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Smart Grid


Crew Scheduling and Dispatch

How mobile solutions improve restoration efforts BY JIM MENTON, ClickSoftware Electric utilities are modernizing the power grid to meet the demands of an increasingly digital society. In the same way, mobile solutions are helping service personnel (line crews, contractors, and supervisors)...

PG&E Secures $15B Loan for Energy Upgrades

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a major utility serving Northern and Central California, has secured a conditional $15 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Programs Office. This funding aims to enhance PG&E's hydropower generation, battery storage...

Grid Modernization

Enabling Smart Grid Volt/VAR Control

Optimizing power flow using a distribution model BY TIM TAYLOR, Ventyx Today’s emphasis on implementing energy efficiency programs and limiting peak demand growth has driven renewed interest in the most effective method to implement Smart Grid volt-ampere reactive control, or Smart Grid volt/VAR...

Smart Metering


AMI & AMR

Smart Meters & Transactive Energy

Smart meters and transactive energy: Examining the benefits and addressing the concerns BY JOHN CASKEY, National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Smart meters are beneficial to consumers and utilities. What makes this meter “smart” is its two-way communication system and ability to...

AMI & AMR

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...

Customer Billing

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...

Automation

Smart Grid, Smart Metering, T&D Automation

Machine to Machine Communications

Connecting the ‘smart’ with the ‘grid’ with M2M technology

BY JEFF DIXON, Freewave Technologies

As the world becomes increasingly connected, the integration of smart devices and tools, such as sensors, process control devices, smart meters, and security cameras have increased the need for well-established,  secure machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and networking solutions. North American electric utilities depend on effective communication technologies to reduce overhead costs and improve bottom lines. Retrieving and reviewing the data gathered by...

T&D Automation Articles