In This Issue
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Ameren is a critical linchpin
AMONG ELECTRIC UTILITIES AND THEIR OWNERSHIP organizations, some serve extensive geographies and therefore become more involved in high-voltage transmission, moving large quantities of electricity from points of generation to load centers within their service areas, as well as transmitting electricity to other areas on a market basis.A good example of one such utility organization is St. Louis-... -
Westar is serious about customer engagementAH, I LOVE MY HOME STATE OF KANSAS. THE ROLLING HILLS (yes, Kansas has hills), the Wizard of Oz, the tasty barbeque—and the laid-back Midwestern humor. The folks at Westar Energy—a utility headquartered in Topeka, Kan., that employs 2,400 people and serves more than 684,000 customers in east and east-central Kansas—not only understood my humor, but also understood a critical factor in the success...1
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At SRP, operations retains control over IT support
AT THE SALT RIVER PROJECT, OPERATIONS TENDS TO KEEP information technology under close control.And that stance—whether representative of large numbers of utilities or specific to SRP—appears to reflect an IT evolution yet to reach fruition and the rigorous demands of the operational mandate for safety and reliability.“The model SRP has used for many years is one in which there’s a corporate IT...2 -
Power, communications and IT on the smart gridTHE SMART GRID PROMISES VARIED AND UNPRECEDENTED benefits, ranging from consumer choice and utility efficiency to electricity reliability and environmental impact. All of them are predicated on the coming together of power, communications and information technologies.Moving from today’s fragmented electrical delivery system to the next-generation smart grid is not, however, simply a story of...
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A convergence of technology, communications, computing and energy systems amps up the game
THE SIMPLE DAYS ARE LONG GONE.The electric utility industry is in a period of dramatic transformation, and for its personnel, this means a thorny balance of more complex systems, an aging workforce and an aging infrastructure. The new knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required are far different from those of even a decade ago.More reliance on technology, as well as the convergence of...2 -
DTE + SCE turn to solar opportunities
UTILITIES CONTINUE TO FIND INNOVATIVE WAYS TO AVOID building out new infrastructure—or at least to delay the cost of doing so. More often than not, those strategies involve turning to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, fuel cells and advanced energy storage.Utilities are discovering that it pays handsome dividends to delay or outright eliminate capital expenditures for things like... -
AEC continues to integrate SCADA after 30 yearsTHERE AREN'T MANY TECHNOLOGIES THAT STICK AROUND long enough to improve with age. In today’s fast-paced digital world, technologies change rapidly and often become obsolete in months. Just witness the electronics market, where cell phone upgrades occur on what seems like a 24-7 basis.But like a fine wine, SCADA—which stands for supervisory control and data acquisition—seems to get more robust...
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Progress Energy implements automated vegetation management systemIF A TREE FALLS IN A FOREST AND NO ONE HEARS IT, DOES IT make a sound? That riddle was posed by the 19th century philosopher George Berkeley to explore questions about observation and the knowledge of reality—two subjects close to the heart of vegetation managers.If a tree falls on a transmission line, the utility operator will immediately experience the reality of complaints. Not just from...
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Utilities are in good shape, industry experts say
WE ALL FACE DEADLINES, AND UTILITIES faced a major one in June as they were required to achieve compliance with a range of cyber security standards passed down by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) more than two years ago.The eight critical infrastructure protection (CIP) standards 002–009 are intended to ensure the protection and reliability of critical cyber assets... -
An attractive two-way street for utilities
AS CITIES AND TOWNS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES STRUGGLE with budgetary problems, the concept of shared services is proving to be a useful tool. Crossing jurisdictional lines is often difficult for political reasons, but when intelligently managed, sharing can result in dramatic savings without denigrating services, and can even improve them. Municipalities that have pooled into a county purchasing...
