Present day substation control, metering, supervision and protection functions are generally implemented by individual non-integrated items of equipment. Future network control requirements could be met by a hierarchically organized control system with the individual substation control system on the lowest level of the hierarchy. To meet the tasks imposed on it in such a system the substation control system will need to become fully integrated. Such integration can be achieved by applying distributed microcomputer control in the substation as proposed herein. The practical problems of interfacing this system with outdoor equipment, interference, standardization of software, and actual implementation are also examined.