Electricity Forum Intelligent Power Today Magazine Arc Flash Clothing

Underground Distribution


Detecting Faults in Underground Networks

Enhancing protection using directional faulted circuit indicators BY CHRISTOPHER EVANICH, Thomas & Betts Underground electrical networks provide reliable service to end users, but create problems for utility personnel in locating faults. Electric utilities who utilize an underground network...

Vegetation Management


Vegetation Management on Transmission Lines

Using LiDAR technologies to enhance operations BY PHILIP CHARLTON, Utility Arborist Association In March 2014, utility vegetation managers from throughout North America gathered in Fort Worth, Texas to share their experience with the use of LiDAR (light detection and ranging) remote sensing...

Case Study


I Need To Hire a Utility Contractor. Where Do I Start?

In June 2012, the Ontario Legislature unanimously passed Bill 8, the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, which, among other things, requires owners of buried infrastructure in the public right of way – including municipalities, universities, hospitals and private...

Disaster & Recovery


Fighting Wildfires to Increase Pole Protection

Evaluating pole selection for increased protection BY BUTCH BERNHARDT, North American Wood Pole Council The number of wildland fires reached record levels in many states in 2014, prompting questions about what poles perform more efficiently in fires: steel or wood. Research from a bulletin...

Distribution Protection


Coping with Extreme Weather Events

How to optimize the entire outage lifecycle BY RICK NICHOLSON, Ventyx The extreme weather just keeps coming. In 2012, there were 11 outages due to severe weather costing at least $1 billion. The year of 2013 had its share as well. More and more, the scale and variety of such major events are...

Infrastructure & Technologies


Aging Cable Infrastructure

The 2014 Annual Energy Outlook Report compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that total electricity demand will grow by 29 percent (0.9 percent per year) by 2040. While growth has slowed in every decade since the 1950s, due in part to efficiency gains in appliance...

Overhead T&D

focus on environment

Substation Focused on Environmental Design

One of the important trends in design of new overhead lines over the past 20 years has been development of structures and designs that are less obtrusive and more pleasing visually. Much the same process has also been going on at substations. For example, even 25 years ago, efforts had already been in place as far afield as Finland and Australia to build substations designed to facilitate acceptance by affected communities – either through aesthetic...

Overhead T&D Articles