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Latest News From The T&D Industry

FERC Reviews PJM Colocation Rules for Data Centers and Large Energy Loads

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has launched a review of the rules surrounding the colocation of large energy consumers, such as data centers, with power plants within the PJM Interconnection region. This review follows concerns raised by stakeholders, including major energy companies like Talen Energy, Constellation Energy, and PSEG Power, who are considering colocating data centers at nuclear power plants. These developments are prompting a reevaluation of how such arrangements could impact grid reliability,...

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Utility News

FirstEnergy Explores Alternatives to PJM Capacity Market

In a strategic move aimed at enhancing its power supply reliability, FirstEnergy is actively exploring alternatives to the PJM capacity market. This development reflects the company’s proactive approach to addressing challenges within the existing market structure and ensuring a more robust...

Utility News

FirstEnergy Expands Data Center Pipeline to 3 GW

FirstEnergy, a leading utility company, has significantly expanded its pipeline of potential data centers in its service area, revealing that its capacity could nearly double to 3 gigawatts (GW) by 2029. This expansion, which was announced during a quarterly earnings conference call, signals the...

T&D Trends


Renewable Energy News

The AI Solar Installation Robot

In a significant leap forward for the solar energy industry, Maximo, an advanced AI-enabled robot, is transforming the landscape of utility-scale solar installations. This innovative technology is set to revolutionize how solar panels are installed, offering increased efficiency, precision, and...

Electrical Substations

Substation Architecture Protection

Solving common mistakes in communications cabling for electrical utilities

BY FRANK KODITEK, Belden Inc.

In the energy industry, there are numerous types of cables in use for a wide variety of applications, from transporting high-voltage current for miles to providing power and data connectivity within and among substations and to and from control centers. For the purposes of this article, we will be looking at the communications cables that are the veins and arteries of the substation communications architecture. The aim is to achieve adequate substation architecture protection.

In general, the International Electrotechnical Commission’s IEC 61850: “Power Utility Automation” is the global standard for the design of electrical substation automation, and it specifies internet protocols (TCP/IP networks) and high-speed Ethernet-based substation LANs (local area networks) as the transport vehicles.

Choosing the right cable for these applications is critical to performance. As important as cabling is to effective...

Electrical Substations Articles


Lightning Protection

Grounding System Maintenance Guide

Grounding systems are a crucially important component of any power supply system, because they directly impact public and employee safety, supply system reliability, power quality and life expectancy of power equipment. In spite of their crucial role in safe, reliable, and economic operation of...
Breakers & Relays

Vacuum Interrupter Testing for Circuit Breakers

How to predict field life using vacuum interrupters BY FINLEY LEDBETTER, Group CBS Utilities have widely replaced older air-magnetic and oil interrupters for circuit breakers rated at one kilovolt (kV) or higher with vacuum interrupters (VI) due to higher interrupt capability. Vacuum interrupters...
Substation Technologies

Circuit Breaker Lubrication

Developing circuit breaker lubrication procedures BY RICK YOUNGBLOOD, Doble Engineering Company Circuit breaker analyzers are used to determine operating speeds and velocity. This information enables the tester to determine if a breaker is safe to place back into service. The data recorded by a...