Electric

What A U.S. Electric Grid Attack Looks Like

Modern life has a woven-in thread of vulnerability that is peculiar to our times: electricity. It’s the cardiovascular and nervous system of life across the world, more so in the Internet Age than even 30 years ago. If the nation lost electricity, it would cause an instant and lethal paralysis that..

Official: Puerto Rico Needs 'Unprecedented' Federal Help

WASHINGTON (AP) — Puerto Rico has suffered such extensive devastation from Hurricane Maria that its recovery will fail unless the island gets more help from the Trump administration and Congress, the head of a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances said Tuesday. Natalie Ja..

Electric Utilities Band Together to Support Power Restoration in Puerto Rico

Following Tuesday’s request for assistance from Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) CEO Ricardo Ramos, senior executives from the electric power industry and federal government convened a call last night to discuss next steps for this new phase in the power restoration effort. ..

Con Edison Crews, Equipment to Aid Puerto Rico Power Restoration

Consolidated Edison, Inc. today announced seventy vehicles have arrived at a shipping terminal in southern New Jersey and will be loaded onto a cargo ship for a trip to Puerto Rico, where they’ll be part of the massive campaign to restore power. More than 100 power line workers, technical specialis..

Clash Emerges over Puerto Rico Power Restoration Time

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials in the U.S. and Puerto Rico are clashing over when power will be fully restored to the U.S. territory after Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico officials say Thursday that the state-owned utility is generating 37 percent of its regular output and aims for 95 percent ..

Report: Global Underground Utility Locator Market to Reach $11 Billion by 2025

According to a new report published by Global Market Estimates, the underground utility locator market is expected to reach $11.21 Billion by 2025, due to the following: Increasing spending on infrastructure development and residential & non-residential construction activities Oil & gas pipeline..

Report: Global Smart Water Network Market to Grow Through 2021

According to a new report from Technavio, the global smart water network market is expected to grow at a CAGR of close to 15% between 2017-2021, due to the following emerging market trends: Demand for clean water Impact of urbanization Depletion of freshwater resources Demand for clean water..

Utility Settles Lawsuit with Former Manager out of Court

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts municipal power company has settled a lawsuit brought by a former manager who claimed he was owed more than $600,000 in wages and benefits. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that Wayne Doerpholz, former manager of the South Hadley Electric Light Co., dec..

Lead Protection Plan Now Available for All U.S. Plumbing Companies

Pipe Restoration Technologies, LLC (PRT), makers of the ePIPE, Lead-Free Leak-Free™ and LeadSmart® product lines, is celebrating National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week with the launch of its LeadSmart Lead Protection Plan for all nationwide plumbing companies and home inspectors to help ease Americ..

Dr. Peter J. Winzer Honored for Advancements in Fiber Optic Technology

The Optical Society (OSA) and the IEEE Photonics Society today announced that Peter J. Winzer of Nokia Bell Labs, USA, is the recipient of the 2018 John Tyndall Award. The award, one of the top honors in the fiber optics community, will be presented at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and ..

Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs Launch End-To-End Aerial Pipeline Inspection Solution for Utilities

Black & Veatch and Aeryon Labs have launched an end-to-end asset management inspection solution leveraging drone technology for global energy clients. Aeryon’s commercial unmanned aerial system (UAS) hardware, software and services enable the capture of critical infrastructure condition data that is..

Energy Associations File Comments Opposing Proposed Electric Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule

12 associations representing oil, natural gas, wind, solar, efficiency, and other energy technologies today submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed rulemaking on grid resiliency pricing. In joint comments, the ass..

Water Technology Program Honored

The Hamilton Mill’s Pipeline H2O program was recognized on Thursday, Oct. 19 at the 2017 Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) Annual Excellence Awards program in Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio Economic Development Association’s Annual Excellence Awards program acknowledges the achievements of indi..

International Plastic Pipe Conference Extends Deadline for Papers

The organizers of the International Plastic Pipe Conference and Exhibition have announced a two-week extension of the deadline for the submission of abstracts to Nov. 15, 2017. “We have already received some major proposals for presentations and are particularly interested to receive case reference..

Mammoth Energy to Help Rebuild Puerto Rico’s Energy Infrastructure

Mammoth Energy Services, Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cobra Acquisitions LLC, has signed a contract to aid in the restoration of utility infrastructure on the island of Puerto Rico. The contract will commence immediately and is expected to generate revenue of up to $200 million over the initial 1..

11-Year-Old Honored for Lead Detection Invention

3M and Discovery Education have named 11-year-old Gitanjali Rao from Lone Tree, Colo. the winner of the 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Gitanjali is working to develop Tethys, a sensor-based device that can detect lead in water faster than other current techniques. ..

Puerto Rico Utility to Scrap $300M Power Contract

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The head of Puerto Rico’s power company said Sunday the agency is cancelling its $300 million contract with Whitefish Energy Holdings amid scrutiny of the tiny Montana company’s role in restoring the island’s power system. The announcement by Ricardo Ramos came hours af..

FEMA Disavows Puerto Rico Power Contract Amid Investigations

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday it had no involvement in the decision to award a $300 million contract to help restore Puerto Rico’s power grid to a tiny Montana company in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown. FEMA said in a statement that any language in ..

10,000 Still Without Power After North Carolina Storms

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — More than 10,000 North Carolinians are still without electricity following storms that sparked tornadoes earlier this week. Duke Energy reported that nearly 11,000 customers were without service Thursday morning. The utility said the biggest problems were in Wilkes and Catawba ..

New Online Marketplace for Trenchless Pipe and Sewer Repairs Launched

ShopTRENCHLESS.com, LLC today announced the launch of its website targeting residential and commercial plumbing contractors and suppliers, as well as utility contractors and municipalities’ maintenance divisions. shopTRENCHLESS.com is an online marketplace empowering the industry to source the next ..

PSE&G Upgrades NatGas Pipeline Infrastructure Post-Sandy

Five years after Hurricane Sandy left two million New Jerseyans without power, Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) has completed strategic infrastructure investments that, in the event of another Sandy-like storm, will keep critical equipment out of floodwaters’ way and the lights on for..

Lawmakers Seek Probe of Puerto Rico Power Contract

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress from both parties on Tuesday called for an investigation into a $300 million contract awarded to a small company based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Montana. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority awarded the contract to Whitefish ..

Oracle Utilities, Navigant Research Unveil Dual Innovation Blueprint Study for Utilities

Oracle Utilities today unveiled a new research paper, titled ‘Utility Innovation Blueprint: How to Manage the Challenge of Dual Transformation,’ which explores how utilities can approach innovation across their people, processes and technology. Commissioned from Navigant Research, the paper comb..

Water Environment & Reuse Foundation and Water Research Foundation Announce Integration into One Organization

The Boards of Directors for the Water Environment & Reuse Foundation (WE&RF) and Water Research Foundation (WRF) have voted unanimously to integrate the two organizations into one research foundation. Beginning on January 1, 2018, the new organization will be led by a single Board of Directors comp..

Bentley Systems Completes Rollout of Comprehensive Modeling Environment for Infrastructure

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, has completed its CONNECT Edition application portfolio for design, analytical, construction, and asset performance modeling of infrastructure. The CONNECT Edition’s comprehensive modeling environment supports aligned digital workflows across applications for all proje..

Utility to Use Southern Linc LTE Network for Electric Distribution Data Services

Southern Linc, a subsidiary of Southern Company, has entered into an agreement with Dalton Utilities to transmit distribution data via the new “CriticalLinc” mission critical LTE network. The multi-year deal will enable eleven substations in the Dalton, Georgia area to use Southern Linc’s missio..

WaterStart Begins Accepting Grant Proposals

Nevada-based incubator, WaterStart, has started accepting proposals from companies around the world with timely, collaborative and unique applications on how their technologies can help its members advance development and management in various areas related to water. With support from both its memb..

Nokia and WOW! Deploy Industry's First Virtualized Distributed Access Architecture

Nokia and WOW! today announced the cable industry’s first commercial virtualized Distributed Access Architecture (vDAA) deployment designed to significantly increase the capacity of WOW!’s existing Hybrid Fiber-Coaxial network and help meet exploding bandwidth demands of subscribers. Traditional Hy..

Power Restoration Gains in Mississippi After Hurricane Nate

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A southeast Mississippi utility is making progress toward power restoration after Hurricane Nate, while officials continue to assess damage. Singing River Electric Power Association reports Monday morning it has fewer than 1,400 customers remaining without power Monday m..

How Vulnerable Is The Electrical Grid?

When the electricity stops in modern civilization, pretty much everything else stops. Not even gasoline-powered vehicles can get far before they are obliged to seek a fill-up—which they cannot get because gas pumps rely on electricity to operate. When I wrote “The storms are only going to get worse..