POWER

High-temperature superconducting cables deliver up to 10 times as much power as conventional electric power transmission cables. They are poised to help to reduce grid congestion as well as installation and operating costs.

Universal Flow Monitors launched the P420 Series, a set of plastic, vortex-shedding flow rate transmitters designed to process corrosive fluids, water, brine, and low-viscosity fluids in water treatment, chemical, and desalination applications. The series features plastic flowmeters that have no O-ring seals or other moving parts that can stick, bind, or coat processing water or […]

Compliance with reliability standards has moved beyond the "check the box" phase to one of regulations with real deliverables and fines for noncompliance. Utilities that aren’t vigorously evaluating and refining their compliance procedures today may find NERC’s 2009 audit cycle much more challenging.

Facilities facing emergency plumbing repairs are typically forced to shut down and then drain the entire water system. RIDGID’s new SF-2500 SuperFreeze pipe-freezing unit is designed to avoid this costly and inconvenient process by quickly isolating sections of copper or steel pipe with ice plugs. Plugs are formed in as little as five minutes in […]

Following a press briefing this morning, President Barack Obama signed new executive orders intended to spur “swift action” on both U.S. economic recovery and American energy independence.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed an executive order expanding the state’s renewables portfolio standard (RPS) requirement to 33% by 2020. The executive order formalizes what has been generally assumed for some time: A 33% RPS requirement will be needed for California to achieve its ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals.

A pneumatic saw and universal pipe trolley kit that eliminates the need for heavy, clamshell saws for cutting all types of alloys and concrete-lined pipe are available from ESCO Tool of Holliston, Mass. The Esco APS-438 Air-Powered Saw and WrapTrack let users cut 6-inch to 60-inch outer-diameter pipe accurately without a heat-affected zone and are […]

The U.S. power industry’s story in 2009 will be all about change, to borrow a now-familiar theme. Though the new administration’s policy specifics hadn’t been revealed as POWER editors prepared this report, it appears that flat load growth in 2009 will give the new administration a unique opportunity to formulate new energy policy without risking that the lights will go out.

With its advanced point infrared combustible gas – sensing element, the new Model IR400 Infrared (IR) Point Combustible Gas Detector from General Monitors delivers reliable protection against explosive hydrocarbon gases with a low-power (4.8 W) design that requires no routine calibration. The detector measures the absorption of infrared radiation passing through a volume of gas […]

The power industry will be challenged in the coming year to chart its strategic direction and meet investor expectations, although business conditions should take a turn for the better going into 2010.