Increasingly violent weather, probably caused by global warming, is increasingly taking down electricity distribution lines and poles and cyberattacks are increasingly taking out electricity, apparently just as trials for major terrorism of this sort. Little wonder that the price of grid electricity is so often rising, further aggravated by the chronic intermittency of solar and wind power being added to save the planet. In countries such as the USA, the trillions of dollars needed to...
Moving forward with distribution automation and intelligent electronic devices BY JOHN MCDONALD, GE Digital Energy The ongoing rollout of interval (aka “smart”) meters and the resulting deluge of data have rightly received much attention and triggered the initial impetus for electric utility...
Moving utilities toward a modern energy system BY RONNY SANDOVAL, Environmental Defense Fund The need to build a smarter energy infrastructure has never been greater. Storms and other extreme weather events such as Hurricane Sandy continue to test the limits of the existing, century-old electric...
In a significant move for the renewable energy landscape, RWE, a leading global energy company, has announced the addition of 450 megawatts (MW) of battery energy storage capacity in Texas. This expansion underscores the growing importance of energy storage solutions in enhancing grid reliability...
A variety of factors influence the safety of those who work on utility lines. Many of the items are standard and likely on everyone’s line worker safety checklist. But there’s one that may not be top-of-mind when considering how to keep linemen and linewomen safe — the influence...
A coalition of large energy consumers and ratepayer advocates has filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), urging the agency to prohibit transmission owners from independently planning "local" transmission projects exceeding 100 kilovolts (kV). The coalition argues...
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) has unanimously decided to shelve the proposed $1 billion Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM) for power generators, concluding that it would not deliver the anticipated grid reliability benefits. The PCM was conceived as a means to incentivize power...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected a proposal from PJM Interconnection, one of the United States' largest regional transmission organizations, to alter its transmission planning protocol. The decision represents a significant victory for state regulators who had expressed...
In a significant move that underscores the growing demand for reliable and sustainable energy to power the expanding digital infrastructure, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved an interconnection agreement between Talen Energy, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Exelon. This...
In a significant move for the renewable energy landscape, RWE, a leading global energy company, has announced the addition of 450 megawatts (MW) of battery energy storage capacity in Texas. This expansion underscores the growing importance of energy storage solutions in enhancing grid reliability...
In a landscape characterized by evolving energy demands and increasing pressure to transition to renewable sources, the Pathways Initiative is proposing a significant restructuring of power market oversight in the Western United States. This initiative seeks to create a regional organization that...
