Contributed Content

Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) is a combined electric/water/wastewater/gas municipal utility serving 600,000 customers in the Pikes Peak area in Colorado. The company was founded in 1922 and takes sustainability seriously. Water is especially important, and CSU operates a state-certified lab that analyzes more than 12,000 samples per year from CSU plants and another 4,800 from […]

For a century our country has relied on fossil fuels to power our economy. But that is beginning to change with wind, solar, renewable fuels, hydrogen, advanced nuclear options, and more. The effort to decarbonize our economy and protect the planet from greenhouse gas emissions is now aggressively underway in the U.S. and other parts […]

The solar power industry continues to see growth in distributed generation installations from residential to commercial projects, particularly as people take more control of powering their properties to increase their electricity reliability, and to control their energy costs. An important part of that process involves a rooftop solar installation’s onsite survey. There is currently a […]

Commentary by Jay Zoellner, CEO Kiwi Power.   The ransomware attack that forced one of the nation’s largest fuel arteries to halt operations earlier this month exposed critical vulnerabilities in the American energy system, and as the largest such attack in history, it raised serious concerns for the security of our energy infrastructure. Supplying nearly half […]

Large-Scale Mapping in Plains of Nebraska Kevin Kenna has lots of experience with GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and major projects for utilities, government agencies, and large-area mapping. He’s used GPS (Global Positioning System) and GNSS for more than two decades and estimates that he has worked on mapping/surveying more than 20,000 miles of power […]

Extreme weather patterns, net zero acceleration, and shifting regulatory regimes demand a new methodology to assess and mitigate network challenges across both the immediate and long term. The integrity, performance, and flexibility of energy networks have become progressively more important in the face of rapid technological, economic, and environmental change. And the challenges in maintaining […]

Utilities represent one of the least diverse industries in the U.S. today, being 85% white and 80% male, according to a 2020 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey. The clarion call from policymakers, shareholders, and communities for significant social change has driven many U.S. utilities to create diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals in response. […]

The New Madrid Power Plant is an important facility in the Associated Electric Cooperative’s portfolio of assets and is fundamentally important to the company’s mission to provide affordable and reliable power to member systems. The plant and grounds cover about 3,900 acres on the Mississippi River, where approximately 175 people are employed. Originally built in […]

ERCOT market participants are grappling with the resulting financial fallout from winter storm Uri, which devastated Texas in February. Many are now familiar with actions the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUCT) took during the weather event, moves made with the intent to bring and maintain as much generation online as possible. Most notable, the commission […]

As consumer preferences continue to shift toward purchasing locally sourced and organic produce, demand is growing for commercial greenhouses, or controlled environment agriculture (CEA), as the industry is labeled. This shift in preference to locally grown food is changing the way supermarkets and restaurants source their fruits and vegetables. COMMENTARY Many restaurants throughout the country […]

Blue, green, turquoise, yellow, pink, blue, grey and brown/black. Hydrogen is currently beset by a host of colorful adjectives, but what part of the hydrogen rainbow is most likely to lead to a pot of gold (and environmental benefits)?  Elected officials across the country are more and more focused on promoting green hydrogen, which is […]

Following a 2020 summer of blackouts, the darkest since early this century, California is hoping that it can avoid replays in the future by investing in batteries. Big batteries. That are expensive. And come with significant energy storage limitations. Bloomberg News is reporting that by August, there will be 1,700 megawatts of new battery capacity […]

Concrete is an integral part of any construction project, whether you are building roads, a a ground floor in your private home, or a power plant. This is because concrete is very durable, but it can be susceptible to fractures as subsoil frosts and thaws, if it shifts, or if tree roots press upward on […]

Flexible plant operations are highly desirable in today’s power generation industry. Every plant owner desires increased ramp rates and the ability to operate at lower loads so their plants will remain “in the money” longer in today’s competitive power markets. This goal, while laudable, remains elusive. The ADEX self-tuning artificial intelligence (AI) system allows plants […]

With a global pandemic and unprecedented extreme weather, we have seen how essential our energy delivery system is to our way of life. Through collaboration and innovation, we will make the system more resilient and fulfill our commitment to reducing emissions. American Gas Association members are already leading in these areas—providing customers with reliable and […]

Two recent incidents have made the cost of not protecting our infrastructure and natural resources abundantly clear. First, there was the widely publicized SolarWinds attack that infected more than a dozen utility companies, and oil and gas manufacturing entities. Then, there was a dangerous incident in Florida, where a hacker gained access to a water […]

The utility industry has undergone a remarkable shift over the past 10 years. What was traditionally a one-way commodity electron-flow to customers has now become bidirectional traffic of both electrons and bytes. With the rise of distributed energy resources (DERs) and customer demands for improved energy efficiency, utilities are handling an increasing amount of useful […]

The severe winter storm that knocked out Texas’ electricity grid in February, plunging millions of people into a cold, dark ordeal, has led to a number of takes about what went wrong. The state’s deregulated energy market has been frequently singled out as the root cause. But, while a contributing factor, it wasn’t the only […]

As society contends with the impacts of climate change, we need to aggressively pursue strategies for reducing carbon emissions. Although states in the U.S. are taking a variety of approaches to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, and following an equally diverse set of timelines, most state-level GHG emission goals announced so far are fairly consistent—to reduce […]

An oscillating control valve may appear to be the source of control instability and repair efforts are usually focused only there. When this fails to solve the issue, further investigation often proves the

When distributed generation causes net reverse power flow on a distribution feeder, several voltage-related issues can occur. According to studies published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Reliability performance is core to the utility industry. Utilities strategically design and invest in their system to maximize reliability performance—traditionally measured by System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), and/or Consumer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI). These quantitative metrics largely drive utility investment decisions, shape strategic priorities, dictate regulatory approvals, […]

As the existing electric generation infrastructure matures, electric generation system owners are looking to the future for newer and greener technologies to meet the demands of electric consumption. An important part of this future perspective may include the demolition and removal of older generation plants and facilities to free up land resources for new development.  Prior […]

As clean-power technologies become more mainstream, offshore and river-based energy generating systems are beginning to come into their own in terms of proven performance. While the sea and rivers are widely available resources, they do come with a unique set of equipment protection and sealing challenges. The sealing solutions should be robust, safe, and effective—able […]

In 2009, only three in 10 American adults said dealing with global climate change should be a top priority. Over the past 10 years, this number has more than doubled: Nearly seven in 10 American adults say the federal government is doing too little to reduce the effects of global climate change, with six in […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Secret Science” rule establishing new standards for consideration of certain “pivotal” scientific studies, which was slated to go into effect on Jan. 6 of this year, has been vacated and remanded by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. The decision reached Feb. 1 impacts the power generation […]

During lockdown, Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, enjoyed some of the freshest air that the capital has seen in decades. Having witnessed the benefits of eliminating pollution from their cities, politicians the world over are talking about “building back better” in the wake of Covid-19. For many countries that means accelerating investment […]

Growing the amount of renewable power that’s available on the grid is equally as crucial for the energy transition as the ability to generate power from renewable sources. Fossil fuels continue to have the advantage because of market-bidding protocols that place their power on wholesale energy markets across the country, making it widely available to […]

The passing of 2020 is a great relief to many. The new year allows us to review not just the tremendous loss of life from the pandemic, but to consider the state of the global energy system. Despite the virus, 2020 was a great year for climate commitments. While COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, […]

The Trump administration’s final rule interpreting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) to not prohibit the incidental take (accidental injury or death) of migratory birds recently hatched. But with the Biden administration taking the regulatory reins on Jan. 20, 2021, this lame-duck regulation will be quickly grounded. COMMENTARY Anticipating this, power companies should remain vigilant […]