly and IEEE PES publications and others to be announced in 2015.