T&D

CHICAGO, May 20, 2021 – S&C Electric Company, a leading innovator of advanced electrical grid equipment, today broke ground on a new 55,000-square-foot manufacturing expansion in Franklin, Wis. Adjacent to the company’s existing 80,000-square-foot facility, the new expanded space will increase the company’s U.S. manufacturing operations and bring an additional 50 skilled jobs to the […]

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 […]

Zurich, Switzerland (May 13, 2021) – Hitachi ABB Power Grids announced the successful commissioning of a 500 kV – 1400 MVAr series capacitor bank, one of the largest in the world, on March 31, 2021 for Minnesota Power’s Great Northern Transmission Line project, helping ensure the delivery of more clean hydropower from Manitoba, Canada – to […]

Most people are aware that wireless charging technology is available today for small electronic devices, such as cell phones and watches, but when it comes to larger-scale power systems, the concept of wireless transmission of electricity probably seems like science fiction. The truth, however, is that systems have been developed and are being tested that […]

Bolstering the Biden administration’s recently announced initiatives to modernize the nation’s grid and improve its resilience, the Department of Energy (DOE) on April 27 made up to $8.25 billion in loans available to expand transmission capacity nationwide, while the Department of Transportation (DOT) offered new guidance to help speed the siting and permitting of transmission […]

2020 was a catastrophic year for wildfires across the U.S. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that almost 60,000 fires ran rampant across more than 9 million acres in the U.S. last year, nearly 1.5 times the 10-year average of 6.6 million acres. Not only this, California saw its first-ever “gigafire,” a devastating single […]

Natural calamities challenge businesses and create problems with customer experience (CX). How can a utility demonstrate the desired experience attributes such as speed, quality, consistency, and so on at the same or even at a higher level after a catastrophe? Following a winter that saw record-breaking bomb cyclones in the northern Pacific. and the biggest […]

An industry first, two global leaders in power technologies have entered into a non-exclusive, cross-licensing agreement that will allow them to expand their range of high-voltage equipment using a game-changing gas alternative to sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) SF6 an insulating and switching gas commonly used in high-voltage electrical equipment, is a potent greenhouse gas This historic […]

The EconiQ™ portfolio of products, services and solutions contribute towards a carbon neutral-future and accelerate the green energy transition Zurich, 21 April 2021 – Hitachi ABB Power Grids today launched EconiQ™ – its portfolio of products, services and solutions that are proven to deliver exceptional environmental performance. With EconiQ, the global technology and market leader […]

HOUSTON, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — RESA Power, LLC, a market leader in power systems services and life extension solutions for power distribution equipment, is pleased to announce the launch of the Transformer Assessment Portal (“RESA TAP”) as part of our continued commitment to expanding best available options that deliver high expertise and expert advice […]

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