Electrical Substations

Physical Security & Monitoring

BIRDS AND SUBSTATION OUTAGES

Birds wreak havoc at hundreds of substations every year, undermining system reliability and costing millions. Bird incursions can have disastrous results: equipment damage, outages and expensive cleanups due to corrosive droppings.Even worse: the traditional deterrents provide only temporary,...

Breakers & Relays

Global study finds continuing moderate growth in protective relay market with commitment to improving protection coordination and grid security practices

In 2016, Newton-Evans Research Company completed a six-month research study and survey of protective relay usage patterns in the world community of electric power utilities. Findings from 114 large and mid-size utilities in 28 countries pointed to some newer trends in adoption and use of protection...

Substation Protection

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...

Substation Technologies

New data suggests real-time pricing can help customers save money

Most utility customers now pay an average price for electricity that changes little (if at all) over the course of the year. Average, flat-rate, real-time pricing is akin to a form of insurance, where a premium is paid to hedge against market volatility and price spikes. Yet this approach misses...

Substation Automation

Smart Grid Software & Apps

Utilities worldwide are adopting innovative technology to embrace the potential of the Smart Grid while conquering a myriad of new challenges posed by it, and by a new host of financial and regulatory challenges. In order to take advantage of the opportunities presented, while at the same time,...

Lightning Protection

Lightning Strikes

In Canada, lightning flashes occur about 2.34 million times a year; with the highest levels of concentration during the summer months. While most lightning on earth is ground-to-cloud, recent research has identified that the majority of lightning events to tall structures, such as wind...

Home Transformation Electrical Substations

Protecting Electrical Sites with Intelligent Security Lighting

There are over 70,000 electrical substations in the United States. A simultaneous attack on several of them could destabilize the grid and cause widespread blackouts. But even a non-targeted event like vandalism or copper theft can also cause substantial damages, easily reaching into the tens of thousands of dollars (if not much greater when potential liability and service outages are considered).
To prevent costly incidents and meet the National Electrical Reliability Commission’s Critical Infrastructure Protection...