Utility Automation & Engineering T&D articles from January 2008

Utility Automation & Engineering T&D archives from January 2008

The ice storm cometh.(FROM THE EDITOR)
January 1, 2008... At about 4 o'clock the morning of Dec. 10, I woke up to what my sleep-addled mind could only guess was an alien invasion on the order of what Spielberg portrayed in his War of the World's remake. It was the sound that woke me up: A...

Tidbit.(NEWS)
January 1, 2008... The POWERGRID Europe advisory committee met in late November to plan the upcoming June conference. Attendees can expect expert presentations from RTE, Areva, ABB, ESRI, and CESI--just to name a handful of those accepted. The two tracks will...

Echelon smart meter approved in Canada.(NEWS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... The Networked Energy Services (NES) smart meter from Echelon has received certification from Measurement Canada. Echelon's NES meter, which includes a built-in, remotely controllable 200 amp service disconnect switch and built-in power line...

World's largest SVC in-service at Allegheny Power.(NEWS)(Static Var Compensator)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... The world's largest Static Var Compensator (SVC) was placed in service in early December at Allegheny Power's Black Oak Substation near Rawlings, Md. The installation is expected to enhance the reliability on Allegheny Power's 500-kV Black...

What's the solution to the transformer price problem?(NEWS)(Editorial)
January 1, 2008... Editor's Note: Yurkevicz participated in our story on transformer prices (see page 68), but he gave us a wealth of information that we couldn't manage to squeeze into the short article. Therefore, we've included a few tidbits here in the news....

Allegheny Power to upgrade West Virginia line.(NEWS)
January 1, 2008... Allegheny Power, a division of Allegheny Energy Inc., will install 3M's high-capacity Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced (ACCR) to upgrade a key line linking the Bedington and Nipetown substations along Interstate-81 in West Virginia,...

Reduced copper wire thefts at PSE substations.(NEWS)
January 1, 2008... To combat an increase in copper theft resulting from a worldwide spike in the price of copper, Puget Sound Energy has initiated several measures to deter thieves, protect lives, and keep its electric system operating. By combining new...

Dow announces wire, cable price increases.(NEWS)(Dow Wire & Cable Compounds)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Transformers aren't the only pieces of infrastructure costing utilities more these days (see Getting Equipped, page 68). Dow Wire & Cable in late November announced a $.12 per pound increase on all its wire and cable resins, compounds and...

New Year's resolutions for T & D.(Company overview)
January 1, 2008... An Editor's Note on T & D Resolutions To celebrate 2008, Utility Automation & Engineering T & D invited experts from all over the country to predict the future. We wanted to know what different parts of the country are doing and planning:...

DistribuTECH/TransTECH 2008: building the smart grid.(Show in Print)
January 1, 2008... As marketing buzz terms go, "smart grid" and "intelligent grid" are pretty good ones. After all, who would want our power grid to operate at anything less than a genius level? When DistribuTECH and its new companion show, TransTECH, come to...

Utilities at a crossroads: invest now or pay later.
January 1, 2008... Recent challenges to energy supply, highlighted by events such as the 2003 Northeast blackout, the California energy crisis, Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, have exposed the vulnerabilities of the nation's aging utility...

Using the Common Information Model for enterprise integration.
January 1, 2008... Most large electric utilities have had at least one project "try out" the industry-standard Common Information Model (CIM). A number have even based their large-scale enterprise application integration efforts on it. While these efforts are...

No single bullet wounded the world transformer market.
January 1, 2008... The power industry buzzes with talk of transformer prices. Sometimes, the issue gets laid at the feet of the metals industry; sometimes not. It depends entirely on whom you ask. So, bottom line: What wounded the transformer market? Is there...

Substation automation.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Open Systems International's (OSI)'s "monarch lite" software platform is configured and packaged not only for small SCADA applications, but also as a flexible and open substation automation platform. OSI's monarch lite is a streamlined version...

Dispatch solution.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2008... Moducom, makers of the Ultracom radio/dispatch console system, is launching the new Micro-CAM, a low-cost way to add additional operator positions using very little desk space. Any desktop computer on a network can be converted into a fully...

Smart grid solution.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2008... Telvent has launched its "Smart Grid Solution Suite," which is intended to help a utility transform its grid into one that distributes electricity more efficiently, economically, reliably and securely. The SGS suite consists of three major...

Audit software.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2008... Aerie Technologies' new browser-based PocketdynaQ audit software is robust, easy to use, and compatible with the latest Windows-based PDAs. Control your content, manage assessments, monitor follow-up actions, analyze data, and run reports all...

Infrastructure management.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2008... Autodesk's Topobase Electric software is a new infrastructure management solution designed to help North American electric utilities better manage their T & D networks, by integrating design and facility asset information. The product builds...

Fault locator.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2008... The new PFL20M from Megger is a safe, efficient and easy-to-use power cable fault locator. It delivers an energy surge of 1,500 Joules at 16 kV, which allows the user to tackle a wide range of cables, test longer cable and test more capacitive...

Clamp meters.(NEW PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2008... The Fluke 353 and Fluke 355 True-rms 2,000 A Clamp Meters feature an extra-wide jaw that enables users to clamp around large or multiple conductors. The true-rms clamp meters measure up to 2,000 A dc and 1,400 A ac to address a range of...

Calendar.(Conference news)(Calendar)
January 1, 2008... DistribuTECH and TransTECH 2008: The utility industry's most comprehensive conference on automation, information technology and T & D engineering Jan. 22-24, 2008. Tampa, FL. // Phone 918.832.9265 // www.distributech.com JANUARY 22-24,...