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Grid Communications


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...

Cybersecurity & Privacy


Extracting Value From Big Data

Moving forward with distribution automation and intelligent electronic devices BY JOHN MCDONALD, GE Digital Energy The ongoing rollout of interval (aka “smart”) meters and the resulting deluge of data have rightly received much attention and triggered the initial impetus for electric utility...

DMS & SCADA


Distribution Grid Monitoring Technologies

How to improve situational awareness of grid operations BY MARK FEDERLE, QinetiQ North America The adoption of Smart Grid technology in recent years has accelerated the modernization of the electric utility grid. This is a positive development given that the grid infrastructure in North America is,...

Software


The Smart Grid Prophecy

For years, industry publications have touted Smart Grid cost-benefit study results that show Smart Grid investments paying for themselves with reduced utility costs. The widely quoted report published by the Electric Power Research Institute, “Estimating the Costs and Benefits of the Smart...

Utility Automation & Monitoring


End-to-End Monitoring Systems Feeds Situational Awareness

For many years the limit for normal apparatus loading was based on the maximum nameplate rating or an arbitrarily set value, called ‘the red line’. On-line monitoring of power transformers and circuit breakers for condition assessment has gained popularity over the past twenty-five...

Big Data


Information Technology and the Power Grid

Ten information technology trends transforming the power industry BY PHILL FELTHAM, Editor-in-Chief Electricity Today Magazine Information technology is a term that almost sounds like a cliché. However, information technology, or IT, has affected almost every industry worldwide. For example, the...

Smart Grid

Neighborhood Area Networks

Standardizing communication to achieve plug-and-play interoperability

BY RYAN MALEY, ZigBee Alliance

All over the world, there is increasing demand for standardizing communication in the Smart Grid. Electric utilities and their regulators are increasingly concerned with upgrading all aspects of the Smart Grid. Utilities are taking actions to improve reliability and efficiency by upgrading infrastructure and adding communication throughout the entire grid. One particular area of focus is the so-called “utility last mile”, the neighborhood area...

Smart Grid Articles