Interview With Gus Brito – Director of Network Development, Flexoffers.com Should advertisers or publishers care about whether their network partner(s) are investing in new technology or are innovating? [GB] Both aspects are equally important to ensure our industry continues to grow exponentially. I believe advertisers and publisher should definitely have an interest in … [Read more...]
Power and Patience
The U.S. utility industry - particularly the electric-producing branch of it, there also are natural gas and water utilities - has found itself in a new, and very uncomfortable, position. Throughout the first quarter of 2009 it was front and center in the political arena. Politics has been involved in the U.S. electric generation and distribution industry since its founding in … [Read more...]
Managing the Plant Data Lifecycle
Intelligent Plant Lifecycle Management (iPLM) is the process of managing a generation facility's data and information throughout its lifetime - from initial design through to decommissioning. This paper will look at results from the application of this process in other industries such as shipbuilding, and show how those results are directly applicable to the design, … [Read more...]
Surviving the Turmoil
With the new administration talking about a trillion dollars of infrastructure investment, the time for the intelligent utility of the future is now. Political pressure and climate change are going to drive massive investments in renewable and clean energy and smart grid technology. These investments will empower customers through the launch and adoption of demand response and … [Read more...]
Business Process Improvement
In the past, the utility industry could consider itself exempt from market drivers like those listed above. However, today's utilities are immersed in a sea of change. Customers demand reliable power in unlimited supply, generated in environmentally friendly ways without increased cost. All the while regulators are telling consumers to "change the way they are using energy or … [Read more...]
Future of Learning
The nuclear power industry is facing significant employee turnover, which may be exacerbated by the need to staff new nuclear units. To maintain a highly skilled workforce to safely operate U.S. nuclear plants, the industry must find ways to expedite training and qualification, enhance knowledge transfer to the next generation of workers, and develop leadership talent to … [Read more...]
Modeling Distribution Demand Reduction
In the past, distribution demand reduction was a technique used only in emergency situations a few times a year - if that. It was an all-or-nothing capability that you turned on, and hoped for the best until the emergency was over. Few utilities could measure the effectiveness, let alone the potential of any solutions that were devised. Now, demand reduction is evolving to … [Read more...]
Measuring Smart Metering’s Progress
Smart or advanced electricity metering, using a fixed network communications path, has been with us since pioneering installations in the US Midwest in the mid-1980s. That's 25 years ago, during which time we have seen incredible advancements in information and communication technologies. Remember the technologies of 1985? The very first mobile phones were just being … [Read more...]
Managing Communications Change
Change is being forced upon the utilities industry. Business drivers range from stakeholder pressure for greater efficiency to the changing technologies involved in operational energy networks. New technologies such as intelligent networks or smart grids, distribution automation or smart metering are being considered. The communications network is becoming the key enabler for … [Read more...]
Online Transient Stability Controls
For the last few decades the growth of the world's population and its corresponding increased demand for electrical energy has created a huge increase in the supply of electrical power. However, for logistical, environmental, political and social reasons, this power generation is rarely near its consumers, necessitating the growth of very large and complex transmission … [Read more...]