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Latest News From The T&D Industry

FERC Complaint Targets Duke, PJM Transmission Planning

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 that such local planning, lacking independent oversight, leads to inefficient and costly transmission development, resulting in unjust and unreasonable rates for consumers.

Background

Transmission planning involves determining the necessary infrastructure to transport electricity from generation...

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Overhead T&D

Casting Doubts on Global Positioning

Many fleet executives working at electric utilities have doubts about implementing global positioning system (GPS) tracking technology into their fleet operations. A number of doubts exist. For example, GPS technologies are designed to track a vehicle’s whereabouts; this can lead to trust issues between fleet executives and their drivers. Second, the utility might not have the budget to include technologies such as GPS tracking on its expense sheet. Lastly, fleet executives might believe that the many benefits that GPS tracking offers are simply not necessary.

Despite the aforementioned doubts and objections, utilities who recognize the benefits to their fleets of vehicles and other assets are quickly adopting—or planning to adopt—GPS technologies. For fleet executives who are ambivalent about using GPS fleet tracking in their operations, this issue’s Growth & Innovation feature will give valuable insight into why these technologies are worth the investment.

Overhead


Mobile Workforce Using Augmented Reality

Plugging workers into data analytics and information technologies BY JOHN SIMMINS, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Collectively, North American electric utilities operate in a unique environment. They need to serve all willing customers; they are in one of the most capital-intensive...

Underground


Utility Proactively Tests Underground Cable

Distribution companies are continually looking for ways to improve system reliability, all while conserving capital investments and operational costs. With an aging infrastructure, one of the main issues that utilities face is a way to assess the actual condition of their capital assets. With...

Infrastructure