Utility Automation & Engineering T&D articles from January 2009

Utility Automation & Engineering T&D archives from January 2009

The first fuel.(From the Editor)
January 1, 2009... Prior to becoming editor in chief of Utility Automation & Engineering T&D magazine, I worked as an editor for Power Engineering magazine, another of PennWell's global energy publications. It focuses on electricity generated primarily by coal,...

Agencies publish final EIS on energy corridor designation in the west.(NOTES)(environmental impact statement)(Energy Policy Act of 2005)
January 1, 2009... In late November, four federal agencies released a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PEIS) proposing to designate more than 6,000 miles of energy transport corridors on federal lands in 11 western states. The...

A first look at POWERGRID Europe 2009 in cologne.(EYE ON EUROPE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... After a very successful November meeting in Berlin, the POWERGRID Europe committee has laid out the upcoming program for the Cologne conference. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Join the conference May 26-28, 2009, at the KoeinMesse for the...

Financial crisis could mean opportunities for utilities.(NOTES)
January 1, 2009... A late November report by PowerAdvocate, "Discovering Short Term Buying Opportunities in a Rapidly Changing Marketplace," notes that commodities issues could be a boon to utilities in the market to buy supplies. The report states: [GRAPHIC...

Tibit.
January 1, 2009... Cooper Industries Ltd. has acquired Cyme International of St Bruno, Quebec, Canada. Cyme's products allow utilities to manage power outages, leverage AMI data, integrate and manage distributed generation assets such as renewable sources of...

AEP to look into transmission superhighway.(NOTES)
January 1, 2009... American Electric Power (AEP) is evaluating the feasibility of building a multi-state, extra-high voltage transmission project across the Upper Midwest to support the development of renewable energy. AEP proposes building the first...

Obama chooses new DOE head.(NOTES)
January 1, 2009... At press time, President-elect Barack Obama selected Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his administration's secretary of energy Chu shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics for determining how to trap and...

10 hurdles to smart grid success.(Company overview)
January 1, 2009... If the electrical grid is to become smart, utilities will require education. As in most of our individual experiences with the educational process, there are a few hurdles to obtaining an education, not all of them as part of track and field....

Smart talk directly from the DOE.(dialogue with Kevin Kolevar, assistant secretary of Department of Energy )(Interview)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... For this New Year's issue of UAE, we're talking a lot about the smart grid--how to define it, how to develop it, what the future holds. One of the biggest proponents of the smart grid concept is Kevin Kolevar, Department of Energy assistant...

Interoperable: more than just communications.
January 1, 2009... Common Information Model (CIM) 61850, 61970 and DNP3i may be what most utility industry people imagine when they think of interoperable communications. Communications is a huge piece in the utility of the future. As we contemplate...

Illinois smart grid work advances at national, state levels.
January 1, 2009... If someone teleported from the 1950s to today, the technological changes would astound them. This includes the revolutions in computers, medicine, electronics, aeronautics and telecommunications. Our time traveler, though, would find one...

The smart grid evolution of network management.
January 1, 2009... In North America, electric utilities have long managed their distribution networks using various applications with distinctly different spheres of responsibility. Outage management, for instance, has been the go-to application for accelerating...

D-TECH sparks collaboration.(DistribuTECH)(Conference notes)
January 1, 2009... Running Feb. 3-5 at the San Diego Convention Center, DistribuTECH 2009 encompasses automation and control systems, IT, T&D engineering, power delivery equipment and water utility technology From instructional Utility University courses to...

Grid expectations: do PHEVs need a benefactor?
January 1, 2009... When Chevrolet announced plans to offer a $30,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) called the Volt to consumers by 2010, U.S. utilities began thinking about readying the grid. Potential buyers grew greener with electric envy Utilities...

Demand response case study: University of Maryland reduces consumption by 20 million kWh.
January 1, 2009... In 2006, the State of Maryland adopted legislation for the reduction of energy consumption throughout state buildings--the State Buildings Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act--geared to reduce energy consumption by 5 percent in 2009 and 10...

Online GIS brings stability, security and safety to the field.
January 1, 2009... Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), the nation's first ever transmission-only company, imports and transmits power to Vermont's 20 electric-distribution utility companies. To do this efficiently and accurately, the company needed an...

The evolution of demand response.
January 1, 2009... Utilities have an exciting value proposition they can bring to customers: Sign up for a smart thermostat program and a professional installer will put a new thermostat in your home. The thermostat features touchscreen interactivity, programming...

SCADA-ready dielectric switches.(PRODUCTS)(G and W Electric Co.)(supervisory control and data acquisition)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... G&W Electric Company has simplified automated switching with a new SCADA-ready, three-phase switch design. The compact Trident-SR switch features integral, high-speed magnetic actuator operation; load break or fault interrupter application;...

Giant LED clusters.(PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2009... The DA180 range of giant LED clusters, having a 66mm diameter lens, provides clear indication from a distance and is visible from the side. Units are available in six colors and feature an integral current regulator to limit the current to...

Bird control system.(PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2009... More than one Bird-B-Gone Inc. product may be required to deter birds from substations and outdoor areas. The Bird Chase Supersonic plays 10-minute distress and predator calls of more than 20 bird species to prompt birds to seek "safer" areas....

Smart electric outlets.(PRODUCTS)(Energy Optimizers Limited)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Energy Optimizers Limited (EOL) has a ZigBee-based plug-in electricity meter called a plogg. The combined smart meter plug and data logger can attach to any electrical device that uses a standard UK 13 Amp or European 16 Amp plug. (A North...

Li-ion battery system.(PRODUCTS)
January 1, 2009... Saft and ABB have developed the first high-voltage lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery system designed to improve the stability of power distribution grids. The system combines dynamic energy storage provided by Saft's 5.2 kV battery, which will help...

Calendar.(Calendar)
January 1, 2009... JANUARY (20) (21) 4th Annual European Energy Policy Conference 2009 CEPS www.euenergypolicy.com Brussels, Belgium (26) (27) 3rd Underground Transmission: Trends, Techniques and Best Practices EUCI ...

Effects of the downturn for distribution.(PERSPECTEIVE)
January 1, 2009... Many would argue that electric utilities have gotten off easily compared with most other sectors of the U.S. economy. Indeed the sector has lost only a mere 33 percent of its value (excluding Constellation, whose exposure to investment banks...