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Vegetation Management


Advanced Survey Technologies Deliver Clear View of Geologic Hazards

Electric utilities commonly use trained foresters, traversing thousands of miles, to manually identify vegetation or other geographic hazards posing risks to transmission infrastructure. For one utility in the Western United States, the challenging terrain and accuracy limitations of laser range...

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...

Wire and Cable


Insulation Resistance Test

Insulation Resistance (IR) test, often called Megger test, is more than 100 years old and assumed to be a very straightforward test. During my inspection and testing work in the past 15 years in Canada, US, and internationally, I have seen different practices of performing and interpretation of IR...

Outage Management & Restoration


Q&A: PSE&G Reflects on Hurricane Sandy

Q: Reflecting back at Hurricane Sandy two years ago, what steps did PSE&G take to restore power? What were the lessons learned? OUR EXPERT | Richard Wernsing, Manager of Asset Strategy, Electric at Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) Prior to any storm, PSE&G (Public Service...

Underground Distribution


Intelligent Underground Distribution

Unearthing the potential in Smart Grid technologies BY DOUG HOUSEMAN, IEEE Senior Member, EnerNex Corporation After Hurricane Sandy, resiliency became a key factor in the modernization of the power grid. In looking at modernization and resiliency, underground was the first item on many lists....

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,...

Overhead T&D

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 men and women must take every precaution to get their work completed efficiently and safely. The realities of the economic slowdown add an additional level of complexity—the expectation that...

Overhead T&D Articles