Utility Automation & Engineering T&D Articles, January 2012

Table of Contents

Features

San Antonio Hosts DISTRIBUTECH

Running Jan. 24-26, 2012, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, DistribuTECH continues to lead the way in information exchange and utility education.

Architecture, Analytics Key to Smart Grid Performance

Data are fundamental smart grid currencies, and data will be hitting utility systems in a deluge.

Illinois Case Study: How to Increase Critical Customer Load Reliability

Rubicon Technology recently sent the city of Batavia, Ill., a few special requests.

A Personal View of IEC 61850

It's hard to convince intelligent folks to fix something that doesn't appear broken.

Synchrophasors Electrify Power Transmission

The status quo of transmission-monitoring technology at the moment is a bit slow.

How Does the Industry Create True Interoperability?

Interoperability has become a smart grid buzzword, and the industry loves thinking that engineers and technology can be made to get along.

Expanding Metering Data's Value

Smart grid investments have inspired both regulatory concern and negative public reactions in recent months.

Customer Data Security, Cybercrime and How a Utility Can Prepare

Economies changed over the past few decades, from bartering to cash to credit and now to electronic payments.

What You Need to Know About Solar Design

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that solar energy is the fastest-growing energy technology in the U.S.

Distribution Planning for a Smarter Grid

Most existing electric power infrastructure was designed to supply power from large utility-owned generation sources to end-use customers with predictable load shapes.

Data Complexity Poses Next Big Challenge

Data volumes are increasing at an exponential pace in practically all areas of science, business and technology.

Departments

From the Editor

Will PG&E Ever Catch a Break?

Power outages are never good, but when a customer loses power while entertaining 70,000 guests and a national television audience of more than 16.6 million viewers, it can be a utility's nightmare.

Notes

Utilities Give Tech Advice at Grid-Interop

The importance of cybersecurity, the desire for plug-and-play technology and understanding how utilities must change with the smart grid future are just three of the lessons from the final utility implementation roundtable at Grid-Interop in Phoenix, Ariz., on December 8, 2011.

Products

Mobile Combo Units

Reel-O-Matic has introduced new mobile combo units that will roll through a standard 36-inch entry door and make pulling wire from parallel reels easier.

Perspectives

Volt/VAR Control: Old Problem, New Solution

While reading the other day, I discovered that voltage drop and real power losses contributed to the invention of the incandescent lightbulb.

Current Magazine

Volume 17
Issue 1
January 2012