California’s utilities are enhancing their wildfire mitigation plans in the wake of 2020’s rash of deadly wildfires. The state’s three major utilities—Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), San Francisco; Southern California Edison...
With this new year comes a new presidential administration with vastly different environmental and economic priorities. For electric utilities, this could result in a significant ratcheting up of environmental regulations and...
On Dec. 28, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released two rules related to the use of “unmanned aircraft,” commonly known as drones. Utilities are more frequently using drones for...
In its “2020-2021 Winter Reliability Assessment,” the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), Atlanta, predicts that there will be sufficient resource capacity in place across North America to meet winter...
According to a new report by Steve Cicala, an assistant professor and Neubauer faculty fellow at Tufts University, Medford, Mass., while utilities have multiple challenges and unexpected additional expenses as a result of the...
With hurricane season on the horizon, electric utilities are gearing up and preparing to reach out to each other for help when recovering from potential storm events. While weather-related destruction can occur year-round...
We’re used to lineworkers being the face of electric utilities. These employees are out there keeping the power on, and they’re also on the front lines of restoration efforts to turn the lights back on in communities hit by...
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on May 1 has sweeping implications for electric utilities across the nation. Namely placing restrictions on the foreign-supplied components installed on the nation’s...
On April 23, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation released a special report, “Pandemic Preparedness and Operational Assessment: Spring 2020,” to update the nation’s electric utilities on the implications of the...
According to the latest annual report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “Seventh Annual Energy Report: Clean Energy Opportunities and Dirty Energy Challenges,” the nation’s electric utilities have emerged as...
According to the J.D. Power 2019 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study, released last week, overall business customer satisfaction with electric utilities has climbed significantly since last year—from 761...
Following the unprecedented power blackout by PG&E during the week of Oct. 7 that affected almost 800,000 homes and businesses, up to a total of 2 million people in the state, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)...
Silicon Valley is known for disruption, so when the mayor of the high-tech industry’s hometown, San Jose, suggested a split from the major utility there, it wasn't entirely out of character. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E)...
With the fourth heat wave of the past summer in the Northeast becoming a distant memory, some of the power-related issues that surfaced then are still worth revisiting. The laws of physics don’t change with the seasons, even...
In late July, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said, last summer, Russian hackers gained access to power company control rooms, according to The Wall Street Journal. On March 15, DHS and the Federal Bureau of...
Electric utility Westar Energy has shut down the Jeffrey Energy Center in St. Mary’s, Kan., for investigation after two employees died from severe burns received during an equipment failure on Sunday, June 3. According to the...
Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood is one step closer to getting a microgrid courtesy of ComEd. Though the project received crucial support from Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) administrative law Judge Jessica L. Cardoni...
As I discussed last month, one of the most complicated problems electrical utilities face is integrating alternative-energy sources into the traditional grid. In addition to the traditional large electrical generation sources...
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. That seems to be the attitude of electric utilities these days, as growing numbers of large energy users negotiate agreements to buy electricity directly from new wind and solar developments...
