Book excerpt: The 30-MJ superconducting magnetic-energy-storage (SMES) system was devised as an alternate means to modulate the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Pacific AC Intertie, a part of the Western US Power System, to prevent undamped power oscillations at 0.35 Hz that were observed to be associated with high power transmission. The SMES system was installed at the BPA Tacoma Substation and successfully operated as an experimental device to initiate tests to determine power system dynamics, to investigate their variability, to assess system response to SMES modulation with a major variable load, and to use SMES to develop stability-control techniques. The system has been operated at frequencies of 0.1 to 1.0 Hz at power levels of +- 8.3 MW with a parallel modulation of the converter bridges and up to 9.5 MW reactive power together with +- 4.5 MW real power in constant VAR mode with buck-boost modulation of the bridges. The coil has been charged at a maximum rate of 11.8 MW. Operation of the SMES system is now under BPA jurisdiction, and all hardware has been transferred to BPA.