With the temperatures dipping below freezing in Kansas City, it's time again for the start of a new year for Electric Utility Operations. I've enjoyed working on this section over the last few years, and I look forward to providing our 10,000 readers with articles on the latest tools and technology.

We have many interesting and informative articles in store for our readers for 2010. Here is a glimpse of what is ahead for the section. Stories for many of these topics are already well under way, but if your field crew is working on a project, using a tool in the field or employing a work practice that would make a great feature story, please let me know.

Future Topics

In February, we will focus on wildlife protection, which has become a hot topic for utilities nationwide. When linemen cross over environmentally sensitive areas during pole replacement and maintenance projects, they often need to protect wildlife and minimize their impact to the land. In addition, we will feature an article on boring and trenching. In particular, this article will focus on the Alaskan Way Viaduct project. Field crews are relocating electrical lines in preparation for replacing the southern mile of Seattle's earthquake-damaged viaduct.

The March EUO section will highlight two topics that are very important to utilities nationwide: vegetation management and arc flash protection. When trees crash onto power lines and cause power disruptions, it can lead to costly repairs. For that reason, utilities are relying on vegetation management companies to help to protect their systems and improve power reliability. In addition, we will take a look at how utilities are protecting their workers from arc flash hazards, which can inflict serious injuries and even lead to fatalities.

In April, you will be able to read about fleet equipment and utility vehicles. Properly maintaining vehicles and investing in the latest technology is critical for utilities that are looking for ways to improve their workers' safety and efficiency. We will also cover live-line maintenance, which is a practice that is becoming more common in the utility industry. As companies are trying to find ways to improve power reliability and reduce the frequency of power interruptions, they're asking linemen to work on energized lines. Working hot requires proper safety equipment and work practices to ensure that linemen can complete a job without any complications.

May's issue will focus on meter installation and maintenance, and the installation of poles, lines and substation equipment. The stories will focus on field crews that are employing unique work methods and using innovative tools to get the projects done quickly and efficiently.

This summer, we also have some exciting stories in store. June will feature a topic that is always an important one for linemen — fall protection — and it will also include helicopter work, which is becoming more common as utilities are trying to find a way to maintain lines in remote terrain.

In July, we'll feature a topic that hasn't been on the EUO calendar before — moving smart grid to the field. While this topic is covered heavily in the main issue of T&D World, it's going to be explored in a different way in EUO by describing what this trend means for linemen in the field.

In the fall, we'll cover some topics that are always of interest to linemen like power quality, backyard hauling and line work equipment, hand tools, substation construction and maintenance and mobile field computing.

December's issue will feature a new topic — connecting renewable energy to the grid. Last year, I had the opportunity to visit a wind farm in Missouri, and by talking to the management company, I learned that many electric utilities in our region are installing wind farms. The local utilities are then building high-voltage power lines to carry this power to other states.

Other Stories in EUO

In addition to publishing two or three feature stories in each month's section, we'll also have one-page departments like LifeLine, which profiles a different lineman each month. We'll also alternate Field Applications, a one-page case study of how line crews are using a product in the field with Safety Talk, a how-to article on utilities' safety practices.

As you know, we also have been publishing Parting Shot for about a year. In this department, we feature photos of line crews hard at work on many unique projects out in the field.

For 2010, I would like to have a contest for the best photo taken out in the field. Please submit a high-resolution color photo, along with the name of the photographer and a one-paragraph description of what is going on in the photo. The winners will have their photos published in the Parting Shot department in 2010. Please e-mail your submissions to me at afischbach@tdworld.com by Feb. 1.