T&D

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 […]

A major chunk of President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion transformational plan to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure is dedicated to re-energizing America’s power infrastructure. The initiatives garnered the industry’s approval—with notable exceptions. The “American Jobs Plan,” released on March 31, strives to jumpstart the U.S. economy, which drooped under burdens posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But […]

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 […]

TOKYO, Apr 1, 2021 – Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) announced that the operations of the Hida-Shinano frequency conversion facility have commenced, enabling the Shin-Shinano Substation of TEPCO Power Grid, Inc. (TEPCO) to be connected to the Hida Converter Station of Chubu Electric Power Grid Co., Inc. (Chubu Electric Power), to which Hitachi delivered a line […]

The mid-February blackouts in Texas have raised a lot of questions about power grid reliability. While investigations into the underlying causes of the outages could take a while to complete, and I don’t

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, […]

When evaluating resource adequacy requirements, many power companies and grid operators have used a methodology that originated more than 70 years ago. This probabilistic reliability approach has generally performed adequately through the years. It has generally evaluated loss-of-load events occurring at frequencies of one-day-in-10-years (1-in-10) to be acceptable in terms of system reliability. However, it’s […]

WACO, Texas — LineWise has introduced its TLL-500A Series 3 Triple Line Lifter for sub-transmission applications. Designed to support three phases of energized conductors between 34.5 kV and 72.5 kV, the product features all-new hydraulic articulation, allowing operators to easily rotate phases up to 90 degrees from horizontal to vertical orientation while servicing sub-transmission lines. […]

A sweeping climate proposal introduced by U.S. House Democrats on March 2 sets a stringent clean energy electricity mandate for power retailers nationwide, requiring they procure 100% of their power supplies from zero-emitting generation by 2035.  Among its slew of measures aimed at achieving net-zero emissions nationwide by 2050, the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action […]

LineVision’s Unique, Non-Contact Overhead Line Monitoring Systems Can Add Upwards of 40% Additional Capacity to Congested Power Lines  February 25, 2021; Somerville, MA – LineVision, Inc., the world’s only provider of non-contact overhead line sensor solutions to monitor, optimize and protect critical energy delivery infrastructure has been hired by Xcel Energy Inc., a major energy provider that […]

Historically frigid temperatures across Texas forced 34 GW of generation—across all fuel types—off the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system, prompting the grid operator to initiate rotating outages starting at 1:25 a.m. CST on Feb. 15. ERCOT said it expects outages will likely last at least through Feb. 16. This article has been updated […]

CARMEL, Indiana (February 10, 2021) — The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) today published the Renewable Integration Impact Assessment (RIIA), an analysis that evaluates increasing amounts of wind and solar resources within the MISO grid and the broader bulk electric system. RIIA represents the culmination of more than four years of analysis as well as significant […]

A  seminal milestone in the drone industry, American Robotics now meets the safety requirements needed to make drones scalable for widespread commercial use. MARLBOROUGH, Mass. & WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–American Robotics, a leading developer of fully-automated commercial drone systems, today became the first company approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate automated drones without human […]

2020 was a transformative year for the power sector, underlining both new challenges and potential opportunities. We not only saw how severe weather event threats, such as the wildfires and public safety power shutoffs in California, continued to illustrate the fragility of our existing centralized electric distribution system, but we simultaneously experienced the struggle of […]

Electricity transmission network operators are being tasked with adding more renewable energy resources to the power grid. The use of static VAR compensators (SVCs) is growing as a means to control voltage

Feasibility Study Set for Netherlands’ CCS Plan. Neptune Energy in mid-December announced a feasibility study to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) plan for the Netherlands. The study will look at

The U.S. bulk electric system consists of more than 360,000 miles of transmission lines, including approximately 180,000 miles of high-voltage lines, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. That means power companies have a lot on their plates when it comes to inspecting and maintaining those assets. Furthermore, the stakes are high. As wildfires in […]

The shift from energy consumers to prosumers is fundamentally changing the relationship between utilities and their customers. Behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DERs) transform the ways households consume, generate, and store power. In the U.S., there are now about 15 million smart thermostats, 2 million solar installations, and 1.5 million electric vehicles (EVs) on the road. And […]

We’re at the electric tipping point as electric stoves, vehicles, and construction equipment displace the fossil fuel guzzlers of the past. Yet, before a carbon-neutral future can truly take off, utilities and the electric grid need to innovate. For the world to hit net-zero emissions targets by 2050, grid investments need to almost triple to […]

NEWTON, Massachusetts — Burns & McDonnell has been awarded the onshore Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for an offshore wind project with Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, a joint venture of Shell and Ocean Winds. Burns & McDonnell will also provide market engagement support for Mayflower’s project. Mayflower Wind won the rights to develop a lease […]

Integrating electric vehicles (EVs) with the power grid has become a focus for utilities, particularly in areas with large concentrations of EVs. It also is another way for utilities to expand their business models, as they partner with companies involved with charging stations and residential energy storage applications. EnergyHub, a distributed energy resources (DERs) management […]

Underground electrical cable systems are used by power companies around the world. Two recently updated specifications and guides provide system designers and engineers with important information to ensure a

Even before the Stuxnet malware program made international headlines in 2010, cybersecurity was an important issue for utility companies. In the aftermath of one of the largest attacks on supervisory control

Contract covers maintenance of 116 high-voltage substations Largest power transmission service agreement for Siemens Energy in Middle East Strengthens power supply security in Kuwait Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) awarded Siemens Energy a contract to provide maintenance of 116 high-voltage substations. The five-year service contract represents Siemens Energy’s largest service agreement in the […]

In mid-August, the western U.S. experienced some of the most extreme heat it has encountered in recorded history. Temperatures in some locations were up to 20F above normal. During the hot spell, California