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Utility Automation & Monitoring T&D


Moving Smart Grid to the Field

Ben Franklin famously said, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”. This saying certainly holds true for Smart Grid deployments, which can cost utilities several hundred million dollars. Given these high stakes, effective planning is essential. Many North American electric utilities...

Asset Management & Maintenance


Aging Infrastructure: How to Save Aging Assets

Applying limited resources to critical, aging infrastructure BY MASSOUD AMIN, IEEE Smart Grid, University of Minnesota The Smart Grid’s contributions to improving electric utilities’ means of monitoring the condition of assets, providing enhanced situational awareness, and faster...

Distribution Automation


Microgrids: Moving Away From Central Power

Asset management evolves as microgrids play various roles BY MASSOUD AMIN, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Microgrids, as many readers are aware, are small power systems of several megawatts (MW) or less in scale that possess three primary characteristics: distributed...

Smart Metering T&D


Writing Smart Grid Requirements

Managing change with positive thinking to make the most of investments BY JOHN MCDONALD, IEEE Senior Member, GE Energy Management - Digital Energy The process of writing requirements for Smart Grid-related technology purchases may appear simple and straightforward. It is not. As the technology...

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...

Energy Storage & Grid Integration


Massachusetts Legislation Aims to Accelerate Shift from Natural Gas

Massachusetts is taking bold steps to address its energy future with new legislation aimed at accelerating the state's transition away from natural gas. The proposed bill, introduced by state lawmakers, focuses on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and enhancing the state's renewable energy goals....

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