August 1, 2008
Global Viewpoint
Chief Technology Officers
In the Transmission and Distribution Space, Utility Executives are Quite Focused on the prospect of building out the intelligent grid. If our only goal...
Features
Progress Energy's Rapid Meter Deployment
On May 11, 2006, Vehicles Loaded with New Solid-state Electric Meters Left Warehouses across Florida and North Carolina, and returned with an assortment...
Cable-Replacement Strategy Spans 30 Years
Budgeting Decisions for Underground Primary Cable Replacement are often based upon a reactive approach, replace it as it fails. If preventive replacement...
Dominion Unlocks Substation Performance
Three Major Areas Affect the Information Coming from Substations: supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), data integration architecture at the...
KCP&L Revisits Capacity Planning
Metropolitan Kansas City Has Enjoyed Consistent Growth in New Customer Loads over the years, highlighted most recently by a resurgence of the downtown...
Xcel Energy Recycles Towers and Right-of-Way
During 2004 and 2005, Xcel Energy Added Two Natural Gas Turbines at the Blue Lake peaking plant. The 350 MW of additional generation exceeded the existing...
China Bridges Power From the Mainland
The Famous Shanghai Yangshan Deepwater Harbor is located in the small Yangshan Island sea area east of Hangzhou Bay and southeast-east Shanghai. The harbor...
Linemen Gear Up for 25th Annual Rodeo
The International Lineman's Rodeo has been A Platform for Linemen to show off their technical craft and skill since 1984, and this year 3500 attendees...
Business Developments
S.D. Myers Buys Back Specific GE Energy Assets
S.D. Myers Inc. (Tallmadge, Ohio, U.S.) has completed its acquisition of specific assets of GE Energy, which include the intellectual property rights...
OSHA Electrical Partnership Identifies Best Practices to Increase Lineman Safety
Four years ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) partnered with six electrical contractors, one union and two industry organizations...
ABB to Acquire Kuhlman Electric
ABB (Zurich, Switzerland) will acquire transformer company Kuhlman Electric Corp. (Versailles, Kentucky, U.S.) from private equity firm The Carlyle Group....
Solar Electric Power Association Ranks Top 10 Utilities Providing Solar Electricity
Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) has ranked the top 10 utilities in the United States that had the most solar electricity integrated into their...
Palo Alto Signs Up Large Solar Installation
A research-based company in Palo Alto, California, U.S., has applied for the largest solar power system ever to be installed within city limits. Developed...
USDA Awards Co-ops $1.4 Billion
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development will fund US$1.4 billion in loans to build new distribution lines and make system improvements...
LED Streetlights Shine on Mayors
GE Lighting Systems Inc. (Hendersonville, North Carolina, U.S.) showcased its new LED StreetDreams post-top fixtures in June 2008 at the 76th Annual Conference...
Siemens to Expand Power-Supply System in Sri Lanka
The Ceylon Electricity Board has placed an order with Siemens Energy to modernize and expand the medium-voltage distribution network of Sri Lanka's capital...
Technology Updates
Oncor Advances its Smart Grid Strategy with Installation of PulseCloser
Oncor installed the first S&C IntelliRupter PulseCloser in the United States at a location in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, area. This new, groundbreaking...
URMC, Power Line Systems to Integrate Risk-Management Solution with PLS-CADD
Utility Risk Management Corp. (URMC; Stowe, Vermont, U.S.) has entered into a teaming agreement with Power Line Systems Inc. (PLSi; Madison, Wisconsin,...
Prysmian-Led Consortium Wins Power Transmission Project in Qatar
Qatar General Electricity & Water Corp. (Doha, Qatar) has awarded a Prysmian-led consortium a major contract for a power transmission system expansion...
Dominion to Deploy Elster Smart Meters
Dominion Virginia Power (Richmond, Virginia, U.S.) has chosen the EnergyAxis System Smart Grid Solution from Elster Electricity (Raleigh, North Carolina,...
Straight Talk
Meter Data Management
Utilities Installing Advanced Metering Infrastructure Can Improve Efficiency through meter data management (MDM). If deployed correctly, MDM can play...
Characters with Character
Power Player
Allen Morinec Admits He has A Passion for Power. Not the kind of power that gives people influence and notoriety, but the sort that is piped over power...
Products and Services
PRODUCTS & Services
Infrared Camera Extech Instruments announces the Extech i5 compact IR camera, an easy-to-use troubleshooting tool for high-quality thermal imaging, high...
Electric Utility Operations
Virtual Power Plants
At Detroit Edison, We are Creating a 300-MW Virtual Power Plant using customer-owned generation located on the distribution system. These generators,...
Entergy Changes Its Safety Culture
Nothing is more important to Entergy than the safety of all personnel. If a project can't be performed safely, then the New Orleans, Louisiana-based utility...
Mobile Computing Improves Efficiency
All companies are looking for ways to improve their employees' productivity and cut costs. One way ArborMetrics Solutions Inc. (Hendersonville, North...
Quanta Linemen Stay Safe While Working Live Lines
Robust customer demand and a growing expectation for uninterrupted service has made live-line barehand work a common practice in the utility industry....
PRODUCTS & Services
Retractable Truck Grounding Reels Hastings' spring-retractable truck grounding reels help field crews to efficiently and safely ground vehicles while...
Joe Campbell
Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, and raised in Bellaire, Ohio, with his three sisters. Married for six years to his wife, Jaime, and has three children:...
