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System Owning
Cost Comparison Software (SOCCS)
Today’s lack of established
methodologies for evaluating and comparing the life cycle cost of
extending an established distribution system to serve a significant load
addition by either overhead (OH) or underground (UG) distribution,
prompted DSTAR to develop a structured approach for this comparison.
The software, SOCCS (System
Owning Cost Comparison Software), is implemented as an Excel
Visual Basic Application. Its intended use is for life cycle cost
evaluations of overhead and underground distribution system design
alternatives. SOCCS calculates the total owning costs (TOC) of OH
and UG alternatives, based on initial investment (materials and
installation costs), and maintenance associated with each type of
studied circuit. The maintenance and repair costs are, in turn,
tied to fundamental parameters of the studied systems, such as
circuit in miles and, number of services. Administrator for this
program preloads the maintenance items appropriate for your area.
The end user simply selects those items applicable for a
particular studied circuit.
The program is graphically oriented and user friendly.
The window shown above is the main screen shot.
SOCCS does not perform the distribution system
design or initial construction cost estimation. The design is
developed outside of the program, and SOCCS performs the
life-cycle analysis using initial cost provided by the usr and
maintenance cost provided by the administrator. For easy
evaluation of the results, SOCCS provides the user with a
graphical representation of the TOC of each system design over the
study period.
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