From Outage Response to 5G: LCRA’s Plan to Modernize Utility Communications

Electric utilities are facing a growing challenge: how to build reliable, secure communication networks needed to support critical operations in both normal and emergency situations. This presentation will walk through a practical approach for building private cellular networks based on specific use cases, such as real-time environmental sensors and Mission-Critical Push-To-Talk (MC-PTT). Fast, stable communication is required to respond to outages, support field crews, and meet rising demands for performance and reliability. This case study includes load-balancing and smart planning around bandwidth, vulnerability assessment testing, and network monitoring as well as forward-looking design for 5G edge compute capability, and network slicing to allocate dedicated resources for different operational needs. In this session, we'll show how this approach helps utilities build networks that are ready for current and future needs. Attendees will gain insight into the key decision-making moments encountered throughout the system design and rollout phases. We will discuss how stakeholder coordination, deployment sequencing, and technical readiness played pivotal roles in achieving utility-grade LTE/5G network capabilities. Special focus will be placed on overcoming pain points commonly faced during PLTE implementation and how different strategies could have mitigated challenges.