Abstract: Protection of an electric power system is attained under control of a digital computer. Voltage and current of the electric power system to be protected are subjected to sampling at a predetermined sampling frequency and are applied to the computer after being converted into digital signals. The computer computes the product of these two digital signal inputs. The signal thus obtained is added to a preceding signal representing the product of voltage and current taken at time before a predetermined period of time so that unnecessary frequency components included in these signals can be removed. Then, the level of the resultant signal (which is free from the unnecessary frequency components) is compared with the level of a reference signal. When the former is greater than the latter, there is a fault in the electric power system, and necessary protective measures are taken to protect the electric power system.