T&D POWER Direct

The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) regional transmission organization (RTO) is joining with energy technology company Hitachi on development of what the groups say is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution to support power transmission reliability and flexibility challenges.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on May 13 of this year issued an order addressing the formula rate filings and requests for transmission rate incentives for the Valley Link Transmission Project Portfolio. The project is a $3-billion, 417-mile multi-state transmission initiative spanning Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia (collectively, Valley Link). While FERC approved several […]

National Grid in the UK has begun construction of a new Uxbridge Moor substation complex in Buckinghamshire, a project designed to connect more than one dozen new data centers to the electricity provider’s network.

For engineering management and engineers, the total power market is rapidly changing globally. Consequently, North American district heating networks and industrial processors are taking note of key developments in the European power market today. Specifically, Finland has set one of the most advanced climate policies in the region, committing to carbon neutrality by 2035.

The world’s electricity grids are facing unprecedented strain as demand surges from electrification, data centers, and renewable energy integration, while aging infrastructure struggles to keep pace. Traditional approaches to grid expansion—building new transmission lines and substations—face mounting challenges including sometimes decade-long permitting processes, escalating costs that can reach billions per project, and growing public resistance […]

While many utilities are hardening power grid infrastructure by upgrading poles and wires—a necessary step—brute force solutions alone won’t be enough. To truly future-proof the grid, resilience must be rooted in intelligence via systems that anticipate, adapt, and respond dynamically.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Smart Wires have announced a project to enhance grid reliability and meet energy commitments for data centers connecting in San Jose, California. North Carolina-based Smart Wires will deploy its advanced power flow control (APFC) technology to help PG&E mitigate thermal overloads, redirect power flow, and increase available capacity at its Los Esteros electric substation.

Avangrid said it would invest $41 million across five projects in New York State to improve the capacity and reliability of the regional power grid. The company, a member of the Iberdrola Group, said the funding for the grid around Ithaca, New York, builds on Avangrid’s effort to modernize New York’s electrical and gas infrastructure.

The speed of decision-making at the grid edge has become critical for maintaining stability, preventing cascading failures, optimizing efficiency and integrating intermittent renewable resources. With the proliferation of distributed energy resources (DERs), electric vehicles and smart loads, grid edge intelligence has moved from a luxury to a necessity.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has invoked emergency authority to compel Puerto Rico’s public utility to dispatch mothballed oil-fired and fossil-fueled power units, citing an imminent threat to grid reliability following two major blackouts in less than a month. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, acting on behalf of the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, […]

New transmission lines will help meet power needs this summer. Con Edison will energize newly constructed transmission lines in Brooklyn and Staten Island this month, helping to keep service reliable when the demand for power rises and challenges the electric delivery system. The underground cables, which represent a combined investment of $505 million, will provide […]

Enverus, an energy-dedicated, software-as-a-service company that leverages generative artificial intelligence across its solutions, has released its 2025 Interconnection Queue Outlook, a comprehensive collection of power generation and transmission projects that show requests to connect to the U.S. power grid.

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   May 5, 2025 How PG&E Is Supporting EV Growth Without Expensive Grid and Home Upgrades As electric vehicles (EVs) surge in popularity, many American homeowners are discovering a hidden obstacle to the EV transition: the aging electrical infrastructure of the nation’s housing […]

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories recently announced the release of the LINAM UGFI Underground Fault Indicator, a product of the E. O. Schweitzer Manufacturing facility in Lake Zurich, Illinois. The innovative device offers several key features that help distribution system operators reduce the duration of outages by streamlining underground fault locating. The LINAM UGFI is rugged, submersible, […]

Con Edison has said it is investing $125 million to build a new transmission line that will support economic development and the electrification of buildings and vehicles in Queens, New York. The Reliable Clean City—Long Island City project will connect the Vernon and Newtown substations in Long Island City.

PJM, the largest grid operator in North America, has launched a multiyear partnership with tech giant Google and its Alphabet X moonshot Tapestry to streamline PJM’s grid interconnection process using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The companies said the effort could significantly improve planning and decision-making as grid pressures intensify. Under the initiative, announced on April […]

As the artificial intelligence (AI) boom drives exponential demand for data centers, the United States’ position as an AI leader is at risk without immediate action to address growth constraints.

Seven major U.S. grid operators have raised a unified alarm about an impending capacity crunch, warning that the pace and scale of explosive demand—including from data centers, manufacturing, and electrification—pose a precarious misalignment with accelerating generator retirements and transmission constraints. At a March 25 hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, the […]

One week after a catastrophic fire at the North Hyde electrical substation plunged the UK’s flagship Heathrow Airport into chaos, questions are mounting about what went wrong—and what the incident reveals about the vulnerabilities in Britain’s aging power infrastructure. A massive explosion and fire that erupted around 8:20 p.m., on Thursday, March 20, at the […]

The energy industry is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by advancements in digital technology and the ever-growing need for real-time data analytics. As energy companies look to modernize their operations, they face unique challenges that demand innovative solutions. Some of the most pressing concerns for energy professionals today include: Increased risk of downtime and the […]

POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   March 10, 2025 Lawmakers Scrutinize Power Sector's Future as Surging Demand Raises Alarms In a hearing that underscored the mounting challenges facing the American power sector, industry leaders warned Congress that the nation’s power infrastructure is approaching a precarious juncture as unprecedented […]

Imagine unlocking 30% more power from our existing grid overnight. That’s the potential we’re ignoring, and it’s costing us billions. The demand for energy is rising, and utilities are struggling to serve this growth. In the U.S., congestion costs have increased from $8 billion in 2021 to more than $11 billion in 2023 despite record […]

Landsnet owns and operates Iceland’s power transmission system and is responsible for building and maintaining a secure and reliable electrical grid. Monitoring the grid in Iceland is uniquely challenging because of the country’s rugged, often inaccessible terrain and extreme weather conditions—particularly severe winds and sub-zero temperatures. Between December 10 and 11, 2019, northern Iceland experienced […]

Government officials in Italy have implemented a new law that allows for nuclear energy to return in the country, four decades after voters banned the technology in a 1987 referendum. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called the measure, adopted by the government on Feb. 28, a move toward energy security for Italy. The law, which […]

The rise in customer voltage complaints is one of the hot topics in play within the industry forum we recently hosted, “Voltage Matters.” The forum brings together members from across the electricity industry to share their concerns and experiences on all things voltage-related. More than 60 forum members were presented with figures from a UK […]

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has completed work on an electricity transmission line in eastern Colorado, one of several transmission and distribution (T&D) projects the group has planned through 2028.

California-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and nonprofit charitable organization Citizens Energy Corp. are partnering on a proposed investment program that expects to provide more than $450 million to help PG&E customers in low- and moderate-income households pay their energy bills. Submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) late last month, the updated […]

Researchers from Duke University have said that integrating more flexibility into U.S. power grids could help provide the energy needed to power future load growth, particularly the electricity needed to support artificial intelligence and data centers. The group in a Feb. 19 webinar discussed their findings, which are contained in their recent report titled “Rethinking […]

Power management company Eaton said it is helping address the critical shortage of transformers, along with record demand for its solutions from utility, large commercial, industrial and data center customers, with a $340 million investment to increase U.S. production of its three-phase transformers essential to reliable electrical power. Production and hiring at Eaton’s new Jonesville, […]

Amanda Neuenfeldt is the energy management system (EMS) modeling lead engineer at Actalent, a global company specializing in engineering and sciences services, along with talent solutions. Neuenfeldt works with emerging grid technologies related to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cybersecurity. She has studied the application of a predictive machine learning algorithm, coupled with […]