Officials from several Southern California utility companies joined federal, state and local authorities on Thursday morning to discuss how they could’ve responded more effectively to power outages in the wake of the Santa Ana wind storms. ..The company says it employed “smart meters” to pinpoint damaged places, but that the extent of all the destruction Continue reading →
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Echelon Corporation ELON -4.46% today announced that Tollgrade Communications Inc., a leading provider of distribution monitoring and service assurance test solutions for the utility industries, has developed an application for Echelon’s Control Operating System (COS) that delivers end-to-end smart grid analytics to prevent outages, reduces operating expense through asset and vegetation management, and protects revenue Continue reading →
This summer’s record setting severe weather has highlighted the important of establishing a smart grid and its associated technologies. For example, a July 11 windstorm, the largest in the utility’s history, cut power to more than 900,000 customers and cost $80 million. ComEd officials maintain smarter power will result in power outages, quicker restoration times, Continue reading →
The 7th anniversary of the August 2003 Blackout, the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the Aug. 1, 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, in addition to the hundreds of blackouts, water main breaks and daily traffic gridlocks, have stimulated growing public awareness of the necessity for accelerated programs of replacement, rehabilitation and Continue reading →
Central Maine Power Co. has begun a two-year effort to remove 600,000 old-style electric meters from every home and business it serves and replace them with digital devices that, over time, can change how people use electricity and what they pay for it. These “smart” electric meters will feature wireless communications technology that allows CMP Continue reading →
The network of electrical wires, poles and switches that powers our lights and appliances and charges our cell phones and iPods will soon undergo one of the biggest transformations in energy industry history. More than 700,000 customers in Greater Cincinnati will be among the first to see it happen, as the nation’s century-old electric delivery Continue reading →
The market for residential energy management is poised to grow dramatically due to increased consumer demand and new government and industry initiatives. Frequently, and for good reason, the discussions about this emerging market focus on the expansion of Smart Grids as these solutions enable electricity distribution systems to manage alternative energy sources (e.g., solar and Continue reading →
Part of India’s growing power demands will soon be met with smart grid technologies that improve efficiency and reliability for businesses and consumers. North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) on September 22 announced it would become the first major utility in India to realize the performance advantages of an advanced outage management system (OMS). A joint Continue reading →
The state’s major electricity distributors earlier this month took the first in a series of steps to move toward a so-called “smart grid” by seeking federal stimulus money to help finance their planned investments in enabling infrastructure. PSE&G, Atlantic City Electric and Jersey Central Power & Light plan to invest more than $200 million to Continue reading →
A smarter electricity grid could fundamentally change the way people pay for and manage their electricity use. In theory, the technology could help reduce demand, save money, and improve reliability and efficiency. But implementing the necessary changes will be difficult, according to experts attending a symposium on the smart grid at GE Global Research in Continue reading →
GE Energy and Orion New Zealand have implemented the first phase of a GE network management system to help improve power reliability for customers in New Zealand. Orion New Zealand has said that the system of smart grid technologies will significantly improve the network company’s ability to manage big network emergencies and help it to Continue reading →
On Feb. 26, 2008, a short circuit in a Miami electric power substation and an operator’s error gave managers of the nation’s electrical grids a glimpse of an uneasy future. The events triggered a chain reaction of power plant and transmission line outages in the state, unleashing sharp swings in voltages and power frequency that Continue reading →
