Induction Invented, Implemented
Birthdays
Induction is indeed a big deal — James Clerk Maxwell, Nikola Tesla, Charles Steinmetz, and others stood on the shoulders of Faraday.
Law & Lawyers
They're Accustomed to Being in the Front Lines
Industry Veterans
Thirty-five veterans in the new book “Front Lines to Power Lines” stand for the many thousands of vets in our industry. The book shines a light onto the unique qualities that vets bring with them, instinctively, qualities that are so very valuable to utility service.
One of the First Veterans in Energy
George Westinghouse
An entrepreneur, engineer, and inventor, George Westinghouse competed against his contemporary, Thomas Edison, working to develop and market the use of alternating current for electric power distribution in the early 1880s. Years before that, Westinghouse was just like many of the men and women chronicled in PUF’s new book “Front Lines to Power Lines.” In fact, he was one of the first veterans in energy.
Undergrounding: Raj Roy, Thuan Tran, Angel Brito
SCE
“Based on our current risk analysis, undergrounding is estimated to reduce about ninety percent of wildfire risk, while covered conductor is estimated at about seventy percent.”
A Day at the North Dakota PSC
State Commissions
This small but mighty Commission handles a lot in this vast agricultural and ranching state. North Dakota PSC is also in charge of weights and measures, protecting consumers by making sure they get what they pay for. Commissioners in North Dakota are elected and spend a lot of time traveling to hearings held among constituents for the serious business of regulating in the public interest.
Innovation Imperative
Top Innovators and More
A culture of innovation is an imperative for the utilities industry, if only because the challenges we face, from the threat of climate change to the demand for customer centricity to the complexity of today’s grid to the aging of the legacy infrastructure, and so on and so on, require continuous learning, invention, and integration.
Undergrounding: Dave Plusquellic
TECO Energy
“The program required a comprehensive look at benefits versus costs, with a focus on extreme weather events, so we conducted a thorough and robust data-driven analysis.”
N. Dakota PSC: Chair Julie Fedorchak
Chair
“As we transition to more renewables, we have to recognize the need for dispatchable resources to maintain reliability. If those are largely gas, then we need more pipelines.”
Fortnightly Top Innovators 2021
Innovation Imperative
Conversations with this year’s Extraordinarily Inspiring Innovators: Arizona Public Service’s Jim Holbrook, Miguel Bravo and Christine Helmuth, California Public Utility Commission’s Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, Leuwam Tesfai and Forest Kaser, CenterPoint Energy’s Eric Easton and David Mercado, PPL’s Horst Lehmann and Eric Rosenberger, Southern California Gas’ Eric Coene, Matt Gregori and Ron Kent, and Xcel Energy’s Nadia El Mallakh.
PG&E's Landmark RFI to Underground Ten Thousand Miles of Lines
Pacific Gas & Electric
PG&E met with firms that responded to its Request for Information, each of which presented their approaches to accomplish this unprecedented project. Herein are key excerpts of the RFI.