Are You a Vet?
Steve Mitnick is interviewing veterans of our military services who are now in the utilities industry.
PUF's Where's Energy
Very Difficult Paying Household Expenses
The Census Bureau reports that for the two week period ending the first of March, 13.9 percent of all American adults over the age of eighteen are now finding it to be very difficult to pay household expenses. Including utility bills presumably.
Another 18.5 percent of American adults are now finding it to be somewhat difficult to pay household expenses. Adding these two categories together, the household bills of nearly a third of American adults are very or somewhat difficult to pay.
Lead image: © Can Stock Photo / gvictoria
Electric Bill Percent
Better news on electric bill affordability comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In January, residential electric bills were just 1.29 percent of Americans’ personal consumption expenditures in total. That’s lower than in January of 2018, when electricity was 1.40 percent, and lower than in January 2019, when electricity was 1.32 percent.
However, it was higher than in January 2020, when electricity was at an all-time low, at 1.17 percent. This is a direct result of our pandemic world.
Read our March issue
Our latest issue is now available online.
You Under 40?
Nominations for the 2021 Fortnightly Under Forty are due March 15.
San Diego Broadband
San Diego Gas & Electric is creating a private LTE network for a falling conductor protection system.
What Happened to Texas?
It got seriously cold in the Big D. The low on February 14 was 10° and it snowed heavily. By 3 a.m. on the 15th, total demand and generation collapsed by 9,000 MWh.
Edith Clarke Made Long-Distance Transmission Feasible
Clarke was the first female electrical engineer in the U.S.
One Step Back, Two Steps Forward
Coal plants in January produced nearly 16% fewer MWh, but total CO2 emissions rose by nearly 19% over January 2019.
Registered and Ready for NARUC
80 is the New 60? Considering I’m fairly old myself, I like the vibe. But that’s the session name for the panel at NARUC’s upcoming winter meeting discussing nuclear plant second license renewals and the impact on the grid’s decarbonization. The session will be on February 10.
Then there’s the session on FERC Order 2222, on distributed resources in wholesale markets. The Commission is always creative at naming its landmark orders. About the only aspect of its rules that we can all agree on. The session will be on February 9.