T&D POWER Direct

For decades, U.S. electricity demand was steady, allowing utilities to plan gradual growth and maintain the grid with modest upgrades. That era is over. The convergence of electric vehicles (EVs), data centers, technology advancements, and population growth and shifting is driving an unprecedented surge in electricity demand. According to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), […]

Ameren Missouri faced a pivotal moment in its growth and reliability journeys. The large investor-owned utility identified a high-risk section in its St. Louis-area service: aging manual switchgear combined with a growing base of commercial and industrial customers. This need was made evident by: Extended Outages. Cable faults caused lengthy outages that were difficult to […]

Technology group Wärtsilä said the company will deliver the largest DC-coupled hybrid battery energy storage system (BESS) in the National Electricity Market (NEM) in Australia, reflecting a growing trend toward hybridization of storage assets with co-located renewable generation.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just transforming industries; it is also transforming the energy grid. Behind every AI breakthrough lies a massive surge in computing power, and with it, an unprecedented demand for reliable and affordable electricity. As the U.S. positions itself for continued technological leadership, meeting the energy needs of AI data […]

Northwest U.S. utility Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has joined with Norway-headquartered Heimdall Power on a dynamic line rating (DLR) pilot project in Washington state. The companies on October 22 said Heimdall is installing 75 advanced monitoring devices, known as “Neurons,” on about 100 miles of electricity transmission lines across five counties in western Washington.

The true engine of America’s economy might surprise you. It’s not tech. It’s not artificial intelligence, finance, or manufacturing. It’s energy. Energy accounts for just 7% of America’s gross domestic product (GDP), but, as former FERC Chair Mark Christie put it, “it’s the foundational 7% … everything else in our economy and lifestyle flows from it.”

America’s investor-owned electric companies are poised to deploy record-setting investment to launch one of the most aggressive infrastructure modernization campaigns in industry history in a bid to confront unprecedented electricity demand growth and prepare for a fundamentally transformed energy landscape. In total, over the next five years, the industry is poised to invest more than […]

The summer of 2025 pushed the U.S. electric grid to its limits. A brutal heat dome swept across the East Coast, while a powerful derecho tore through the Midwest, leaving more than 28,000 homes and businesses without power in Iowa alone. Demand surged to record levels. Yet despite the pressure, the grid avoided major blackouts. Smarter, more flexible systems are beginning to deliver results, but the need for faster transformation is undeniable.

Hitachi Energy and high-voltage interregional infrastructure developer Grid United have launched the next phase of a collaboration to strengthen transmission capacity between three energy markets straddling the Eastern and Western grids in the U.S., formalizing an agreement for the North Plains Connector (NPC), a ±525 kV, 3-GW high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) line spanning roughly 420 miles […]

Grid operator Empresa Propietaria de la Red (EPR) is modernizing Central America’s 230-kV SIEPAC backbone with advanced communications, fault-location tools, and cybersecurity to meet the unique challenges of a multinational high-voltage grid.