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Smart Metering T&D


Texas PUC Shelves $1B Grid Credit Mechanism

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) has unanimously decided to shelve the proposed $1 billion Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM) for power generators, concluding that it would not deliver the anticipated grid reliability benefits. The PCM was conceived as a means to incentivize power...

Distribution Automation


The Digital Substation Vision: From Utopian Concept to Grid Backbone

A digital substation is a modernized electrical substation that replaces traditional analog equipment and copper wiring with digital signaling, intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), and fiber-optic communication. It enables real-time data exchange, advanced automation, and greater efficiency in...

Asset Management & Maintenance


The End of the Road for Transmission Incentives

In a significant shift, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has decided to abandon its transmission incentives policy, particularly the construction work in progress (CWIP) incentives. This decision marks a pivotal change in how transmission projects are financed and regulated,...

Substation Automation T&D


Grid Modernization Strategies

Moving utilities toward a modern energy system BY RONNY SANDOVAL, Environmental Defense Fund The need to build a smarter energy infrastructure has never been greater. Storms and other extreme weather events such as Hurricane Sandy continue to test the limits of the existing, century-old electric...

Utility Automation & Monitoring T&D


How Much DER Fits?

The electric power industry is increasingly having to evaluate the growing penetration of distributed energy resources (DER). New sets of challenges exist for planning and operating the grid, especially with the distribution systems in which these new resources must be integrated. Now electric...

Energy Storage & Grid Integration


THE SMART GRID: STATUS AND OUTLOOK

The electrical grid in the United States comprises all of the power plants generating electricity, together with the transmission and distribution lines and systems that bring power to end-use customers. The “grid” also connects the many publicly and privately owned electric utility and power...

T&D Automation

Critical Infrastructure Communications

Critical Infrastructure Communications

Using technology to improve response and recovery

BY TOM BERGER, Mutualink

The electric utility industry has an outstanding performance record of providing reliable power to public agencies, private enterprises, and the general public for over 100 years. However, when outages occur due to natural, accidental, or man-made intentional incidents, utility companies need to provide clear, concise, and timely critical infrastructure communications to a wide range of constituents with widely varying needs while they assess the...

T&D Automation Articles