For electric utilities managing transmission and substation capital programs, Protection & Control (P&C) commissioning is one of the last—and most vulnerable—links in the delivery chain. Despite the technical rigor that precedes it, P&C testing remains a high-stakes convergence point where field execution, materials, scheduling, and system integration must all work in lockstep.
Yet too often, utilities find themselves facing unplanned delays at precisely this phase. These delays rarely result from a single catastrophic event. More often, they emerge from a series of small, preventable breakdowns: a missing relay, a failed firmware update, a misrouted switch, an uncoordinated escalation. And when that happens, utilities pay the price—not only in dollars, but in lost time, missed in-service dates, and rework that stretches already thin resources.
We’ve seen how small oversights in the field—ones that might not register on a spreadsheet—can unravel weeks of planning. This piece shares four grounded practices that have helped us, alongside utility partners and field teams, anticipate where things break down and build processes that hold up under real-world conditions.
1. Identify and Stage Critical Spares: Planning for Failure Before It Happens
In the real world, things break. Even factory-fresh equipment can fail when energized. That’s why we recommend identifying single points of failure well before commissioning begins. Which relays, switches, or RTUs would cause a testing halt if they failed? Which ones have 2–4 week lead times? Where are your long-tail risks?
On large capital builds with tight schedules, the answer shouldn’t be “We’ll deal with it when it happens.” It should be, “Here’s what we’ll do, who will approve it, and what we’ll use as a backup.”
Spare parts planning is an area where ownership matters. Whether driven by the EPC, material manager, or utility PM, the priority should be ensuring critical spares are staged in the field—visible, protected, and accessible—not buried in a trailer two counties over.
We’ve seen the difference this makes: at Binger Station for AEP, our team encountered a switch failure days before checkout. The manufacturer confirmed the part was defective. Lead time? Four weeks. Because we had line of sight on other staged equipment, and because escalation was built into our plan, we were able to pull a spare from a future phase, restore communications, and keep the project on schedule.
One of the most overlooked risks in commissioning comes from multi-phase staging. On complex builds, components for Phase 3 may arrive months before they’re needed. If material tracking doesn’t account for this, it’s easy for gear to walk—or get reassigned without visibility.
Commissioning teams then arrive at site expecting to find equipment that’s already been used elsewhere. By the time the issue is caught, it’s too late.
To avoid this, we implement phase-level labeling and maintain real-time material logs accessible to both field and project controls. More importantly, we establish clear ownership: who is accountable for safeguarding material readiness by phase? Without this clarity, the handoff between construction and commissioning becomes a breeding ground for uncertainty.
Material readiness shouldn’t be a mystery. It should be part of the project rhythm, reviewed regularly as commissioning approaches.
3. Pre-Align Escalation Protocols—Don’t Improvise Under Pressure
When commissioning issues arise—and they will—how quickly your team can respond often determines whether you stay on schedule or fall behind.
We’ve seen projects lose critical path hours because the team didn’t know who could authorize a field change, or what documentation was required to validate a workaround. Field crews are ready, but stuck. Engineering is willing, but out of sync. And decision-makers are navigating internal silos.
That’s why we stress escalation planning as early as project mobilization. It’s not just about assigning names. It’s about clarifying authority. What’s the threshold for action? What conditions require client approval? What decisions can be made in the field if documentation is maintained?
When escalation is structured and trusted, the field is free to move.
4. Commissioning Needs Flexibility—But It Requires Structure to Withstand Change
Utility projects don’t fail because someone missed a test point. They fail when rigid plans meet real-world volatility. Weather, workforce, outages, procurement delays—all of these can affect commissioning readiness. But if your strategy is brittle, even minor disruptions can cause major setbacks.
We’ve learned to embed resilience into the commissioning process itself:
- Schedule buffers for late-arriving equipment or unexpected configuration issues
- Cross-trained teams who can pivot roles if sequencing changes
- Live documentation tools that track adjustments in real time, ensuring QA/QC and regulatory alignment
The ability to adapt shouldn’t rely on heroic effort. It should be designed into the workflow, supported by a communication model that connects engineering, field, and client in a shared framework.
P&C Execution Reflects Organizational Readiness
Protection & Control commissioning is often treated as a technical final step. But to those of us in the field, it’s much more: it’s where your planning meets pressure. It’s where you find out whether your systems—people, material, process—can deliver when there’s no margin for error.
As utilities push to upgrade aging infrastructure, integrate renewables, and harden the grid, the volume and velocity of capital work will only increase. The margin for delay is shrinking.
Avoiding P&C delays isn’t about perfection. It’s about preparation. It’s about designing delivery systems that are ready when the field doesn’t go as planned. Because in utility work, success isn’t defined by what you install—it’s defined by how well you deliver it when the stakes are high. Contact us today!
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