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Latest News From The T&D Industry

EPA Funding Freeze Disrupts Green Bank Initiatives

A recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to freeze access to $20 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) grants has created a major disruption in the renewable energy sector, particularly for green bank nonprofits tasked with financing sustainable energy projects. The freeze, which has been in place since February 18, 2025, is causing significant financial strain for nonprofit organizations that depend on these funds to support projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions,...

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Climate Change News

Alberta Premier Under Fire as Wildfires Rage

As Alberta grapples with unprecedented wildfires, Premier Danielle Smith faces intense scrutiny over her handling of the crisis. The blazes, which have been raging across the province, have led to extensive evacuations, property damage, and a significant strain on emergency services. The...

T&D Trends


Utility News

FERC Rejects PJM Transmission Planning Change

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...

Utility News

Texas PUC Shelves $1B Grid Credit Mechanism

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...

Lineman Safety

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 turbines, occur in the presents of ground-to-cloud leaders – upward lightning.  More importantly, the majority of ground-to-cloud leaders transpire following a sudden change in electric field initiated by either cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-air or cloud-to-ground discharges.

Since the late 1990’s, the utility grade wind turbine sector has identified lightening events as a significant risk factor.  Today, many standards...

Linemen safety PPE

Hand Safety - Protective Gloves

Rubber insulating gloves are among the most important articles of personal protection for electrical workers. To be effective, the gloves must incorporate high dielectric and physical strength, along with flexibility and durability. For superior performance they should meet and/or exceed the requirements of current American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D120 specifications. Gloves should also be electrically tested following ASTM D120/IEC903 specifications.

A glove system usually consists of:
Rubber Insulating Gloves: Classified by the level of voltage and protection they provide.

Liner Gloves: Are used to reduce the discomfort of wearing rubber insulating gloves in...

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Utilities Opt to Automate Crew Scheduling, streamline work

For many utilities, scheduling each day’s construction and restoration work means manually organizing and keeping tabs on ever-changing crew schedules and resources. Managers meticulously update whiteboards dotted with color-coded magnets representing crews and trucks. Augmenting the...
Safety Technologies

Building a Competency Program

At Valard, our people are the core and health of our business. Without our people, we have nothing. In fact, one of our slogans is “People. First.” However, being a people company means some of our biggest challenges are created by people. Our challenges are unique, as is each person...
Utility Safety Standards

Ugh, Why So Much HSE Paper?

With the advent of our modern health, safety and environmental systems (HSE), the requirement to produce more documents is relentless. No one feels this pressure more than our front line supervision; those individuals, who are leading our crews out in the field. Not only are they tasked with...
Safety Technologies

Electrical Safety in the Field

Protecting utility workers using mobile technologies BY TOM OCONNOR, Panasonic Solutions for Business Nearly every lineman has heard of a colleague who has been injured—or worse—while on the job. Because of the dangers inherent to their job (that is, electrical safety in the field), these brave...