June 1, 2010
Global Viewpoint
A Higher Calling
Over dinner, Fred Dennert and I were chatting about my favorite topic, the electric power grid. We were wrestling over what part we might play in maintaining...
Features
Power Quality and Wind
Supplying a growing consumer demand is the foundation of the electric power industry. In recent years, coal generation has become a major source of contention...
Back to the Business of Delivering Power
Great Lakes Energy, like many cooperatives across the nation, spent half a decade in the late 1990s focusing its member-satisfaction efforts on diversification...
Leveling Load in Tokyo
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has established large-scale power generation facilities, including base-load nuclear power plants and high-efficiency...
Shave and Save
A small rural electric utility is doing its part to reduce peak system demand at every rate-class level. Pee Dee Electric Cooperative Inc. (PDEC) serves...
Storm Hardening the Distribution System
When Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston, Texas, U.S., on Sept. 13, 2008, its Category 2 winds extended 275 miles (443 km) from the center. Behind...
Arresting Lightning
Transelectrica serves as the transmission system operator of the Romanian power system. It is responsible for the operation of transmission lines that...
Business Developments
Top U.S. Utilities Expand Solar Integration
The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), an educational and research non-profit focused on helping utilities integrate solar into their energy portfolios,...
ABB Acquires Ventyx
ABB will acquire Ventyx for more than US$1 billion from Vista Equity Partners to become a leading provider of software solutions for managing energy networks....
Alstom Enters Solar Market
Alstom announces that it will complement its strong portfolio in renewables through a partnership with BrightSource Energy Inc. to enter the high-growth...
AMSC Receives $445 Million Order from Sinovel Wind
American Superconductor Corp. (AMSC) has received a new multi-year order worth approximately US$445 million (excluding value-added tax) from Sinovel Wind...
Siemens to Supply Equipment for Grid Expansion in Qatar
Siemens Energy has received further major orders from Qatar General Water & Electricity Corp. (Kahramaa), the state-owned utility. As part of the national...
Salt River Project Expands to One Million Elster Smart Meters
The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) announces that it will use its U.S. Department of Energy Smart Grid Investment...
Black & Veatch Selected to Lead PSE&G's Grid Modernization Program
Black & Veatch has been selected to provide program management and integration services for the Public Service Electric & Gas (PSE&G) Grid Modernization...
OG&E Selects Volt/Var Optimization Solution from ABB
ABB will deploy its advanced Volt/Var Optimization (VVO) application at Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E), which serves more than 777,000 customers in a...
S&C Announces VAR Compensation System Projects
S&C Electric Co. has announced two VAR compensation system projects using S&C's PureWave DSTATCOM distributed static compensator. PureWave DSTATCOM provides...
Technology Updates
Burns & McDonnell Energizes Major Transmission and Distribution Projects
On the same day, Burns & McDonnell energized South Texas Electric Cooperative's (STEC's) first fiber-optic line and wind-fueled transmission for Oklahoma...
Oncor Taps POWER for GIS Data Services
POWER Engineers Inc. has won a contract from Oncor to perform GIS data management services for Oncor's Competitive Renewable Energy Zone projects (CREZ)....
AREVA T&D to Strengthen Power Supply in UAE
AREVA T&D has won an order worth close to 90 million euros to supply a 400/132-kV gas-insulated substation (GIS) for TRANSCO, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi...
Microsoft's Hohm Scores Now Available for 60 Million Homes
More than 60 million homeowners can now answer one simple question: Am I an energy hog or an energy miser? Microsoft Corp. announces the availability...
Quarterly Report
A Culture of Reliability
Improving reliability was a top priority for utility executives following the August 2003 blackout that unraveled the northeastern United States and southeastern...
Characters with Character
Lifelong Learner
Susan Koval considers herself both a student and a teacher. The senior administrator of education services for the IEEE Power & Energy Society (Piscataway,...
Products and Services
PRODUCTS & Services
Partial Discharge Tools EA Technology has added two new accessories to its range of UltraTEV instruments and systems for detecting, locating, measuring...
Straight Talk
Cyber Security Legislation
As Congress considers legislation to protect critical infrastructure from cyber attack, the electric power industry continues to work with federal, state...
Vegetation Management
Vegetation Management
Vegetation Management supplement from the June 2010 Transmission & Distribution World magazine....
Electric Utility Operations
Shannon Skinner
Born in Burns, Oregon. Riding Harleys is her No. 1 love, but she also enjoys hunting, fishing and sand dune-ing. Describes herself as one who works hard...
Five Hidden Safety Secrets of Line Work
In the transmission and distribution world, we don't often get back our lost opportunities. Our work is unforgiving. One safety mistake is life changing,...
Free Climbing Enables 100% Fall Protection
One hundred percent fall protection is quickly becoming the benchmark for electrical utilities in the United States. Since the 1990s, Canada has been...
Linemen Brave Helicopter-Based Live Line Work
Linemen often scale transmission towers or climb inside of an aerial bucket to repair or replace power lines in the Northeast. Because of treacherous...
Parting SHOT
Line crews work on restoration efforts after a storm producing rain and high winds blew across northeastern Ontario in April. In these photos, the linemen...
