The 2008 Power Systems Conference was hosted by Clemson University at the Madren Center, Clemson, South Carolina from 11 March to 14 March 2008. The focus of the seventh annual conference was system issues associated with Advanced Metering, Protection and Control, Communication and Distributed Resources.

The program included a number of tutorials by leading power industry companies. All tutorials were available to all registered attendees at no additional cost and covered the following topics:

• Practical Applications
• Protective Relaying Seminar
• Renewable Energy Challenges: Present and Future Directions
• Substation Automation IEC 61850
  
  

Leading industry experts were keynote speakers: Intelligent Grid - The Road Ahead - Bogdan Kasztenny, GE Multilin; Power Engineering in a War Zone - Jim Hicks, Shaw Engineering Service Group; Future of the Smart Grid - Matt Smith, Duke Energy; PHEV's: Strategic Opportunities for Utilities - James Poch, Plugin Hybrid Coalition of the Carolinas; Innovations in Technology Changing Power Systems Today - Ed Schweitzer, SEL; Future of Nuclear Energy - Stephen Byrne, SCE&G

Four panel sessions gave an opportunity to the interested participants to discuss:

• Integrating plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with distribution systems
• Integrating advanced metering with distribution systems operation
• Synchrophasors: principles, application and implementation
• Utility of the future

The seven paper sessions included papers in the following groups:

Protection of distribution systems with distributed generation; Stability of distribution systems ; Renewable energy in power systems; Advances in digital protection; Synchrophasors; Wide area monitoring & control; IEC 61850 applications.