Electric

Navajo Family in Utah Gets Electricity in Time for Holidays

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — For years, Thomas and Annie Hamm walked around their southern Utah home with flashlights at night, heated water on a wood burning stove and kept their food cold on ice. Sometimes, they ran an extension cord from a car battery to power a television. They had a small solar pan..

200 More Utility Workers from New York Arrive in Puerto Rico

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Another 200 utility workers from New York state have arrived in Puerto Rico to assist in getting the power back on following Hurricane Maria. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the workers arrived Tuesday along with 180 utility vehicles. They follow 160 utility workers and near..

Company Halts Power Restoration Efforts in Puerto Rico over $83M Owed

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Whitefish Energy Holdings said late Monday that it was halting work to help restore power in Puerto Rico because the U.S. territory’s government has not paid crews as part of a contract that led to accusations of overcharging and incompetence and contributed to the resig..

Grid Operator Discusses New England’s Constrained Gas Pipelines

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — The independent corporation overseeing the operation of New England’s power system says natural gas pipelines feeding the region are so constrained that electricity prices are driven higher during cold winters. ISO New England President Gordon van Welie (WHEE’-lee) says region..

ASTM International Standard Aims to Reduce Contamination and Costs in Plastic Pipe Production

ASTM International announced its committee on plastic piping systems is developing a new standard that aims to use best practices to prevent contamination in manufacturing polyethylene pipe and fittings. According to ASTM International member Eugene Palermo, manufacturers could use the standard to ..

ARCOS' Software to Help Electric Utility Expedite Service Restoration

ARCOS LLC today announced it has started the process of implementing its ARCOS® Callout and Scheduling Suite to help Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) expedite electric service restoration, focus on safety and reduce the utility’s System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), whic..

New York Utility Crews Arrive in Puerto Rico to Help Restore Power

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced more than 160 electric public and private utility experts and nearly 100 utility vehicles have arrived in Puerto Rico to assist with the recovery of its power grid caused by severe damage from Hurricane Maria in September. Governor Cuomo also announc..

Alaska Commission Rejects Canadian Firm’s Offer for Utility

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s utility regulator has turned down a Canadian firm’s offer to take over Alaska Electric Light and Power citing a legal technicality. The Juneau Empire reported Sunday that the Regulatory Commission of Alaska denied Ontario-based Hydro One’s application to acquire the e..

National Grid, Department of Energy to Collaborate on Grid Modernization and Energy Storage Research

National Grid and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have entered into an agreement to work together on research in the areas of transmission grid modernization and energy storage technologies. The electricity industry is undergoing sweeping changes, inclu..

Largest Public Tender Database for Water, Sewer Utilities Now Available

AquaSPE AG and H2bid have joined forces to make the largest public tender database for U.S. and Canadian water and wastewater utilities available on The Water Network. Effective immediately, contractors can visit The Water Network’s Business Exchange to view thousands of public tenders sorted by sp..

Meet the World’s Fastest and Most Powerful Temporary Fiber-Optic Network

Most high-speed, high-bandwidth networks consist of fiber optic cable that is permanently installed in protective walls, ceilings and flooring, or buried underground in thick, waterproof conduits. But building the world’s fastest and most powerful temporary network from the ground up each year for t..

Fiber Optic Sensing Association Releases Interactive Map Highlighting Global Installations

The Fiber Optic Sensing Association (FOSA) has released an interactive map providing a geographic breakdown of more than 1,300 installations of distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) around the world.  The data reflects the largest representative sample ever published. Key insights include: ..

6 Missouri Utilities to Share $120 Million in Federal Loans

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Six Missouri utilities will use nearly $120 million in federal loans to upgrade the infrastructure for electricity in rural parts of the state. The Missouri grants are part of $2.5 billion in loans the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded for rural electricity projec..

Documents: Puerto Rico Utility Ignored Advice on Repair Deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Puerto Rico’s bankrupt electric utility ignored advice from its own lawyers before signing an expanded contract worth $300 million with a tiny Montana company to repair its damaged power grid, newly released documents show. The law firm, Greenberg Traurig, recommended that the sta..

U.S. Grid Narrowly Escapes Apocalyptic Attack

The American grid security story grows increasingly grim. Last week, security consulting firm Symantec warned that recent cyberattacks gave hackers direct access to the nation’s power grid on multiple occasions, according to a new report by Wired. This time, not only the United States was exposed, ..

Maine Lawmakers to Weigh in on Reducing Power Outages

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Maine Legislature is expected to consider options including burying power lines and adopting more aggressive tree cutting after a wind storm knocked out power for up to 10 days. Democratic Rep. Seth Barry, co-chair of Joint Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technol..

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..