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A STUDY ON JOB SATISFACTION AT POWER GRID CORPORATION
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
HUMAN RESOURCES
Human Resource is a term used to describe the individuals who compromise the workforce of an
organization although it is applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even
whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged
with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the
management of individuals (i.e. the human resources). This function title is often abbreviated to
the initials ‘HR’.
Meaning and definition
According to Leon C Megginson, The term human resource can be thought “the total knowledge,
skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes of an organization’s workforce, as well as the value,
attitudes and beliefs of the individual involved”. The term human resource can also be explained
in the sense that it is a resource like any natural resource. It does mean that the management can
get and use the skill, knowledge, ability, etc. Through the development of sills, tapping and
utilizing them again and again by developing a positive attitude among employees.
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the
management of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there who
individually and collectively contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the business.
The terms “human resource management” and “human resources” (HR) have largely replaced
the term “personnel management” as a description of the processes involved in managing people
in organizations. In simple words, HRM means employing people, developing their capacities,
utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational
requirement.
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Meaning and definition
In simple sense, human resource management employing people, developing their resources
utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational
requirements with a view to contribute to the goals of the organization, individual and the
society.
Michael J. Jucius defined human resource management as “The field of management which has
to do with planning, organizing, directing and controlling the functions of procuring, developing,
maintaining and utilizing a labour force.
FEATURES OF HRM
1) Human Resource management is concerned with both individuals and has a group in
attaining goals. It is also concerned with behavior, emotional and social aspects of personnel.
2) It is concerned with the development of human resource i.e. knowledge, capability, skills,
potentiality and attaining and achieving employee goals, including job satisfaction.
3) Human resource management covers all levels (low, middle and top) and categories
(unskilled and skilled, technical, professional, clerical and managerial) of employees. It
covers both organized and unorganized employees.
4) It applies to the employees all types of organizations in the world (industry, trade, service,
commerce, economic, social, religious, political and government departments). Thus, it is
common in all types of organization.
5) Human resource management is a continuous and never ending process.
6) It aims at attaining the goals of organization, individual and society in an integrated
approach.
7) Organizational goals may include survival, growth and development in addition to
profitability to productivity, innovation, excellence, etc.
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8) Individual employee goals consist of job security, high salary, attractive fringe benefits,
challenging work, pride status, recognition, opportunity for development etc.
FUNCTIONS OF HRM
The functions of HRM can be broadly classified into two categories, viz
(i) Managerial Functions
(ii) Operative Functions
MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS
1)
Planning: It is a predetermined course of action. It involves planning of human
resources, requirements, recruitment, selection, training, personnel needs, changing
values, attitudes and behavior of employees and their impact on the organizations.
2)
Organizing: An organization is a means to an end. Thus, an organizational establishes
relationships among the employees so that they can collectively contribute to the
attainment of company goals.
3)
Directing: Directing is the execution of the plan. The willing and effective co operation
of employees of the attainment or organizational goals is possible through proper
direction.
4)
Controlling: Controlling involves checking, verifying and comparing of the actual with
the plans, identification of deviations if any and correcting of identified deviations.
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OPERATIVE FUNCTIONS
1) Employment: It is the first operative functions of human resources management.
Employment is concerned with securing and employing the people possessing the required
kind and level of human resources necessary to achieve the organizational objectives. It
covers functions such as job analysis, human resource planning, recruitment, selection
placement, induction and internal mobility.
2) Human resource development: It is a process of improving, moulding and changing the
skills, knowledge, creative ability, aptitude, attitude, values, commitment etc. based on
present and future job and organization requirement. This function includes performance
appraisal, training, management development, career planning and development, internal
mobility, transfer, promotion, demotion and change and organizational development.
3) Compensation: It is a process of providing adequate, equitable and fare remuneration to the
employees. It includes job evaluation, wage and salary administration, incentives, bonus,
fringe benefits, social security measures etc.
4) Human relations: It is a process of interactions among human beings. A human relation is
the area of management in integrating people into work situation in a way that motivates
them to work productively, co operatively and with economic, psychological and social
satisfaction.
5) Industrial relations: Industrial relations refer to the study of relations among employees,
employer, government and trade unions. It includes collective bargaining, industrial conflicts,
worker’s participation in management and quality circles.
6) Recent trends in HRM: Human resource management has been advancing at a fast rate. The
recent trends in HRM are quality of work life, total quality in human resource, HR
accounting, audit and research and recent techniques of HRM.
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HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Human Resources Development (HRD) refers to the function (or discipline) that focuses on the
people who work for a company. HRD specialties (both internal employees and external
consultants) use a variety of performance assessment and management tools to help the
company’s workers improve their job skills, increase their job satisfaction and plan and
rewarding future.
According to T.V.RAO, HRD is a process in which the employees of an organization are
continually helped in a planned way to:

Acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated with their
present or expected future roles.

Development of their general capabilities as individual and discover and exploit their own
inner potential for their own organizational purposes.
Thus HRD is an essential ingredient of ant human resource system poised to achieve
productively, quality, efficiency and effectiveness. It is an integrated and inter disciplinary
approach to the development of the human resource in the organization.
GOALS OF HRD SYSTEM

To develop and maintain high level of motivation of employees

To develop the capabilities of each employee

To dynamic relation between each employee and his supervisor should be developed

To develop the collaboration between different units of the organizational units

To provide a comprehensive framework for the overall development of people in the
organizations.

To develop the constructive mind and overall personality of each individual in the
organizations.
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HRD TOOLS
To achieve these objectives HRD system may include the following mechanism or
subsystem.

Performance appraisal

Potential appraisal and development

Feedback and performance coaching

Career Planning

Succession planning and development

Training

Executive development

Reward
MEANING OF JOB AND JOB SATISFACTION
A job can be defined as a group of position that is similar as to kind and level of work. For
example: in the small firms the position of personal manager also constitutes a job since there is
only one personal manager’s position in the organization.
Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. It is relatively recent
term since in previous centuries the jobs available to a particular person were often
predetermined by the occupation of that person’s parent. There are a variety of factors that can
influence a person’s level of job satisfaction; some of these factors include the level of pay and
benefits, the perceived fairness of the promotion system within a company, the quality of the
working conditions, leadership and social relationships and the job itself (the variety of tasks
involved, the interest and challenge the job generates and the clarity of the job
description/requirements).
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Job satisfaction is in regard to one’s feeling or state- of-mind regarding the nature of work.
Job satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of facts, example, the quality of one’s relationship
with their supervisor, the quality of the physical environment in which they work, degree of
fulfillment in their work. Etc.
The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job satisfaction is
not the same as motivation, although it is clearly linked. Job design aims to enhance job
satisfaction and performance; methods include job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment.
Other influences on satisfaction include the management style and culture, employee
involvement, empowerment and autonomous work position. Job satisfaction is a very important
attribute which is frequently measured by organizations. The most common way of measurement
is the use of rating scales where employees report their reactions to their jobs. Questions relate to
rate of pay, work responsibilities, variety of tasks, promotional opportunities, the work itself and
co-workers. Some questions ask yes or no questions while others ask to rate satisfaction on 1-5
scale (where 1 represents “not at all satisfied” and 5 represents “extremely satisfied”).
HISTORY OF JOB SATISFACTION
One of the biggest preludes to the study of job satisfaction was the Hawthorne’s studies. These
studies (1924-1933), primarily credited to Elton Mayo of the Harvard Business School, sought to
find the effects of various conditions (most notably illumination) on workers’ productively.
These studies ultimately showed that novel changes in work conditions temporarily increase
productivity (called the Hawthorne Effect) It was later found that this increase resulted, not from
the new conditions, but from the knowledge of being observed. This finding provided strong
evidence that people work for purposes other than pay, which paved the way for researchers to
investigate other factors in job satisfaction.
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Scientific management (Taylorism) also had a significant impact on the study of job satisfaction.
Frederick Winslow Taylor’s 1911 book, Principles of Scientific Management, argued that there
was a single best way to perform any given work task. This book contributed to a change in
industrial production philosophies, causing a shift from skilled labor and piecework towards the
more modern of assembly lines and hourly wages. The initial use of scientific management by
industries greatly increased productively because workers were forced to work at a faster pace.
However, workers became exhausted and dissatisfied, thus leaving researchers with new
questions to answer regarding job satisfaction. Some argue the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
theory, a motivation theory, laid the foundation for job satisfaction theory. This theory explains
that people seek to satisfy five specific needs in life – physiological needs, safety needs, social
needs, self-esteem needs and self actualization.
MODELS OF JOB SATISFACTION
AFFECT THEORY
Edwin A. Locke’s Range of Affect Theory (1976) is arguably the most famous job satisfaction
model. The main premise of this theory is that satisfaction is determined by a discrepancy
between what one wants in a job and what one has in a job. Further, the theory states that how
much one values a given facet of work (e.g. the degree of autonomy in a position) moderates
how satisfied/dissatisfied one becomes when expectations are/aren’t met. When a person values
a particular facet of a job, his satisfaction is more greatly impacted both positively (when
expectations are not met) and negatively (when expectations are not met), compared to one who
doesn’t value that facet. To illustrate, if Employee A values autonomy is the workplace and
Employee B is indifferent about autonomy and less satisfied in a position with little or no
autonomy compared to Employee B. This theory also states that too much of a particular facet
will produce stronger feelings of dissatisfaction the more a worker values that facet.
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DISPOSITIONAL THEORY
Another well-known job satisfaction theory is the Dispositional Theory. It is very general theory
that suggests that people have innate dispositions that cause them to have tendencies toward a
certain level of satisfaction, regardless of one’s job. This approach became a notable explanation
of job satisfaction in light of evidence that job satisfaction tends to be stable over time and across
careers and jobs.
Research also indicated that identical twins have similar levels of job satisfaction. A significant
model that narrowed the scope of the Dispositional Theory was the Core Self-Evaluations
Model, proposed by Timothy A. Judge in 1998. Judge argued that there are four Core SelfEvaluations that determine one’s disposition towards job satisfaction: self-esteem, general self
efficacy, locus of control and neuroticism. This model states that higher levels of self-esteem (the
value one places on his/her self) and general self-efficacy (the belief in one’s own competence)
lead to higher work satisfaction. Having a internal locus of control) leads to higher job
satisfaction. Finally, lower levels of neuroticism lead to higher job satisfaction.
HERZBERG’S THEORY
TWO-FACTOR THEORY (MOTIVATOR-HYGEINE THEORY)
Frederick Herzberg’s two factor theory (also known as Motivator Hygiene Theory) attempts to
explain satisfaction and motivation in the workplace. This theory states that satisfaction and
dissatisfaction are driven by different factors – Motivation and Hygiene factors, respectively. An
employee’s motivation to work is continually related to job satisfaction of a subordinate.
Motivation can be seen as an inner force that drives individuals to attain personal and
organizational goals (Hoskinson, Porter & Wrench, p.133). Motivating factors are those aspects
of the job that make people want to perform, and provide people with satisfaction, for example
achievement in work, recognition, promotion opportunities.
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These motivating factors are considered to be intrinsic to the job, or the work carried out,
Hygiene factors include aspects of the working environment such as pay, company policies,
supervisory practices and other working conditions.
While Hertzberg’s model has stimulated much research, researchers have been unable to reliably
empirically prove the model, with Hackman & Oldham suggesting that Hertzberg’s original
formulation of the model may have been a methodological all employees will react in an
identical manner to changes in motivating/hygiene factors. Finally, the model has been criticized
in that it does not specify how motivating/hygiene factors are to be measured.
FACTORS
This is a general phenomenon that every employee wants job satisfaction in whatever activities
he or she is involved or is willing to undertake. The importance of job satisfaction lies in the fact
that the employee whose job satisfaction is positive is not only peacefully happy and satisfied
with himself but also produces both qualitative and quantitative results for an Organization.
Quite the reverse, if an employee is not satisfied with his job, the displeasure causes weak
performance or the performance against what he or she had been expected of – giving rise to
absenteeism and resulting in low qualitative and quantitative outcomes. Hence, the job
satisfaction plays a vital role during the tenure of employment.
1. SALARY AND WAGES
It plays an important role in influencing job-satisfaction. This is because of two reasons. First, money is
an important instrument in fulfilling one’s needs and two employees often see pay as reflection of
management’s concern for them.
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2. NATURE OF WORK
Along with pay, the content of the work itself plays a very major role in determining how
satisfied employees are with their jobs. By and large, workers want jobs that are challenging;
they do want to be doing mindless jobs day after day. The two most important aspect of the work
itself that influence job satisfaction are variety and control over work methods and work place.
Jobs that have too little challenge create boredom. But too much challenge creates frustration and
a feeling of failure.
3. PROMOTION
Promotion opportunities have a moderate impact on job satisfaction. A promotion to a higher
level in an organization typically involves positive changes in supervision, job content and pay.
Jobs that are at the higher level of an organization usually provide workers with more freedom,
more challenging work assignments and high salary.
4. SUPERVISION
There is positive relationship between the quality of supervision and job satisfaction. Supervision
who establishes a personnel relationship with subordinates and takes personal interest in them
contributes to their employee’s job-satisfaction.
5. WORK GROUP
Having friendly and co-operative co-workers is a modest source of job satisfaction to individual
employees. The working groups also serve as a social support system of employees. People often
used their co-workers as sounding board for their problem of as a source of comfort.
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6. WORKING CONDITION
The employees desire good working condition because they lead to greater physical comfort. The
working conditions are important to employees because they can influence life outside of work.
If people are require to work long hours/ or overtime, they will have very little time left for their
families, friends and recreation outside work.
EFFECT OF JOB SATISFACTION
Job satisfaction has a variety of effects. These effects may be seen in the context of an
individual’s physical and mental health, productivity, absenteeism and turnover.
1. Physical and mental Health
The degree of job satisfaction affects an individual’s physical and mental health. Since job
satisfaction is a type of mental feeling, its favorableness affects the individual psychologically
which ultimately affects his physical health.
2. Productivity
There are two views about the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity
1. A happy worker is a productive worker.
2. A happy worker is not necessarily a productive worker.
The first view establishes a direct cause-effect relationship between job satisfaction and
productivity; when job satisfaction increases, productivity increases when satisfaction decreases,
productivity decreases. The basic logic behind this is that a happy worker will put more efforts
for job performance. However, this may be true in all cases, For example a worker having low
expectations from his jobs may feel satisfied but he may not put his efforts more vigorously
because of his low expectations from the job.
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Therefore, this view does not explain fully the complex relationship between job satisfaction and
productivity.
Another view: That is satisfied worker is not necessarily a productive worker explains the
relationship between job satisfaction and productivity. Various research studies also support this
view. This relationship may be explained in terms of the operation of two factors: effect of job
performance on satisfaction and organizational expectations from individuals for job
performance.
1. Job performance leads to job satisfaction and not the other way round.
The basic factor for this phenomenon is the rewards (a source of satisfaction) attached with
performance. There are two types of rewards intrinsic and extrinsic. The Intrinsic rewards stems
from the job itself which may be in the form of growth potential, challenging job, etc. The
satisfaction on such a type of reward may help to increase productively. The extrinsic reward is
subject to control by management such as salary, bonus, etc. Any increase in these factors does
not help to increase productivity through these factors increase job satisfaction.
2. A Happy worker does not necessarily contribute to higher productivity because he has to
operate under certain technological constraints and therefore, he cannot go beyond certain
output. Further, this constraint affects the management’s expectations from the individual in the
form of lower output. Thus, the work situation is pegged to minimally acceptable level of
performance. However, it does not mean that the job satisfaction has no impact of productivity.
A satisfied worker may not necessarily lead to increased productivity but a dissatisfied worker
leads to lower productivity.
3. Absenteeism
Absenteeism refers to the frequency of absence of job holder from the Work place either
unexcused absence due to some avoidable reasons or long absence due to some unavoidable
reasons. It is the former type of absence which is a matter of concern. This absence is due to lack
of satisfaction from the job which produces a ‘lack of will to work’ and alienate a worker form
work as for as possible. Thus, job satisfaction is related to absenteeism.
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4. Employee Turnover
Turnover of employees is the rate at which employees leave the organization within a given
period of time. When an individual feels dissatisfaction in the organization, he tries to overcome
this through the various ways of defense mechanism. If he is not able to do so, he opts to leave
the organization. Thus, in general case, employee turnover is related to job satisfaction.
However, job satisfaction is not the only cause of employee turnover, the other cause being
better opportunity elsewhere.
IMPROVEMENT OF JOB SATISFACTION
1. PROVIDE A POSITIVE WORKING ENVIRONMENT
Job satisfaction begins by first providing a positive work environment. This is the most
important factor in the process. A motivating working environment requires going over and
beyond the call of duty and providing for the needs of the worker.
2. REWARD AND RECOGNITION
Personal recognition is a powerful tool in building morale and motivation. A pat on the back, a
personal note from a peer or a supervisor does wonders. Small, informal celebrations are many
times more effective than a once a quarter or once a year formal event.
3. INVOLVE AND ENGAGE THE WORKFORCE
If the people are more committed and engaged when there is a process for them to contribute
their ideas and employee suggestions. This gives them a sense of ownership and pride in their
work. It creates a healthy climate of innovation and engages all those who participate.
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4. DEVELOP WORKER’s SKILLS AND POTENTIAL
Training and education motivates people and makes them more productive and innovative. There
are many reasons training and development makes sense. Well-trained employees are more
capable and willing to assume more control over their jobs. They need less supervision, which
frees management for other tasks. All this leads to better management-employee relationships.
5. TRANSFERRING DISCONTENTED EMPLOYEES
In some cases, it is possible to mitigate to another job preferences. This transfer achieves a better
fit between individual job characteristics and promotes job satisfaction.
6. EVALUATE AND MEASURE JOB SATISFACTION
Evaluation is a nonstop activity that includes a specific cycle of steps focusing on job satisfaction
and employee engagement. The primary purpose of evaluation is to measure progress and
determine what needs improving. It includes the identification of problem areas needing
improvement and the design and implementation of an improvement plan.
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INDUSTRY PROFILE
Electric Power Industry
The electric power industry provides the production and delivery of electric energy, often known
as power, or electricity, in sufficient quantities to areas that need electricity through a grid
connection. The grid distributes electrical energy to customers. Electric power is generated by
central power stations or by distributed generation.
Many households and businesses need access to electricity, especially in developed nations, the
demand being scarcer in developing nations. Demand for electricity is derived from the
requirement for electricity in order to operate domestic appliances, office
equipment, industrial machinery and provide sufficient energy for both domestic and commercial
lighting, heating, cooking and industrial processes. Because of this aspect of the industry, it is
viewed as a public utility as infrastructure.
The electric power industry is commonly split up into four processes. These are electricity
generation such as a power station, electric power transmission, electricity
distribution and electricity retailing. In many countries, electric power companies own the whole
infrastructure from generating stations to transmission and distribution infrastructure. For this
reason, electric power is viewed as a natural monopoly. The industry is generally
heavily regulated, often with price controls and is frequently government-owned and operated.
The nature and state of market reform of the electricity market often determines whether electric
companies are able to be involved in just some of these processes without having to own the
entire infrastructure, or citizens choose which components of infrastructure to patronize. In
countries where electricity provision is deregulated, end-users of electricity may opt for more
costly green electricity.
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Electric Power Transmission
Electric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power
plants to electrical substations located near demand centers. This is distinct from the local wiring
between high-voltage substations and customers, which is typically referred to as electric power
distribution. Transmission lines, when interconnected with each other, become transmission
networks. In the US, these are typically referred to as "power grids" or just "the grid", while in
the UK the network is known as the "national grid." North America has three major grids:
The Western Interconnection; the Eastern Interconnection and the Electric Reliability Council of
Texas (or ERCOT) grid.
Historically, transmission and distribution lines were owned by the same company, but since the
turn of the 21st century many countries have liberalized the regulation of the electricity market in
ways that have led to the separation of the electricity transmission business from the distribution
business.
Transmission lines mostly use high-voltage three-phase alternating current (AC), although single
phase AC is sometimes used in railway electrification systems. High-voltage directcurrent(HVDC) technology is for greater efficiency in very long distances (typically greater than
400 miles, or in 600 km); submarine power cables (typically longer than 30 miles, or 50 km).
HVDC links are also used to stabilize against control problems in large power distribution
networks where sudden new loads or blackouts in one part of a network can otherwise result in
synchronization problems and cascading failures.
Electricity is transmitted at high voltages (110 kV or above) to reduce the energy lost in longdistance transmission. Power is usually transmitted through overhead power lines. Underground
power transmission has a significantly higher cost and greater operational limitations but is
sometimes used in urban areas or sensitive locations.
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A key limitation in the distribution of electricity is that, with minor exceptions, electrical energy
cannot be stored, and therefore must be generated as needed. A sophisticated system of control is
therefore required to ensure electric generation very closely matches the demand. If supply and
demand are not in balance, generation plants and transmission equipment can shut down which,
in the worst cases, can lead to a major regional blackout, such as occurred in the US Northeast
blackouts of 1965, 1977, 2003, and in the west, one in 1996 and 2011. To reduce the risk of such
failures, electric transmission networks are interconnected into regional, national or continental
wide networks thereby providing multiple redundant alternate routes for power to flow should
(weather or equipment) failures occur. Much analysis is done by transmission companies to
determine the maximum reliable capacity of each line (ordinarily less than its physical or thermal
limit) to ensure spare capacity is available should there be any such failure in another part of the
network.
Grid input
At the generating plants the energy is produced at a relatively low voltage between about 2.3 kV
and 30 kV, depending on the size of the unit. The generator terminal voltage is then stepped up
by the power station transformer to a higher voltage (115 kV to 765 kV AC, varying by the
transmission system and by country) for transmission over long distances.
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Transmission and Distribution Grid Structure within the Power Industry
The initial stage in the process is converting power from a generation source (coal, nuclear,
wind, etc.) into a high voltage electrical format that can be transported using the power grid,
either overhead or underground. This “transformation” occurs very close to the source of the
power generation. The second stage occurs when this high-voltage power is “stepped-down” by
the use of switching gears and then controlled by using circuit breakers and arresters to protect
against surges. This medium voltage electrical power can then be safely distributed to urban or
populated areas. The final stage involves stepping the power down to useable voltage for the
commercial or residential customer.
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Losses
Transmitting electricity at high voltage reduces the fraction of energy lost to resistance, which
averages around 7%. For a given amount of power, a higher voltage reduces the current and thus
the resistive losses in the conductor. For example, raising the voltage by a factor of 10 reduces
the current by a corresponding factor of 10 and therefore the I2R losses by a factor of 100,
provided the same sized conductors are used in both cases. Even if the conductor size (crosssectional area) is reduced 10-fold to match the lower current the I2R losses are still reduced 10fold. Long distance transmission is typically done with overhead lines at voltages of 115 to
1,200 kV. At extremely high voltages, more than 2,000 kV between conductor and
ground, corona discharge losses are so large that they can offset the lower resistance loss in the
line conductors. Measures to reduce corona losses include conductors having large diameter;
often hollow to save weight, or bundles of two or more conductors.
Transmission and distribution losses in the USA were estimated at 6.6% in 1997 and 6.5% in
2007. In general, losses are estimated from the discrepancy between energy produced (as
reported by power plants) and energy sold to end customers; the difference between what is
produced and what is consumed constitute transmission and distribution losses.
As of 1980, the longest cost-effective distance for DC electricity was determined to be 7,000 km
(4,300 mi). For AC it was 4,000 km (2,500 mi), though all transmission lines in use today are
substantially shorter.
In an alternating current circuit, the inductance and capacitance of the phase conductors can be
significant. The currents that flow in these components of the
circuit impedance constitute reactive power, which transmits no energy to the load. Reactive
current causes extra losses in the transmission circuit. The ratio of real power (transmitted to the
load) to apparent power is the power factor. As reactive current increases, the reactive power
increases and the power factor decreases. For systems with low power factors, losses are higher
than for systems with high power factors.
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Utilities add capacitor banks and other components (such as phase-shifting transformers; static
VAR compensators; physical transposition of the phase conductors; and flexible AC
transmission systems, FACTS) throughout the system to control reactive power flow for
reduction of losses and stabilization of system voltage.
Limitations
The amount of power that can be sent over a transmission line is limited. The origins of the
limits vary depending on the length of the line. For a short line, the heating of conductors due to
line losses sets a thermal limit. If too much current is drawn, conductors may sag too close to the
ground, or conductors and equipment may be damaged by overheating. For intermediate-length
lines on the order of 100 km (62 mi), the limit is set by the voltage drop in the line. For longer
AC lines, system stability sets the limit to the power that can be transferred. Approximately, the
power flowing over an AC line is proportional to the sine of the phase angle of the voltage at the
receiving and transmitting ends. Since this angle varies depending on system loading and
generation, it is undesirable for the angle to approach 90 degrees. Very approximately, the
allowable product of line length and maximum load is proportional to the square of the system
voltage. Series capacitors or phase-shifting transformers are used on long lines to improve
stability. High-voltage direct current lines are restricted only by thermal and voltage drop limits,
since the phase angle is not material to their operation.
Up to now, it has been almost impossible to foresee the temperature distribution along the cable
route, so that the maximum applicable current load was usually set as a compromise between
understanding of operation conditions and risk minimization. The availability of
industrial Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) systems that measure in real time
temperatures all along the cable is a first step in monitoring the transmission system capacity.
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This monitoring solution is based on using passive optical fibers as temperature sensors, either
integrated directly inside a high voltage cable or mounted externally on the cable insulation. A
solution for overhead lines is also available. In this case the optical fiber is integrated into the
core of a phase wire of overhead transmission lines (OPPC). The integrated Dynamic Cable
Rating (DCR) or also called Real Time Thermal Rating (RTTR) solution enables not only to
continuously monitor the temperature of a high voltage cable circuit in real time, but to safely
utilize the existing network capacity to its maximum. Furthermore it provides the ability to the
operator to predict the behavior of the transmission system upon major changes made to its
initial operating conditions.
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