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Conductors & Materials


Fiber-Reinforced Composite Cross Arms for Transmission Structures

Fiber-reinforced polymers versus traditional cross arms materials BY JANOS TOTH & GRANT LOCKHART, FRP Transmission Innovations Inc. Recently, utilities have started using newer options such as component polyurethanes instead of older, widely used conventional materials. Specifically,...

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...

Vegetation Management


Scheduling Vegetation Maintenance Activities

How to adopt best practices to improve reliability and reduce costs BY PHILIP CHARLTON, Utility Arborist Association Electric utilities have always faced the challenge of determining the optimum frequency of maintenance operations for the control of trees and brush growing near the electric system....

Pole Line Hardware


Utility Pole Showdown: Wood vs. Steel

A recent study that takes an in-depth look at the environmental performance of wood and steel utility poles challenges current perceptions on the sustainability advantages of wood poles when compared with steel poles. The detailed study, titled “Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Southern...

Overhead Distribution


Building a better world of smart structures on the smart grid

It is a truth universally acknowledged that billions of people around the world live in poverty. But does it have to be that way? Today’s technological progress means that tomorrow we will be able to produce more, more efficiently – lifting people above the breadline with accelerated...

Disaster & Recovery


Emergency Response Kitting

Equipping utilities to restore power quickly and efficiently BY JOE D’ORAZIO, HD Supply Power Solutions In the days before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States, knocking out power from North Carolina to Maine and as far inland as Western Pennsylvania, utility contractors were...

Overhead T&D

Evolution of Outage Management Systems

Examining the evolution of outage management systems

BY GERALD GRAY & JOHN SIMMINS, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Once again, a major storm event, in this case Hurricane Sandy, has brought increased attention to a utility’s capability to respond to and mitigate damage to its infrastructure. With all of the investment that the utility industry has seen in infrastructure over the last few years, with major projects and the U.S. Department of Energy matching funds,...

Overhead T&D Articles