In recent years, the cost to bury high-voltage power lines has decreased dramatically. The American Transmission Company reports that installation costs for underground transmission lines (over 100 kilovolts) are now only 2.5 to 10 times the cost of an equivalent overhead line. Consequently, the number of underground transmission line projects has exploded in recent years and the number of underground high-voltage power lines operating in the United States have dramatically increased.
To date, overhead...
Smart grid is an idea of upgradation of the traditional electric grid infrastructure. The efficiency of the existing electrical grid can be automated by integrating with innovative technical equipment such as: high-tech forecasting system, digital sensors, advanced two-way communication...
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...
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...
When dozens of utilities received stimulus funds for distribution automation projects in 2009, solar was barely a gigawatt-scale market in the U.S. Sandy was simply a lead character in Grease, not a superstorm that would prompt cities and states to reassess the future-readiness of their...
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...
