December 2006
Cover Story
InfoShare Across the Enterprise
More than a decade ago, Kansas City Power & Light(KCP&L) began a major initiative to improve customer service and enhance operational efficiency by automating...
Features
Unconventional Solutions For Rural Utilities
Improving service quality to rural areas is challenging due to the high cost of traditional improvements with only marginal benefits to customers. National...
Benefits of a Line Without the Line
Georgia Power commissioned the Laurens County 87-MVAR static var compensator (SVC) in June 2005 to address voltage problems in Dublin, Georgia, U.S.,...
High Capacity, Low Sag
The 3M aluminum conductor composite reinforced (ACCR) conductor is a new high-temperature, low-sag conductor designed to significantly increase the thermal...
China Mitigates Lightning Damage
The Chinese power system has tens of thousands of kilometers of optical-fiber composite overhead ground wire (OPGW) that have been in commission since...
Global Viewpoint
Spanning Generations
Boredom is my enemy, an enemy I banished to the outer kingdom years ago. But I find vigilance is required; otherwise, that adversary will sneak up on...
Business Developments
FPL Group and Constellation Energy Call Off Billion Dollar Merger
After much speculation and months of being caught up in a political battle over rising electricity rates in Maryland, FPL Group (Juno Beach, Florida,...
Oracle Purchases SPL WorldGroup
Business software giant Oracle has acquired SPL WorldGroup (San Francisco, California, U.S.), which will serve as a keystone to launch a global unit focused...
Human Error Identified as Reason for European Blackout
After an in-house investiagion, German utility E.ON AG said on Nov. 14 that the European-wide blackout that occurred on Nov. 4 was a result of human error,...
DOE Adds Second Comment Period on National Transmission Corridors
As a result of broad public interest in the National Electric Transmission Congestion Study released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Aug. 8,...
ITC, AEP Study Transmission Grid in Michigan
ITCTransmission, a subsidiary of ITC Holdings, has signed a memorandum of understanding with American Electric Power (AEP) to jointly commence a study...
Boston Selects Two Wi-Fi Hot Spots
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., has begun work on its first demonstration program for the city's wireless initiative. Mayor Thomas Menino said that a 1-sq-mile...
Technology Updates
PPM Breaks Ground on MinnDakota Wind Farm for Xcel Energy
Construction is underway for the 150-MW MinnDakota Wind Power Project in Brookings County in South Dakota and Lincoln County in Minnesota. South Dakota...
NaREC, National Grid Secure High-Voltage Testing Contract
The New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC; Blyth, Northumberland, U.K.) has secured a three-year testing contract for National Grid substation equipment....
Utilities Streamline Business Processes and Improve Customer Service
Public Service Company of New Mexico and Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) have selected ESRI as their enterprise geographic information system (GIS) software...
Dominican Republic's Edesur to Install DCSI's AMI at 100% of its C/I Sites
Empresa Distribuidora de Electricidad del Sur (Edesur; Dominican Republic) has awarded Distribution Control Systems Inc. (DCSI; St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.)...
ABB to Strengthen Mexico's Power Supply
ABB (Zurich, Switzerland) has won contracts worth $50 million for two projects to strengthen Mexico's power supply. The contracts awarded by Comisin Federal...
Characters With Character
A global vision
What do an engineer, teacher, humanitarian, world traveler and adventurer have in common? Actually, they're one in the same person Dr. Lisa Lamont, assistant...
Products & Services
Products & Services
Shunt Capacitor Bank Protection and Control System GE Multilin's C70 is an advanced protection and control system for shunt capacitor banks facilitating...
Straight Talk
Holding down costs
Worldwide, developing countries have come to the conclusion that electricity is essential for the growth of their industry and commerce. At the same time,...
Electric Utility Operations
Line Construction Headaches
It is interesting to hear what pole-line construction foremen have to say about the challenges of their job. Considering their responsibilities and work...
Helicopter Line Maintainers Step It Up for Safety
Hydro One (and its predecessor Ontario Hydro) has maintained a fleet of helicopters since June 1949, making it one of the oldest commercial helicopter...
Midwest Utility Continues With Conversion Process
Edmond Electric, a municipal utility north of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been converting residential areas that are in need of upgrades from overhead...
The Digital Utility
Welcome to the Era of the Digital Utility
Today’s utility must be a digital one. ...
The Bulk Power Grid Seeks Intelligent Operation
Much of the developed world's transmission grid is approaching the end of its design life and is subject to headline-grabbing failures. ...
Intelligent Distribution
The intelligent utility of tomorrow will buy a complete distribution management system package out of the box, according to Mark Dudzinski, GE Energy’s general manager of marketing...
Advanced Control of Distribution Circuits
Today, the electric industry has a full toolbox available to provide highly advanced technological solutions to the problems facing the distribution network. ...
Communications Link Customers with Utilities
Customers measure the service received from their utility by its ability to respond to problems. ...
