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  • COVID-19 and the Electric Grid: Load Shifts as New Yorkers Respond to Crisis

    As nearly 20 million New Yorkers adjust their lives in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the changing patterns of behavior are reducing and shifting electricity consumption, according to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). Read more in this blog post from NYISO, and visit the organization’s website. — Follow updates about the impacts to […]

  • Lessons from Microgrids Applied to the COVID-19 Crisis

    There are parallels between COVID-19 responses and the management of the electrical grid of the future. Concepts like “flattening the curve” and “self-quarantine” are concepts not only crucial in the current pandemic, but in electricity distribution systems globally. While we at Introspective Systems practice social distancing, working remotely, and watching record demands asked of hospitals and the […]

  • Ensuring Access to Energy More Important Than Ever

    As the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis grows, our first priority should be to assist those whose health and welfare are at most risk. Access to affordable water and energy is a crucial need at all times, but never more than now as the COVID-19 pandemic grows. NRDC supports calls for utility disconnection moratoriums and other protections for our most vulnerable […]

  • The Compelling Economic Benefits of Electric Vehicles

    Chris King and Tim Echols The expression “Show me the money” was made famous in a 1996 movie, but it certainly describes what electric vehicles need to do for U.S. consumers. With more than 1.3 million of them on U.S. roads, electric vehicles are no longer a fad and have established their place as a […]

  • Eaton Helps Build China Field Hospitals in Battle Against Coronavirus

    Power management company Eaton and its partner electrical contractors and distributors recently completed a construction project to build two new field hospitals in Wuhan, China. The project delivered an additional 2,500 hospital beds to the region, which has been considered ground zero for the COVID-19 global pandemic. Eaton’s energy solutions are helping provide electricity to […]

  • The Case for Autonomous Network Management

    There is a near-global drive to replace carbon-based, polluting, resource-constrained energy sources with non-carbon renewables as the primary fuel for the electricity industry. Even traditional sources of

  • Trump’s Attempt to Bring Sanity to a Torturous Environmental Review and Permitting Process

    The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) proposed changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations to promote “efficient, effective, and timely” NEPA review by federal agencies (85

  • Flow Batteries: Energy Storage Option for a Variety of Uses

    Energy storage is becoming increasingly important to the power industry. Lithium-ion battery technology has been implemented in many locations, but flow batteries offer significant benefits in long-duration

  • A New Frontier for Nuclear Fuels

    Though much attention has been focused on the exciting realm of nuclear reactor technology innovation, major efforts to improve nuclear fuels—and boost power generation safety and economics—are underway

  • Novel System Uses Condenser Water for District Heating

    Conventional district heating systems are generally designed around the load. However, an alternate approach would be to design around potential heat sources, including the waste heat from power plants. Many

  • New Technology Improves Refractory Maintenance and Shutdown Planning

    Power plants require regular maintenance outages to stay in top condition, but shutdown periods can be stressful. New tools are available that can save time, reduce labor costs, and improve safety. The

  • How to Clean Natural Gas Piping with Gas Blows

    Prior to placing newly installed natural gas piping and valves in service, systems must be properly cleaned to remove potentially damaging foreign material that is inherently left behind during construction

  • Types of Filtration Systems Used for Wastewater Applications

    The liquid filtration process is an important step in various applications that reuse water within systems. This article provides details on the types of filtration systems available and the benefits of each

  • ELECTRIC POWER Conference Set for Denver

    POWER magazine will host its 22nd annual ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition April 14–17, 2020, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. ELECTRIC POWER is the premier conference and

  • Safety Innovation Creates New Opportunities for Energy Companies

    Innovation in worker safety may not be a top priority for some companies, given all the other business concerns managers must focus on, but a culture of listening to workers and identifying ongoing

  • Novel Stellio Heliostat Solar Project Goes Online in China

    One of the world’s first molten salt tower concentrated solar power (CSP) projects that uses a “Stellio” heliostat was grid-connected at the end of December in China’s Xinjiang province near the

  • POWER Digest [March 2020]

    Siemens Buys Out Iberdrola, Readying to Spin Off Gas and Power and SGRE Businesses. Siemens AG will acquire Spanish renewables giant Iberdrola SA’s full 8.1% stake in Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE)

  • Changes in Boiler Operations Bring Innovations in Erosion and Corrosion Protection

    Metal loss of the pressurized tubes inside the boiler is a big concern for boiler designers and operators. Changing fuel composition and other service parameters can lead to accelerated erosion and corrosion

  • Georgia Commissioner: EVs Help Utilities and Ratepayers

    There’s general agreement among industry analysts that sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will continue to grow. Those same analysts, though, may not agree on the pace of growth. BloombergNEF (BNEF) in its “Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019” report said it expects yearly passenger EV sales will hit 10 million in 2025, up from just more than […]

  • Fast Fixes to California’s ‘New Normal’ of Power Outages

    Experts say the solution is simple: increase the role of distributed renewables and deploy energy storage-based microgrids throughout the state. As California continues to cope with looming scheduled blackouts, the harsh reality is that not only is this the new normal for citizens and businesses on the West Coast, but it could remain that way […]

  • The New Due Diligence: Understanding the Climate-Related Vulnerabilities of Our Infrastructure

    Rich Sorkin, CEO of Jupiter Intelligence As the reality of climate change begins to soak in, enterprises, organizations and governments around the globe are trying to get a handle on the economic and social implications of rising temperatures and sea levels. One area most immediately threatened by climate change—and one that hasn’t received nearly enough […]

  • Report: Global Transformer Market Will Exceed $90 Billion by 2026

    A recent study from Global Market Insights, a global market research and management consulting company, shows the value of the global transformer market will exceed $90 billion by 2026. The company has a market report dedicated to the global transformers market. Ankit Gupta, a research manager at Global Market Insights, recently answered some questions from POWER […]

  • Public Safety Power Shutoffs: How Utilities Could Partner

    Catastrophic wildfires have devastated California in recent years. This article seeks to outline a plan wherein neighboring utilities can send energy to support a utility that has shut down critical paths during wildfire mitigation efforts. On the morning of Nov. 8, 2018, the Camp Fire erupted 90 miles north of Sacramento, California (Figure 1). This fire […]

  • How Utilities Can Better Manage and Maintain the Quality of Their Data Assets

    Utilities are becoming increasingly skilled at adapting to changes brought on by the digital age: pressure from automation, disruption from new technology, and challenges with how to ingest, manage, and utilize mountains of data. Viewing “data as an asset” is becoming the new industry norm and utilities are beginning to invest heavily in digital tools […]

  • Fault Ride-Through Using Slip-Capable Torque-Limiting Couplings

    As more intermittent renewable energy resources are added to the power grid, generator connectivity during a grid fault becomes ever more important to mitigate the risk of cascading blackouts. An innovative

  • Show Preview – Connected Plant Conference

    The Connected Plant Conference allows for interaction with the industry’s early adopters. Attendees will meet generators who are using the latest connected plant tools. The speaker lineup (Figure 1) provides

  • Data Is the New Power: Key Learnings from a Successful ERP Migration

    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage and automate many business functions related to operations, technology, services, and

  • Increasing Automation for Fossil Energy Plants

    An Electric Power Research Institute study has developed a systematic process for introducing sequence automation to fossil power plants. Researchers are now exploring its implementation in case studies. As

  • Using Self-Service Analytics to Improve Power Plant Efficiency

    There is a widespread movement to reduce carbon emissions around the world. One way to do so is by improving plant efficiency, but that can be easier said than done. However, self-service analytics could play

  • Is Biomass Dead?

    With subsidies running short and emissions regulations still a challenge, the promise of biomass as a sustainable source for utility-scale power generation remains elusive. Yet, there are novel applications