Senior executives from Exelon Generation, Alstom, General Electric and Zachry officially broke ground on the construction of a new low-carbon, combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) at Exelon's Colorado Bend Generating Station in Wharton. The new CCGT will provide an additional 1,000 MW to the existing 498-MW natural gas power plant. The new unit at Colorado Bend is one of two new CCGTs the company is developing in Texas.

The New York Power Authority and mPrest, an Israeli software development firm, were awarded a $900,000 grant from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation to develop a system that can rapidly detect malfunctioning power transformers before they cause larger problems on the electric grid. NYPA and mPrest will develop software for deployment on the NYPA transmission system, and plan to engage the Electric Power Research Institute for research assistance.

Siemens partnered with Con Edison to install technology that will help keep Con Edison customers in sections of Lower Manhattan in service during severe flooding. Con Edison chose a new automation system to synchronously control underground switches and circuit breakers that will separate two of Con Edison's power distribution networks into four sub-networks. Siemens developed the distribution feeder automation (SDFA) technology specifically for Con Edison's system.

Sensus and GE's Digital Energy business collaborated to integrate Sensus FlexNet communication technology into GE's existing I-210+c electric meter. Built on GE's meter platform and inclusive of a Sensus FlexNet radio module, the GE I-210+c FlexNet-enabled meter will be available with and without remote disconnect. The new meter is also expected to meet Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 2735 at the time of initial product availability and Measurement Canada certification within three months of availability.

ABB won a contract worth around $25 million from the electrical transmission system operator RTE France to supply transformer products and services for ongoing offshore wind power projects. ABB will supply nine 400-megavolt ampere (MVA) booster transformers to help regulate the voltage of power transmitted from four large-scale offshore wind projects being built at various points along the Atlantic coast of France. Deliveries are scheduled from 2017 to 2020.