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Recovery

Preparing for the Inevitable

New Approach to Recovery from Catastrophic Losses of Grid Facilities

How to adequately prepare for recovery from catastrophic losses: Doing nothing may minimize cost in the short run, but it leaves electricity customers exposed to the risk of extended outages. At the other extreme, having each utility purchase its own dedicated inventory of critical equipment would be duplicative and prohibitively expensive for utility customers. A shared inventory model offers a sensible middle-ground approach.
Byline: 

Paul Afonso, Lauren Azar, Dian Grueneich and James Hoecker

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Securing the Smart Grid

Questions and answers on consumer privacy and threats to the grid – both physical and cyber.

The economic argument for investments in the smart grid is clear: the payback from those technologies in the U.S. is likely three to six times greater than the money invested, and grows with each sequence of grid improvement.
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In the Crosshairs

Protecting substations and transformers after the PG&E Metcalf attack.

The latest fallout from the April 2013 Metcalf incident: the unprecedented assault with high-powered rifles on PG&E’s Metcalf substation, in Silicon Valley, which disabled 17 of 20 large transformers.
Byline: 

William Atkinson

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Community Renaissance

When one age ends, another begins.

Community microgrids raise questions about the role of the utility franchise, versus the free market.
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr, Editor-in-Chief

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Low Tech Resilience

Portable small-scale generators could keep vital services on line during a major power outage.

High-voltage generation reserves cost more than would portable, small-scale units to keep critical services on line during a major power outage.

Byline: 

William Zarakas, Frank Graves, and Sanem Sergici

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Renewable Spend & Tax (Credit)

Submitted by meacott on Thu, 2012-05-31 18:03

For developers of renewable power projects, the regulatory landscape is always shifting. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, for example, added the option of a cash grant in lieu of an investment tax credit—a provision that was set to expire at the end of 2010, but that received an 11th hour extension during the lame duck Congressional session.

Vendor Neutral

(May 2012) Entergy Louisiana starts construction on gas-fired power project; Virginia Commonwealth University and Dominion partner on a test site for efficient energy technologies; Burlington Electric Department selects Siemens for meter data management platform; IKEA commissions four Blink electric vehicle charging stations; Edison Mission Energy, TIAA-CREF and Cook Inlet Region Inc. form partnership, and others.

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Energy Storage Solutions

Barriers and breakthroughs to a smarter grid.

Technology is quickly making energy storage more economical and effective than ever before. But companies that wish to invest in storage capacity face a journey through a frustrating regulatory no-man’s land. Opening the gateway for storage to deliver smart grid benefits will require a more streamlined and coherent approach to regulating storage as utility infrastructure.

Byline: 

Bradford P. Roberts

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Vendor Neutral

(April 2012) MidAmerican Energy awarded a contract to Siemens Energy to supply wind turbines for its 407-MW project expansion. American Electric Power began operating the 580-MW Dresden natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant. Duke Energy and ChinaHuaneng Group signed a three-year agreement expanding their research cooperation to include coal and carbon capture and sequestration technologies. And others...

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