Transmission

“While some tweaks are necessary due to the present speed and concentration of load additions, wholesale jettisoning of tested practices likely brings many unintended consequences even – or perhaps, especially – for those customers regulators are seeking to protect.”

“This article presents a high-level overview of emerging regulatory innovations, focusing on the intersection between tariff design and integrated planning. Other articles in this series will present views on additional innovations underway as load growth reshapes the electricity landscape.”

These articles are the first two in a series with PUF focusing on load growth as both a challenge and opportunity for the continued evolution of the U.S. power sector. The series will present innovative solutions to meet this new era of load growth in a way that is more resilient, affordable, and clean.

“I led the onshore portion of the South Fork Wind Project and will provide examples from that project of how regulatory influence can drive design decisions and environmental considerations when you’re in construction.”

“We’re looking at the strength of the soil to figure out how deep the foundation needs to go. Not so shallow that it fails in a few years, but not so deep that it’s over-designed and unnecessarily expensive. It’s about finding the right balance between long-term durability and cost.”

“On a steel or wood pole, a specialized coating or a sleeve is put on below grade to protect from corrosion. But with concrete, it comes out of the mold ready to set in a corrosive environment.”

“Galloping is a type of low-frequency, high-amplitude vibration in power lines. It’s when the wires start bouncing up and down, sometimes to an extreme degree. It’s a big deal because it can cause serious damage.”

“Zach and I are hitting on the ways that engineers can expand their thinking to set up craft labor for more successful and safe execution.”

“The key takeaway is understanding the evolving approach to traditional refurbishment projects. That’s where advanced conductors like ACCC come in. These all-aluminum composite conductors offer higher capacity and performance without requiring changes to the existing line design.”

James Duehning, Mark Van Dyne, Kent Herzog, Alex Lee, and Andrew Schulte: “We need to shift from a deterministic planning model to something more probabilistic, especially with all the uncertainty around future load and generation. The way we identify project needs today doesn’t fully reflect the realities we’re facing.”