T&D
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T&D
Why the Power Grid Must Be Modernized Now to Handle EV Growth
The electric vehicle (EV) charging conversation in America has focused largely on hardware: how many ports, what power level, where to locate them. That framing misses the more consequential challenge. Projected EV adoption this decade requires a public charging network far larger than the one operating today. Meeting that demand requires grid infrastructure that does […]
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Commentary
The Insurance Engine Behind Energy Growth
The global energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. Increasing demand for power driven by the proliferation of data centers, the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), expansive manufacturing, and widespread industrial electrification has brought the need for new, sustainable power sources into sharp focus. This burgeoning load growth necessitates the urgent deployment of renewable […]
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Commentary
A Roadmap for Breaking Through the Power Demand Bottleneck in Data Center Construction
With many hyperscale data centers requiring hundreds of megawatts of reliable, uninterrupted power, contractors often find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.
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Top Plant
POWER Reveals 2026 Awards Finalists; Readers to Choose Plant of the Year
POWER is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2026 POWER Awards, recognizing the projects, people, and organizations setting the pace for the global power industry. Winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony at Experience POWER in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, at 5 p.m. New this year: the Plant of the […]
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T&D
77 Miles, One Drone: Rewriting the Rules of Infrastructure Inspection
Transmission corridors can be difficult to inspect, sometimes requiring helicopters and boots on the ground. A Daytona Beach, Florida, company is using drones to improve the process—at roughly a quarter of
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O&M
Strengthening Grid Reliability in a More Dynamic Energy Landscape
Utilities now operate in a far more dynamic environment shaped by distributed energy resources, an increasing number of distributed generation sites, and the emergence of large, high-demand loads and a growing number of connected devices across the grid.
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Electrification
Modernizing the Grid: Building with Domestic EAF Steel
The U.S. electrical grid is aging and under increasing strain from rising energy demand driven by technologies like data centers and electrification, making modernization urgent. Much of the current infrastructure is outdated, with many transmission lines nearing the end of their lifespan and relying on less durable materials like wood. Modernizing this infrastructure requires stronger, […]
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Commentary
The Grid Doesn’t Need More Power—It Needs More Control
The energy industry keeps talking about a shortage of power generation. In reality, this is a control problem.
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T&D
After the L.A. Wildfires: Why Vegetation Management Can’t Afford to Stay on a Fixed Cycle
The utilities best positioned to limit outages, liability, and regulatory scrutiny as they mitigate wildfire risk will manage vegetation as an integrated risk intelligence system, directly connected to their network model, enterprise data strategy, and field execution platforms.
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Legal & Regulatory
FERC Sets June Deadline to Rewrite Large-Load Grid Rules for AI-Era Power Demand
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has set a June 2026 deadline to act in a high-stakes rulemaking that could redefine how massive new power users—including AI-driven data centers—connect to the U.S. interstate transmission system. In an April 16 order in its “Interconnection of Large Loads to the Interstate Transmission System” docket (RM26-4-000), the commission […]
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O&M
New ‘Universal Shock Absorber’ Is Stabilizing Force for Tomorrow’s Grid
With the ever-surging demand to power everything from data centers to growing industries, the need to incorporate new energy sources into our grid has never been more pressing, nor challenging.
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T&D
Southwest Power Pool Announces Expansion of Service Territory
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) said it has successfully expanded its service territory. The SPP’s expanded operations took effect on April 1, and tThe regional transmission organization, or RTO, is now aligned with the Western Interconnection of the U.S. power grid.
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Addressing Data Priorities as Severe Weather Season Looms
Though severe weather can happen at any time, April 1 is often considered the start of severe weather season—and now more than ever, utilities need reliable, accessible weather information to keep their staff safe and operations running smoothly.
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T&D
Every Fifth Pole: Ameren’s Staggered Strategy for Grid Hardening
Ameren Illinois and Ameren Missouri found a “creative” way to strengthen their utility service territory by strategically installing fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite utility poles by Creative
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Commentary
How Artificial Intelligence Can Accelerate Power Delivery to the U.S. Grid
Power demand in the U.S. is rising faster than the grid was designed to accommodate, driven in large part by rapid growth in data centers. Large, concentrated data center loads are clustering in regions where
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Commentary
The Missing Intelligence Layer of the Smart Grid
Over the past two decades, utilities have invested billions of dollars building a smarter grid—deploying sensors, automated substations, and advanced analytics platforms capable of monitoring system performance in real time.
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T&D
Anatomy of a Blackout: Findings from the Spain-Portugal Grid Collapse Final Report
An analysis of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) Expert Panel’s final report on the April 28, 2025, Iberian Peninsula power grid incident. On a mild, sunny Monday in late April 2025, the power grids of Spain and Portugal collapsed in less than 90 seconds. At 12:33 p.m. Central European Summer […]
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Electrification Key for Decarbonization, Energy Efficiency
Electrification has become key for the global move toward cleaner energy, even as government policies continue to impact the use of renewable resources and in some cases embrace continued and even increased support for fossil fuels. Governments and industries wanting to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases look to electrification not only as an environmental […]
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Nuclear
Building Now For What Comes Later: How Nuclear Fits Into the Grid’s Next Decade
Ten years ago, utilities could plan for new 100-megawatt (MW) load requests. That size of energy load fit inside existing forecasts: it could be absorbed, modeled and planned around. Today, load requests have increased to one, two even three gigawatts (GW) at a time. This results in utilities fielding individual load requests that rival full […]
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Microgrid
Powered Remotely: Microgrids Connect Rural Communities with Sustainable Energy Security
Microgrids are bringing greater energy independence to rural and remote communities. ABB’s microgrids experts outline how today’s smart localized power generation and distribution systems lessen far-flung homes and businesses’ reliance on costly fossil fuels and fragile national grid infrastructures. Protecting Remote Communities from Energy Insecurity It’s easy for town and city dwellers to take the […]
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Legal & Regulatory
How America’s Power Regions Chose Their Futures and How That Has Played Out
On April 24, 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order 888, requiring all public utilities owning or operating interstate transmission facilities to file open-access
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Commentary
From Bottleneck to Breakthrough: Why Procurement Is the Utility Industry’s Critical Capacity Builder
With electricity demand projected to rise 25% by 2030 and 78% by 2050 from 2023 levels, utilities are facing a perfect storm—aging infrastructure, climate-driven disruptions, and escalating expectations for reliability and resilience. Meeting this moment will require more than incremental improvement; it demands entirely new sources of capacity, and a fundamental rethink of how the […]
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Finance
Southern Co. Lands Largest Loan in DOE History—$26.5B for Gas, Nuclear, and Grid Projects
The Department of Energy (DOE) has closed a $26.54 billion loan package—the largest single loan commitment in the agency’s history—with Southern Co. subsidiaries Georgia Power and Alabama Power to finance more than 16 GW of “firm” generation and more than 1,300 miles of transmission infrastructure and grid enhancement across the Southeast. The transaction, announced Feb. […]
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Energy Storage
Plus Power Adds Major Energy Storage Project to ISO New England Grid
A Texas-headquartered energy company with installations in more than 20 states has brought a utility-scale battery energy storage project online in Maine. Plus Power on February 11 said the group’s 175-MW/350-MWh Cross Town Energy Storage facility is now the largest of its kind in New England.
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Interview
The POWER Interview: Helping Power Infrastructure ‘Keep Pace with Modern Ambition’
The challenge of upgrading how power is generated, along with needed improvements in electricity transmission and distribution, is being met in a variety of ways by an array of companies.
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Data Centers
Constellation, CyrusOne Announce Deal for Texas Data Center
Energy provide Constellation said that Calpine LLC, a business unit of Constellation, has signed a new 380-MW agreement with Dallas, Texas-based CyrusOne, a global data center developer and operator, to connect and serve a new data center adjacent to the Freestone Energy Center in Freestone County, Texas.
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T&D
GE Vernova Launches Grid Automation and Protection System
Global energy company GE Vernova announced the launch of another offering in the group’s GridBeats portfolio, which features software-defined automation solutions designed to modernize electrical grids by improving resilience, efficiency, and flexibility.
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O&M
Xylem Advances Grid Intelligence with Sensus Evolve Platform
Xylem Inc., a global water solutions company, announced the launch of Sensus Evolve, its new intelligent grid platform designed to help electric utilities gain deeper insight, act faster, and adapt to a rapidly changing energy landscape.
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T&D
S&C Electric, SEL Collaborate on Interoperable Control Solution for Distribution Grid Modernization
S&C Electric Company and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) have announced a collaboration that pairs S&C Electric’s IntelliRupter PulseCloser Fault Interrupter with the upcoming SEL-651RD Advanced Digital Control, giving utilities a new interoperable option for overhead distribution automation. The announcement, made Feb. 2 at an event in San Diego, California, addresses growing utility demand for modernization […]
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T&D
Southern States Goes SF6-Free with New Switching Products
The company’s O2rigen product line uses a carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) gas blend to eliminate potent greenhouse gas emissions from power switching equipment. Southern States LLC has launched a new line of power switching products that replace sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)—one of the most potent greenhouse gases known—with a natural-origin blend of CO2 and […]