Persistent climate change concerns, volatile energy prices and a growing awareness of technological advancement in energy are leading consumers across the globe to reconsider their role in the electric power value chain. Likewise, substantial increases in utility infrastructure investment are likely due to global demands for climate change mitigation; the need to support aging … [Read more...]
Infrastructure and the Economy
With utility infrastructure aging rapidly, reliability of service is threatened. Yet the economy is hurting, unemployment is accelerating, environmental mandates are rising, and the investment portfolios of both seniors and soon-to-retire boomers have fallen dramatically. Everyone agrees change is needed. The question is: how? In every one of these respects, state regulators … [Read more...]
At Your Service
Today's utility companies are being driven to upgrade their aging transmission and distribution networks in the face of escalating energy generation costs, serious environmental challenges and rising demand for cleaner, distributed generation from both developing and digital economies worldwide. The current utilities environment requires companies to drive down costs while … [Read more...]
The Smart Grid in Malta
On the Mediterranean island of Malta, with a population of about 400,000 people on a land mass of just over 300 square kilometers, power, water and the economy are intricately linked. The country depends on electrically powered desalination plants for over half of its water supply. In fact, about 75 percent of the cost of water from these plants on Malta is directly related to … [Read more...]
Customer Relationships and the Economy
A little over a year ago, the challenges facing the global energy and utilities market were driving a significant wedge between utilities and their customers. In Western European markets, price increases across gas, electricity and water, combined with increased corporate earnings, left many utilities in the uncomfortable position of being seen as profiteering from customers … [Read more...]
An Australian Approach to Energy Innovation and Collaboration
Just as global demand for energy is steadily increasing, so too, are the recognized costs of power generation. A recent report about the possibility of creating a low-emissions future by Australia's Treasury noted that electricity production currently accounts for 34 percent of the nation's net greenhouse gas emissions, and that it was the fastest-growing contributor to … [Read more...]
Be a People Person
I have to admit it. Despite all the exciting new technologies out there, I am finding myself to be a people person when it comes to building smarter grids and more intelligent utilities. Granted, technology is rapidly developing and the utility industry is finding itself in the middle of more and more automation. However, people - from linemen to consumers - will remain … [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...]