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Asset Management & Maintenance


Storm Hardening Utility Communications

Save money and increase reliability. BY JEFF GROSSHAUSER, Motorola Preparing for winter is more than just a seasonal ritual for utility providers. Electricity and gas must still power cities during violent snowstorms and extreme cold. Arguably, that power is never more needed than when extreme...

Distribution Automation


RTU and HMI Redundancy in Electrical Substations

As the substation RTU takes on more applications, such as Human-Machine-Interface (HMI), alarm annunciation, math & logic and “relay communication processing”, its need for high availability increases. Anything that takes the RTU out of service – configuration change, firmware update, or...

Energy Storage & Grid Integration


Massachusetts Utilities File $5B Efficiency Plan

Massachusetts' utility companies have unveiled an ambitious $5 billion energy efficiency plan designed to bolster the state's efforts to meet its climate goals and provide substantial savings to consumers. The proposed initiative, called the Mass Save program, aims to expand energy-saving...

Smart Metering T&D


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 Automation T&D


Enabling Smart Grid Volt/VAR Control

Optimizing power flow using a distribution model BY TIM TAYLOR, Ventyx Today’s emphasis on implementing energy efficiency programs and limiting peak demand growth has driven renewed interest in the most effective method to implement Smart Grid volt-ampere reactive control, or Smart Grid volt/VAR...

Utility Automation & Monitoring T&D


Integrating Renewables

Turning green generation into power BY THE EXPERTS AT THE WORLD WATCH INSTITUTE A grid system’s difficulty in absorbing variable generation can present an obstacle to the growth of renewable power, especially when continued improvements in infrastructure and market design are absent. There are...

T&D Automation

U.S. Electric Grid Under Cyberattack

Taking a stand against threats to ensure reliability

BY JOHN FINNIGAN, Environmental Defense Fund

If Ben Franklin lived today, he might say that nothing is certain but death, taxes, and cyberattacks. The U.S. electric grid is under constant cyberattack, according to a survey of electric utilities by U.S. House Representatives Henry Waxman and (now Senator) Edward Markey.

The grid was the greatest engineering achievement of the 20th Century, but cybersecurity was as unknown to those...

T&D Automation Articles