In This Issue
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The FBI wants to talk to you about cybersecurity
I cannot be alone in this. Everyone must be at least a little nervous to visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), even the utterly, completely, thoroughly innocent such as me. But, it was such a delight to get the invitation. The FBI building in Dallas sits on the appropriately monikered Justice Way, an island isolated by Loop 12 and a highway spur for 482 where the nearest neighbors... -
Go tailored
The most noteworthy development I have observed with utility cybersecurity to date: the desire to interconnect control systems with corporate systems to provide executives with real-time visibility into deployment. These developments require robust cybersecurity programs, but how does a utility build a robust cybersecurity program? A cybersecurity program can look very different depending on... -
Guam Power Authority
The Guam Power Authority (GPA), established in May 1968, is part of the Government of Guam Public Corporation and regulated by the Guam Public Utilities Commission. It serves 48,000 meter customers with 663 miles of power lines and 29 substations across the island. For this installment of Intelligent Utility’s utility2utility interview series, we chatted with John J. Cruz Jr., P.E., MBA, GPA’s...1 -
It takes mobility
We all love the smart grid. It’s great. It’s marvelous. It’s a wave of the electric power future. But, there are still pockets within a utility that haven’t yet felt the full enlightenment of intelligent structures and software. For most utilities, the deployment and activities of field workers remains one of those dark pockets. We all talk about the consumer, how mobile applications can... -
Virtual, community versions necessary
Net metering—the process where a home or business generating its own electricity can run its meter backward and sell any excess electricity it generates to the grid for a bill credit—has become a common power industry phrase since Idaho adopted the first net-metering program in 1980. By 1998, 22 states had adopted net metering. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 further encouraged net metering,... -
Advice from CenterPoint Energy
Answer this SAT-style analogy: Land line is to cell tower as power line is to _____ ? If you said, “smart grid,” CenterPoint Energy agrees. The transmission and distribution utility is bringing electricity in Houston, Texas into the digital age. In less than four years, the company has completed installation of 2.2 million digital smart meters across the nation’s fourth largest city and made... -
Report finds that it's all about the right attitudeWhat enterprise analytics looks like for each utility company will vary significantly—depending on things such as the utility's regulatory environment, customer expectations and business structure. One of the recent Utility Analytics Institute reports finds that, given this reality, enterprise analytics is not an endpoint but more an attitude and an approach for utility companies. This article...
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Old Dominion Electric Cooperative
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative based in Glen Allen, Virginia. ODEC’s core business is generating, purchasing and delivering electricity to wholesale customers, primarily their member systems. For this issue of Intelligent Utility, we spoke with Erin Puryear, manager of member services and energy innovation planning, about... -
An eye on Germany’s microgrid future
Germany’s big power utilities are in big trouble. Widespread adoption of renewable energy sources like household solar PV and community-led wind projects have impacted fossil fuel generation to such an extent that the big four utilities (EnBW, E.ON, RWE and Vattenfall) have begun to mothball highly efficient combined-cycle gas turbines power plants commissioned just this decade. There is no... -
What you need to know
Any effort to identify the five key implications for utilities of FERC’s Order No. 1000 may be entirely arbitrary and somewhat capricious. What follows are highly personal observations, for which my clients and colleagues, past and present, are in no way responsible. You won’t find me among the cadre of government-haters in Washington who wish regulators and other public officials...
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