The Tennessee Valley Authority is testing a promising “smart grid” technology that may help utilities enhance reliability, efficiency and the ability to keep power flowing. Ninety-nine devices designed to reroute electricity, automatically or by remote control, from potentially congested transmission lines onto underused lines have been installed on a 161-kilovolt transmission corridor spanning 17 towers Continue reading →
General Motors started production this week of what it says is the first electric-vehicle drive motor to be designed and manufactured in the United States by a domestic automaker. The electric motor sits under the hood of the battery-powered 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV. Company executives on hand here at this Baltimore-area transmission plant that also Continue reading →
“Double your pleasure, double your fun,” went the old advertising jingle for Doublemint gum. How does double your return on investment sound? We all know families containing “doubles”… fraternal twin siblings — the daughters of George and Laura Bush, for example. Each of the two can differ markedly from the other in looks, personalities and Continue reading →
Ventyx, an ABB company that provides enterprise software solutions for energy and industrial infrastructure clients, has recruited one of the brightest bulbs on the smart grid chandelier to spearhead the company’s transmission and distribution (T&D) solutions strategy. via Ventyx Builds Smart Grid Brain Trust – Forbes.
While there are some nagging questions, Texas is spending $6.8 billion on new transmission lines to deliver electricity from wind farms in West Texas to its major metro areas such as Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. And while it’s certainly a plus for the state, its economy and jobs, that transmission investment also is Continue reading →
It’s a shorter list of smart grid wins this week, but certainly just as sweet for the companies you’ll see below and on page 2 where we’ve got a couple of M&A wins to tell you about. via Smart Grid: Smart grid wins: Deals this week cover transmission, smart meters and communications.
In the TVA pilot, the Smart Wire system is installed on a 161-kilovolt transmission line near Knoxville, Tenn. The technology consists of an array of distributed series reactance units (DSRs) that attach to a transmission line. As the company explains it, the units limit the electrical current flow on the line by injecting inductive reactance. Continue reading →
We have a number of recognized transmission and distribution experts serving on our board of “Grid Masters.” Several times each month we’ll post what we judge to be the toughest questions that also have high interest to our readers. At least one of our experts will respond. Want to challenge our Grid Masters for a Continue reading →
With electricity use growing at less than 1% per year, power companies are “scrambling to trim spending or redirect capital investments to improve profits,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Some have started building new high-voltage transmission lines, which offer a higher than average return. At the same time demand is falling, costs are going up, according to Continue reading →
AGING POWER GRIDS are increasingly being stressed as operators must more frequently deliver peak loads to meet the demands of record high temperatures nationwide in the United States, meet the growing power needs in developing countries, and incorporate renewable energy sources into the mix worldwide. This, in turn, is driving the development of new technologies Continue reading →
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) plans to instal smart meters at every level to monitor the flow of power from its feeders to the consumers and thereby curb wastage and loss of power. The company would instal 80,000 meters at the distribution transmission centres in its jurisdiction, Bescom managing director P Manivannan said at Continue reading →
New York’s Consolidated Edison operates in a complicated market. As Con Edison’s section manager for commercial customer solutions Col Smart explains it, the company is a transmission and distribution company that doesn’t own any generation facilities – so it has a more than healthy reliance on demand response programs to help it manage its transmission Continue reading →
An old saw would have it that new transmission cannot be built in the United States. That preconception is outdated. Last October, the Obama administration announced it was expediting and accelerating the permitting and construction of seven new major tranmission lines criss-crossing twelve states, as Energy Central’s TransmissionHub reported on Dec. 20, 2011. Already before Continue reading →
In the face of constant federal delays, South Dakota-based NorthWestern Energy has thrown up its hands and asked several government agencies to stop analyzing a proposed $1 billion, 430-mile transmission line from Montana to Idaho. The understandably frustrated company has spent more than $23 million over the past four years, $14 million which went to Continue reading →
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that rural electric utilities in 18 states will receive loan guarantees to make improvements to electric lines, transmission facilities and to reduce peak electric loads by deploying smart grid technologies. USDA Rural Utilities Administrator Jonathan Adelstein made the announcement on Vilsack’s behalf while visiting the offices of one of Continue reading →
A new US wind power record was set on April 15, as Colorado winds produced nearly 57 percent of the electricity flowing through Xcel Energy’s transmission lines. Reaching the mark demonstrates that it is indeed possible for U.S. utilities to integrate a lot more in the way of intermittent wind, solar and other renewable power Continue reading →
To further improvements to electric lines and transmission and reduce peak electric loads by deploying smart grid technologies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has issued loan guarantees to rural electric utilities across the country. USDA Rural Utilities Administrator Jonathan Adelstein, on behalf of Vilsack, made the announcement while visiting the offices Continue reading →
Today’s North American power grid is widely acknowledged to be the most complex system ever built. More than 10,000 generating stations and tens of thousands of substations are connected in a complex network of transmission and distribution lines that deliver electricity to many millions of homes and businesses with remarkably low cost and high reliability. Continue reading →
The amount of renewable energy on the grid is increasing globally and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. But because much of the clean power comes from wind and solar – both variable resources – utilities must deal with integration challenges. Smart grid technologies can go a long way in alleviating integration Continue reading →
DISCUSSIONS OF SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY HAVE LARGELY focused on the distribution system and technology that will reach the retail customer-things like smart meters, smart appliances and plug-in hybrid cars. But there is a need to make the actual transmission system smarter, and there are initiatives under way that give the term “smart grid” a more Continue reading →
