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Infrastructure & Technologies


RTU and HMI Redundancy in Electrical Substations

As the substation RTU takes on more applications, such as Human-Machine-Interface (HMI), alarm annunciation, math & logic and “relay communication processing”, its need for high availability increases. Anything that takes the RTU out of service – configuration change, firmware update, or...

Overhead Distribution


Converting Power Lines to Smart Wires

Increasing the observability and control of the transmission network BY FRANK KREIKEBAUM, JERRY MELCHER, & JULIE COUILLARD, Smart Wire Grid, Inc. The North American power grid has evolved into a connected set of four major interconnections delivering low-cost and reliable energy. The U.S....

Outage Management & Restoration


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...

Wire and Cable


The Overlooked Benefits of High-Performance Powerline Conductors

Background:For over 100 years Transmission Engineers have relied on aluminum conductors strengthened by steel core wires, commonly referred to as ACSR conductors. These conductors offered reasonable performance and durability and were capable of operating at temperatures up to 93° C. Above this...

Conductors & Materials


Safety in Underground Power Systems

Protecting utility personnel working below ground BY MIKE DOHERTY, PowerTel Utilities Contractors Limited "Safety” in “underground systems” has different connotations for different sectors depending on the tasks performed. “Qualified electrical workers” can have...

Vegetation Management


Vegetation Management Best Practices

Reduce common risks and maintain system reliability BY SARA SANKOWICH, Unitil Corporation Most North American electric utilities understand that vegetation management is a key factor in maintaining system reliability. While many utilities have designed and implemented vegetation management programs...

Overhead T&D

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 could spend several weeks trying to locate a fault or potentially not even be able to locate it until a second fault occurs.

LOCATING FAULTS A directional faulted circuit indicator (DFCI) is a beneficial piece of...

Overhead T&D Articles