In This Issue
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Industry leaders shape the futureNAMING THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS OF THE ELECTRIC utility industry is always a tough call, and it's especially tough this year, as there are so many of them, and I am limited to choosing only 11.There were many standout utility leaders this year, as the continuing evolution of our industry moved very quickly, especially in the latter half of the year, as long-awaited stimulus grant contracts were...2
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UtiliQ’s most intelligent utility forges ahead
FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR, SEMPRA Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) led the pack as the most intelligent utility in the United States, according to our annual UtiliQ survey of this country's electric utilities.San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is a regulated public utility that supplies power to 1.4 million business and residential customers spread across a 4,100-square-...1 -
No. 2 utility credits a proactive community
JUST LIKE UTILIQ LEADER SDG&E, AUSTIN Energy kept a firm hold on its No. 2 ranking for the second straight year.The nation's ninth-largest community-owned electric utility, Austin Energy serves 388,000 customers and a community of 900,000. Its smart grid program covers 440 miles, includes 500,000 devices and involves 100 terabytes of data.In addition, the utility is home to one of the nation'... -
Testing technologies off-the-grid proves valuable
WHILE CLIMBING FROM UTILIQ'S FOURTH spot in 2009 to third place in 2010, PG&E Corp. also weathered a tempestuous media storm in the past year, and earned every point of its third-place finish.The utility first installed what we now describe as traditional meters to measure electricity used by customers in 1912. In the 1970s, PG&E began its first energy conservation programs, actively...1 -
Utility tackles AMI, focuses on customer needsWAYNE LONGCORE HAS A PENCHANT FOR MAKING PEOPLE think, a flair for analogy and a sense of timing.As he guides a visitor through Consumers Energy's Smart Services Learning Center in Jackson, Michigan, explaining distribution automation or in-home energy displays, Longcore combines professorial erudition with a magician's sense of drama.He sets up a potential scenario and flicks a switch. "...
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Utility executives discuss the issues
A SMARTER ELECTRICITY GRID COULD FUNdamentally change the way people pay for and manage their electricity use. Smart grid investments could help reduce demand, save money and improve reliability and efficiency. But implementing the necessary changes can be challenging.Intelligent Utility recently sat down with a group of smart grid utility executives to discuss how the smart grid is impacting...1 -
Seattle City Light focuses on energy optimization
SOME DAY, THE SMART GRID INFRASTRUCture being assembled by utilities across the country will become a huge enabling tool for power producers and consumers alike.Although it is likely still two to four years away, a fully operating smart grid will allow for huge benefits like real-time asset management, new data management knowledge and news ways to manage bidirectional power flow on the grid...3 -
Balancing distributed generation, microgrids and grid reliabilityUTILITIES HAVE 100 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS experience, constructed atop bedrock commitments to service reliability and availability, as well as worker and customer safety.The utility's entire business model is based on long-term justification of ratepayers' investment in high-quality, proven, dependable and safe equipment that sometimes comes at a very high price and always is expected to...2
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ComEd and PECO deliver on an ambitious mobile platformJUST OVER A YEAR AGO, TWO ELECTRIC UTILITIES THAT ARE part of the Exelon Corporation-ComEd and PECO-delivered on an ambitious project to provide a mobile dispatch and workforce management platform that impacted virtually all aspects of the utilities' operations.Successfully integrating technological applications and capabilities represented more than just add-on benefits to customer service...
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Some believe Stuxnet worm marks new age of super-cyber weaponsATTACK OF THE SCADA KILLER IS NOT A NOT NEW HORROR film, but a real scenario that sends chills down the spines of electric utility operators. It could be directed by a mischievous hacker, a terrorist group, state-sponsored espionage, or by a disgruntled employee, or a former one. And let's not dismiss those miscreants with proficiency, a computer and dreams of destruction that see the disruption...2
