Tampa Electric and the University of South Florida are spending $3.8 million on a research project that aims to catch problems on the power grid before they turn into blackouts. The work comes after years of storm-driven outages that left many Tampa Bay customers waiting for power to return.
The project is built around a “digital twin,” a virtual copy of Tampa Electric’s grid that runs on real-time data from the utility’s facilities. Researchers use it to watch how the system behaves and to test how it responds to changes, without touching service to customers.
Patrick Shell, Tampa Electric’s senior director of special projects, compared it to a flight simulator. Pilots practice there before they fly, and utility engineers can do the same with the grid. The twin lets them try out new operating setups, such as adding a battery, changing a transmission configuration or connecting a new load. Shell called that ability “extremely valuable to ensure that we have reliable power.”
Dr. Lingling Fan is leading the USF side of the work with a team of PhD students. The system is designed to flag unusual activity and pinpoint where a disturbance starts, so operators can act before equipment fails or the lights go out. PhD student Huazhao Ding said it is some of the most advanced work in his field, and that working alongside industry professionals has been a draw.
The long-term goal is to move the technology into Tampa Electric’s operations center, giving line workers and operators one more tool for spotting trouble early. The project is scheduled to run through the end of 2028. Fan said her team will share its findings with the U.S. Department of Energy when it wraps up.
The announcement does not say how the $3.8 million is split between the utility, the university, and any federal sources. It also does not set measurable targets, such as fewer or shorter outages, against which the technology will be judged. Customers who pay for the grid through their bills, and taxpayers if public research dollars are involved, will likely want those answers before 2028.
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