Utility Automation & Engineering T&D articles from April 2008

Utility Automation & Engineering T&D archives from April 2008

Thoughts on the Florida blackout.(FROM THE EDITOR)(Northeast Blackout, 2003)(Editorial)
April 1, 2008... Reflecting on the Florida blackout of Feb. 26, two thoughts comes to mind. One: Blackouts are inevitable. Two: We're probably getting better at handling them. When I interviewed Damir Novosel--then with KEMA, now with InfraSource--shortly...

Energy expert to regulators and utilities: "just do it".(NEWS)
April 1, 2008... To meet future power demand and provide quality, reliable electricity to American homes and businesses, policymakers and state regulators need to change the way electric utilities do business, Kurt Yeager, executive director of the Galvin...

NERC board addresses key blackout recommendation.(NEWS)(North American Electric Reliability Corporation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The North American Electric Reliability Corporation's independent Board of Trustees recently approved an important standard addressing a key recommendation from the U.S.-Canada Joint Task Force on the Aug. 14, 2003, blackout. Developed through...

ABB donates to Tennessee Tech Power Relay Lab.(NEWS)
April 1, 2008... ABB has donated IED 670 power relay equipment and other power products to Tennessee Tech University for use by students and employees of its recently opened TVA Power Relay Laboratory in Cookeville, Tenn. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Iberdrola launches an open and non-proprietary telecommunications architecture for smart metering and smart grid evolution.(EYE ON EUROPE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Iberdrola has been working extensively in the definition and testing of a new open, public and non-proprietary telecom architecture to support not only smart metering functionality but also to progress toward the electricity network of the...

Alliant Energy switches to FR3 transformer fluid.(NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Alliant Energy expands its environmental commitment to the type of oil it uses in distribution transformers. The company has announced plans to switch from a petroleum-based mineral oil to FR3 fluid, a soy oil-based and more environmentally...

SuperPower integrates 2nd gen HTS wire on live grid.(NEWS)
April 1, 2008... SuperPower Inc. has re-connected the 350-meter high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable to the National Grid power system between the Riverside and Menands substations in Albany, N.Y. Using a new 30-meter cable segment fabricated with wire...

Con Ed employee invents device to restore power faster.(NEWS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Consolidated Edison employee Alan Homyk, director of quality assurance and operations services and a 26-year veteran of the company, has invented a device called the "PhazeSaver" that is used to provide temporary power to customers during...

New study focuses on impact of recent "smart grid," cyber security legislation.(NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Newton-Evans Research Company has begun its 10th study of global trends and plans for electric power operational control systems, impacted today by a barrage of new legislation, compliance requirements, smart grid developments and information...

KUA continues pole inspections.(NEWS)(Kissimmee Utility Authority contracted with Osmose Utilities Services to inspect wood distribution poles )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) has completed the first phase of its outsourced wood pole inspection program. The inspections are part of an effort by the utility to enhance the safety and reliability of its transmission and distribution...

FirstEnergy files application for transmission line.(NEWS)
April 1, 2008... FirstEnergy Corp.'s transmission subsidiary, American Transmission Systems Inc., and its Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) electric utility company have filed a complete construction application with the Ohio Power Siting Board...

Tidbit.(NEWS)
April 1, 2008... Itron signed 10 contracts with utilities in the first two months of 2008 for its Enterprise Edition Meter Data Management system. The MDM deployments are in preparation for large advanced metering infrastructure initiatives and to improve data...

Shining a light on blackouts: progress made, hurdles still remain.(Cover story)
April 1, 2008... It's been almost five years since the 2003 blackout in New York and connected regions; it's been little more than five weeks since one rolled through parts of Florida. As an industry, we've been working on this problem since we first...

ZigBee--a key enabler for residential demand response.
April 1, 2008... The old adage "work smarter, not harder" has become a suitable mantra for utility system planners as the gap between electric supply and peak demand continues to grow. The use of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems to address these...

Using GIS for efficient transmission line siting.
April 1, 2008... Power companies have a new tool for approaching the challenges of transmission line siting. Public web map services such as Google Earth and Yahoo! Maps have made basic mapping functionality and common data layers available to practically...

Outreach & education: two keys to an effective line clearance program.
April 1, 2008... Successful line clearance programs rely on more than trimming branches away from electric wires or removing trees that may damage equipment during a storm. Quality programs balance the short-term requirements to remove the potential limb and...

Duke Energy battles copper theft.
April 1, 2008... According to Don Home of Electricity Today, copper theft increased 1,150 percent from 2005 to 2006. Unfortunately, things only got worse from there. In 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy called copper theft a $1 billion problem that was...

Rugged computers for rugged work.(Panasonic Computer Solutions Co. offered Laptop computers)
April 1, 2008... The newest nifty piece of hardware from Apple, the MacBook Air, certainly has the "cool" factor going for it. Measuring a hair over three-quarters of an inch at its thickest point and weighing a mere 3 pounds, the "world's thinnest notebook,"...

RTU upgrade.(NEW PRODUCTS)(ASAT Solutions Inc. has been upgrade Remote terminal units )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... ASAT Solutions says its DAPmini is an ideal solution for those wanting to upgrade D20 remote terminal units. The GE D20 RTU has been available for two decades, and many D20 users are facing the challenge of upgrading the units. DAPmini allows...

Mobile Work Management suite.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Powel A/S enhanced Mobile Work Management suite)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Powel's enhanced Mobile Work Management suite of field operations applications is designed to provide up-to-date operational information to utility employees. This critical information includes work assignments, GIS and mapping data, CIS...

Single-phase recloser.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Hubbell Inc. Hubbell Power Systems has introduced the Versa-Tech single-phase recloser )(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Hubbell Power Systems has introduced the Versa-Tech single-phase recloser for 15- to 27-kV applications. The recloser uses no oil and features a unique "hot tank" design with vacuum interrupter, drive mechanism, control and housing energized at...

Smart meter.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Elster Electricity has introduced REX2-EA meter)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Elster Electricity has announced the commercial release of the REX2-EA meter, a smart meter built on the design, functionality and reliability of Elster's REX meter. Compatible with new and existing EnergyAxis systems, REX2-EA provides an...

Data radios.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Control Microsystems has released SCADAWave data radio products)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The new SCADAWave data radio product line from Control Microsystems includes remotes, base stations and hot standby/redundant station variants in both licensed and unlicensed frequency formats. The license-free SCADAWave Ultra-Series radios...

SCADA cyber security.(NEW PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2008... StrongPoint is a device-based Identity and Access Management (IAM) appliance for infrastructure security from Uniloc USA Inc. The hardened appliance is designed to provide security and hack resistance in SCADA systems. StrongPoint uses device...

Polymer insulators.(NEW PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2008... Preformed Line Products (PLP) new polymer insulators are designed for use with overhead distribution lines with either bare or covered conductors. They are available in 15-kV and 35-kV Tie Top and Vise Top designs; 25-kV designs will be...

Geospatial solutions for small utilities/co-ops.(NEW PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2008... Intergraph is bringing the benefits of its outage management, workforce management and geospatial information system (GIS) technology to small utilities and electric co-ops through packaged solutions that are cost-effective for the smaller...

Demand response thermostat.(NEW PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2008... Honeywell's UtilityPRO digital touchscreen programmable thermostat is designed specifically for utility-sponsored demand response programs. Its intuitive logic and menu-driven programming help users maximize energy savings while maintaining...

SCADA system CPU.(NEW PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2008... Semaphore, a CSE Global company, has added a 32-bit CPU SCADA software module to its T-BOX line of RTU SCADA system products. The new MS-CPU32 is compatible with the T-BOX MS Modular System and offers up to 100 times the performance of current...

Gigabit Ethernet switch.(NEW PRODUCTS)
April 1, 2008... TC Communications Inc. has announced commercial availability of its new gigabit Ethernet Multi-Service Access Platform (MSAP), the JumboSwitch product family. The centerpiece of the JumboSwitch family is an industrial hardened (-40[degrees]C to...

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 1, 2008... DistribuTECH and TransTECH 2009: The utility industry's most comprehensive conference on automation, information technology and T & D engineering Feb. 3-5, 2009, San Diego, CA. //Phone 918.832.9265// www.distributech.com APRIL 19-23 ...