Utility Infrastructure
Ten Underground Mechanics Complete PECO's Comprehensive Training Program
PECO today announced that ten new underground apprentice mechanics celebrated their completion of a rigorous 15-week training program – joining the front lines to ensure safe and reliable service for PECO’s 1.6 million electric customers. More than 600 people applied for this year’s program, which d..
West Virginia American Water Seeks Infrastructure Rate Hike
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia American Water Co. has asked state regulators to endorse infrastructure improvements that would boost the average residential customer’s bill by $1.04 per month. The company’s application was filed Thursday with the Public Service Commission. The company says..
Technology Helps Utility Reduce Methane Emissions from Pipeline
Southern California Gas Co. recently used innovative gas capture technology to empty natural gas from a permanently abandoned pipeline in Santa Clarita, Calif. The special process enables gas to be saved for later use while eliminating noise and emissions that occur in the traditional venting metho..
PG&E Senior VP and Chief Nuclear Officer to Retire
Edward D. Halpin, Senior Vice President, Generation and Chief Nuclear Officer of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and a 35-year veteran of the energy industry, has announced his retirement, effective December 31, 2017. “Ed has done an outstanding job leading our nuclear and power generation operat..
Utility Earns National Safety Award
For the second straight year, Florida Public Utilities Company, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, has received a Safety Achievement Award from the American Gas Association for excellence in employee safety. The selection was based on criteria that included professional and person..
Aqua America Receives Approval to Acquire Pennsylvania Wastewater System
Aqua America, Inc. today announced its largest subsidiary, Aqua Pennsylvania, received approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to purchase the wastewater assets of New Garden Township, serving approximately 2,100 customer connections in southeast Pennsylvania’s Chester County. Aqua..
Gas Pipeline Project Expected to Cause Traffic Delays in New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – A utility company will be realigning a six-mile stretch of natural gas pipeline along New Mexico State Road 68, causing traffic delays in the height of the Rio Grande tourist season. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported (http://bit.ly/2s5GBmo ) Wednesday New Mexico Gas Co. plans ..
Eversource Starts Pipeline Construction Project in Connecticut
Eversource Energy has started construction on a multi-phase project that will improve the reliability of the company’s natural gas distribution lines in Connecticut The company will invest $14 million in 2017 on the first phase of a 17-mile-long project that, once completed, will connect existing g..
Regulators to Investigate Water Utility in Bribery Scheme
PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Corporation Commission has voted to review the rates, operations and finances of a San Tan Valley water utility company connected with an alleged bribery scheme. The commission will also have a consultant look at a 2013 policy change that allowed 28 utilities officials ..
New Mexico Utility Executive Elected to Lead Industry Group
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A national association that represents investor-owned electric companies has elected its first woman to serve as chairman of the board. The Edison Electric Institute announced the election of Pat Vincent-Collawn on Tuesday during its annual convention in Boston. Vincent-Col..
Rice Electronics Launches Connected Worker Solution
Rice Electronics has launched the Connected Worker Solution with Intel® IoT technology. Designed to improve the safety and productivity of field workers in industrial environments, the end-to-end IoT solution using Rice Electronics smart devices along with Intel-based IoT gateways provides robust co..
American Water Receives 18 National Awards for Excellence in Water Quality
American Water Works Company, Inc. today announced it has received 18 Partnership for Safe Water awards. The awards, which honor the efforts in continuously optimizing treatment plant and distribution system operation and performance, were presented during the 2017 American Water Works Association A..
Water Research Foundation Announces Award Winners
The Water Research Foundation has awarded the 2017 Dr. Pankaj Parekh Research Innovation Award to Stuart Krasner from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and two Outstanding Subscriber Awards for Applied Research to the City of Calgary and Tarrant Regional Water District. Krasner ..
Water Reuse Becomes Long-Term Supply Strategy
Uncertainty about traditional water supplies is sparking investment among municipal water utilities in water reuse and desalination projects to mitigate risk, as highlighted by a new report from Bluefield Research. “Utility customers are already facing higher water rates – up 25 percent since 2012 ..
Artesian Resources Corporation Announces Leadership Change
Artesian Resources Corporation has appointed Joseph A. DiNunzio as President of Artesian Water Maryland, Inc. DiNunzio has served as Executive Vice President and Secretary of Artesian Resources Corporation since 2007. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and Secretary and Vice President a..
Report: Water Utilities Must Embrace Innovation
More than half of water utility leaders globally have yet to embrace innovation and risk missing out on important “sustainability dividends,” according to a new Arcadis report, “Empowering Water Utility Innovation, which builds on a 190-page industry guidance manual, “Fostering Innovation Within Wat..
New Jersey American Water Exceeds Federal, State Standards
New Jersey American Water’s has released its annual Water Quality Reports, which show the utility’s drinking water exceeds state and federal standards in all of the 190 municipalities it serves. “We are pleased to report that the drinking water we supplied to our customers is of higher quality than..
Black & Veatch Report: Water Utility Leaders Driving Toward Sustainability
Black & Veatch has released its 2017 Strategic Directions: Water Industry Report, which addresses the increasing focus on sustainability, as well as the equally diverse strategies used by industry leaders to achieve it. According to the report, customer education, infrastructure modernization and t..
Utility's Water Quality Surpasses Regulatory Standards
According to results published in Illinois American Water’s 2016 Consumer Confidence Report, the company’s water quality surpassed regulatory standards. “The reports show that we continue to supply water to our customers that is of higher quality than required by state and federal standards,” said ..
Eversource Energy Acquires Aquarion Water Company
In an acquisition that will combine New England’s largest energy company with the region’s largest private water company, Eversource Energy has reached an agreement to acquire Aquarion Water Company for an enterprise value of $1.675 billion, comprised of $880 million in cash and $795 million of assu..
Construction Error Dumps up to 1,000 Gallons of Raw Sewage
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Construction in Vermont’s capital city hit a snag over the weekend after utility workers drilled into a sewer line Friday, dumping hundreds of gallons of raw sewage into the Winooski River. A Montpelier Public Works spokesman says the leak wasn’t discovered until Saturd..
Report Calls for “Internet of Water” for Sustainability
The Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University and Redstone Strategy Group have released Internet of Water: Sharing and Integrating Water Data for Sustainability, a Aspen Institute Dialogue Series on Water Data report ..
Navigant: The Utility Value Chain to Change Significantly by 2030
Navigant Research has released a new whitepaper, Defining the Digital Future of Utilities, highlighting the opportunities and challenges that the utility industry will face during the transition to an intelligent and distributed future. According to Navigant, significant change is already underway ..
Carbon Emissions Rule in Washington State Under Fire
SEATTLE (AP) — Even as the Trump administration seeks to roll back Obama-era rules to curb greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants, Washington state is forging ahead with its own rules to cap carbon pollution from big industrial facilities. But the state faces legal challenges as ..
Missouri Senate Committee Advances Utilities Rate Proposal
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ameren Missouri customers wouldn’t likely see a significant increase in their monthly electricity bills under a proposal allowing manufacturers that use a lot of electricity to negotiate lower rates, according to a Missouri Public Service Commission staff analysis presen..
Report: M&A Appetite Hits Seven-Year High in Power and Utilities Sector
Fifty-nine percent of power and utilities executive respondents expect to actively pursue an acquisition in the next 12 months, according to the latest biannual EY Power & Utilities Capital Confidence Barometer. That demonstrates a 12% increase in M&A appetite since the last Barometer (47%), and..
GridLiance Hires Utility Industry Veteran as VP of Corporate Development
GridLiance, the nation’s first independent transmission company primarily focused on working with Public Power, has named utility-industry veteran Kevin Donnelly as vice president of Corporate Development. Donnelly joins GridLiance with more than 20 years of utility industry experience, including i..
Infrastructure Upgrades Help Virginia American Water Receive Rate Increase
Following a 19-month review, the Virginia State Corporation Commission has issued an order that approves new rates for Virginia American Water. The new rates are for the company’s 60,000 drinking water and 20,000 wastewater customers in the City of Alexandria, the City of Hopewell, a portion of Prin..
Missouri House Passes Proposal for Lower Electric Rates
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House on Wednesday advanced a bill that would allow manufacturing companies to negotiate lower electricity rates than currently allowed, a measure supporters say could bring hundreds of jobs to the southeastern corner of the state but critics argue would raise..
The Great Lakes Water Utility Energy Challenge Announces Finalists
The Great Lakes Protection Fund and American Water Works Association have announced the finalists in the Water Utility Energy Challenge, an innovative program which engages water operators in a competition to reduce the emissions sourced in their energy generation. The inaugural 2017-2018 competitio..
- 290-mile gas pipeline expansion proposed across Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- Body retrieved day after fatal trench collapse at Bakersfield, Calif., job site
- $227 million Garnet Valley water project advances, set to create 73,000 jobs in Nevada
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish
- Gehl and Mustang offer world’s largest skid loader
- Growing Pains and Gains
- Authorities investigating trench collapse that killed worker in Ashburn, Va.
- City of Albuquerque halts fiber optic construction in response to damage, complaints
- Pasadena, Calif., undergrounding project could take 500 years to finish