Utility Automation & Engineering T&D articles from May 2008

Utility Automation & Engineering T&D archives from May 2008

Copper theft: the punishment should fit the crime.(FROM THE EDITOR)
May 1, 2008... In our last issue, April 2008, we ran an article on copper theft and a new wireless camera technology that Duke Energy is using to combat the crime. If you didn't get our last issue, you can read the archived article at our website,...

Mineral and vegetable transformer oils equally green?(NEWS)
May 1, 2008... Vegetable transformer oils are often perceived as more environmentally friendly than mineral oils. But is this really true? To find the answer, one needs to make a thorough investigative comparison. A useful tool for such comparisons, life...

Matt Myers named KUA meter reader of the year.(NEWS)(Kissimmee Utility Authority )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) recently named Matthew "Matt" Myers its 2007 meter reader of the year. Myers, 24, was chosen from among the utility's 23 full- and part-time meter readers for his meter reading volume and accuracy. Myers...

EPRI, ford want to plug your car into the grid.(NEWS)
May 1, 2008... The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Ford Motor Company announced a three-year agreement to develop and evaluate technical approaches for integrating plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the nation's electric grid system, a...

EDF to buy into Spain?(EYE ON EUROPE)
May 1, 2008... In late March, The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets reported that French giant Electricite de France (EDF) and Spanish construction company Actividades de Construccion y Servicios might be putting their heads--and their cash--together...

Smart metering all the rage in Europe.(EYE ON EUROPE)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The importance of smart metering for European energy organizations cannot be overstated as organizations look to implement next-generation technologies, according to the European Utilities Telecom Council (EUTC). In fact, they see smart...

NxtPhase supplies Turkish grid.(EYE ON EUROPE)
May 1, 2008... NxtPhase T & D Corp., a provider of fiber optic solutions for the electric power industry, has fulfilled a contract with the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEIAS) to supply nine fully redundant optical systems to measure...

Newton-Evans releases highlights of control systems study.(NEWS)
May 1, 2008... Newton-Evans Research Co. released preliminary findings and observations from its multi-month study of transmission and distribution monitoring and control systems used in international electric power utilities. Early highlights of the...

Study says transmission investment could save Texas consumers billions.(NEWS)
May 1, 2008... A recent study conducted by the Texas Wind Coalition shows proposed transmission improvements being considered by the Texas Public Utilities Commission will save consumers more than $3 billion annually in electric costs starting in two years. A...

Yazoo Valley Electric selects Cellnet+Hunt.(NEWS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association, an electric cooperative utility located in central Mississippi, has begun deploying the TS2 advanced metering solution from Cellnet+Hunt. Yazoo Valley Electric will fully deploy the TS2 system to...

Tidbit.(NEWS)
May 1, 2008... Georgia Power customers in Atlanta decreased their electricity usage by nearly 4 percent during Earth Hour on March 29 The average reduction during the hour was 7.05 MWh. People around the world were encouraged to shut off appliances and lights...

Tidbit.(NEWS)
May 1, 2008... Boulder, Colorado, is "Smart Grid City." Xcel and its Smart Grid Consortium partners recentiy chose the town to be their test bed for researching and developing intelligent grid technologies.

ACCR fires up at Platte River.(NEWS)(aluminum conductor composite reinforced)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Platte River Power Authority, a utility owned by and serving four major communities in north-central Colorado, has energized a key transmission line upgraded with 3M's ACCR (Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced) high capacity overhead...

Duke, Echelon partner for "Utility of the Future".(NEWS)
May 1, 2008... What's the deal? Earlier this year, Echelon and Duke Energy announced an expansion of the Duke Energy Utility of the Future project. Echelon will sell Duke Energy 57,500 advanced meters--Echelon's first U.S. utility contract. What...

The smart grid reaches Main Street USA.
May 1, 2008... You dread it--admit it! All of us in the utility industry can agree that it is no fun, after a big power outage, to be the person at the neighborhood cookout branded as an "electric power grid" person. While neighbors suffer frequent...

How vendor partnerships are shaping the smart grid.
May 1, 2008... From metering technologies and distribution management to geographic information systems and SCADA solutions, it seems everyone is offering up a piece of the smart grid puzzle. It is important for utilities to understand, however, that smart...

POWERGRID Europe beautifies Milan.
May 1, 2008... Europe has a lot on its plate at the moment: a spoonful of nuclear, various bits of fossil fuels, a mound of renewables--all different, but tasty sources of energy. Separately, these "bites" consider themselves islands, but something has to...

Wind on the wires: can transmission infrastructure adapt?(Cover story)
May 1, 2008... The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the U.S. Department of Energy have been working toward introducing a "20 percent by 2030" vision scenario for wind. One major obstacle in the way of that goal is the inadequacy of the national...

Prepaid service benefits a co-op and its customers.
May 1, 2008... The installation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) equipment has improved billing accuracy and reduced collection costs, but this may be only the beginning of the benefits utilities will realize in the next few years. AMI technology is...

The next step in IEC 61850: large applications and process bus applications.
May 1, 2008... After its passage in 2004, IEC 61850 enjoyed a triumphant welcome in the substation automation world. Today, more than 500 installations worldwide demonstrate the wide acceptance of this series of international standards. However, use is...

NERC targets transmission relay loadability.(North American Electric Reliability Corp.)(Interview)
May 1, 2008... In mid-February, the North American Electric Reliability Corp.'s board of trustees approved a standard addressing a key recommendation from the U.S.-Canada Joint Task Force on the Aug. 14, 2003, blackout. The standard, PRC-023-1 "Transmission...

Precision grid meter.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Landis+Gyr Inc.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Orders are being accepted for Landis+Gyr's MAXsys Elite precision electric grid meter. The MAXsys Elite evolved from Landis+Gyr's Quad 4 meter, the industry's first true 4-quad electronic revenue meter. Twelve years later, Landis+Gyr offered...

Drive-by meter reading.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Itron Inc.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The latest addition to Itron's ChoiceConnect AMR solution suite, the MC3 mobile AMR system can read up to 10,000 electricity, gas and water meters per minute. Powered by "SRead" radio technology, the MC3 increases read performance and...

Smart meter Coverage Validation.(NEW PRODUCTS)(SmartSynch)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The new version of SmartSynch's Coverage Validation Unit (CVU) is a ruggedized handheld device that enables utility technicians to verify GPRS, CDMA or Wi-Fi frequency coverage prior to Smart Meter deployments. Featuring a patent-pending Smart...

GPS receiver.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2008... Trimble's GPS Pathfinder ProXRT is a flexible global navigation satellite system receiver for GIS data collection and mapping. The receiver combines a high-performance GPS receiver with Trimble H-Star technology, OmniSTAR correction capability,...

IED security manager.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Cooper Industries Inc. Cooper Power Systems)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Enterprise Passthrough Manager module of Cybectec Enterprise Solutions provides a secure single access point to IEDs for maintenance and engineering. Enterprise Passthrough Manager includes a client, installed on users' workstations, and a...

Load management controller.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Telescada)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Telescada NeXGen LMC Load Management Controller is a solution for two-way wireless electrical load management, automatic meter reading, status monitoring, alarming and control. In addition to configurable pulse counters, status inputs, line...

Voltmeter.(NEW PRODUCTS)(HD Electric Co.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... HD's new DigiVolt Digital Voltmeter Model DVM-25T is a compact, high-accuracy single-stick voltmeter with capacitive test point mode and ground lead. The DVM-25T measures voltages up to 25 kV and can be used in both overhead and underground...

IntelliTEAM Interface Module.(NEW PRODUCTS)(S and C Electric Co.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Non-S & C intelligent electronic devices can now be incorporated into the IntelliTEAM II Automatic Restoration System through S & C's Universal Interface Module (UIM). The module enables the host device to communicate with other team members...

SAG and tension software.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2008... Southwire SAG10--a sophisticated, user-friendly Windows-based application--contains reliable, proven data that has been the basis for sag and tension calculation for more than 80 years. Southwire, which purchased SAG10 from AFL...

Calendar.(Conference news)(Calendar)
May 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 MAY 19-23 CS...