Vermont Smart Meters Help Weather Irene
Posted on Sep 1, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Innovation/Efficiency, Technology | Comments Off on Vermont Smart Meters Help Weather Irene
Like many cooperatives along the eastern seaboard, the Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) dealt with major power outages in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Approximately 10,000 VEC members lost power. VEC’s smart meters played a pivotal role in the restoration efforts and allowed the VEC control center to communicate in real-time with members and support staff. Click here for the full...
Nevada Coop May Join California Power Grid
Posted on Aug 29, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Nevada Coop May Join California Power Grid
Nevada-based Valley Electric Association has received approval to join the California Independent System Operator Corporation, a nonprofit power-management corporation. Valley Electric has 23,000 members along the Nevada-California state line, and coop officials say linking Valley Electric’s 360 miles of existing transmission lines to California’s grid would let it ship renewable...
Coops Battle the Effect of Hurricane Irene
Posted on Aug 29, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Coops Battle the Effect of Hurricane Irene
Electric cooperatives across the Northeast are dealing with the power disruptions caused by Hurricane Irene’s destruction. According to Touchstone Energy Group, North Carolina-based coops have restored power to nearly 90,000 households, reducing the 152,000 outages reported on Saturday. In Vermont, utility workers continued working Monday morning to restore electricity to the 4,400...
Ravalli Electric Coop Opts for Fuses to Lower Fire Risk
Posted on Aug 22, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Ravalli Electric Coop Opts for Fuses to Lower Fire Risk
Montana-based Ravalli Electric Cooperative has announced that it will temporarily switch from breakers to fuses on its electrical system in fire-prone areas until later this fall when the high-risk part of the fire season has passed. The fuses eliminate the operation of re-energizing power lines, which can send a new surge of power through power lines near dry tree limbs and other...
Report Finds More Planning Needed to Deal with Weather-Related Outages
Posted on Aug 22, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Report Finds More Planning Needed to Deal with Weather-Related Outages
In a report released on August 16, 2011, staff members from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation concluded that last February’s power outages in the Southwest may be related to a lack of preparation for bad weather. The power disruptions that occurred last February affected 4.4 million electricity consumers and 50,000 natural gas...
Nevada Coop Considers Plans to Export Green Power to California
Posted on Aug 19, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Legislative & Politics, Renewable Energy | Comments Off on Nevada Coop Considers Plans to Export Green Power to California
Valley Electric Association, a coop based in Pahrump, Nevada, is developing plans to expand its transmission system to interconnect with the California Independent System Operator and to export renewable energy to California. The coop faces competition from Solar Express Transmission, and it is carefully considering the best way to move forward. The Las Vegas Review-Journal is...
Coop Brings High-Speed Internet to Rural Minnesota
Posted on Aug 8, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development, Reliability | Comments Off on Coop Brings High-Speed Internet to Rural Minnesota
Backed by the support of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Arrowhead Electric Cooperative is working on a large-scale project to help Cook County get connected. The project will provide nearly 5,200 households with much needed high-speed internet access. Most Cook County residents currently use dial-up, satellite, or DSL internet connections, all of which can be unreliable. Senator...
Fairbanks Coop Working Towards Natural Gas Liquefaction Facility
Posted on Aug 6, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Project Development | Comments Off on Fairbanks Coop Working Towards Natural Gas Liquefaction Facility
Golden Valley Electric Association, an Alaskan electric coop, recently decided to move forward with its partnership with Flint Hills Resources, a Koch Industries subsidiary, to build a natural gas liquefaction facility at Prudhoe Bay. With engineering and design work underway, the project is expected to be online in 2014. See Platts for more on this story.
Transmission and Distribution Grids Struggle to Beat the Heat
Posted on Aug 4, 2011 in Grid & Infrastructure, Reliability | Comments Off on Transmission and Distribution Grids Struggle to Beat the Heat
A high-voltage breaker exploded recently at Lake Region Electric Cooperative’s Tahlequah substation in Oklahoma. Approximately 1,600 coop members lost power with most back online within two hours of the incident. Consistently high temperatures were to blame for the explosion. Due to this year’s intense summer heat, transmission and distribution systems have lacked cool-off...
Vermont Electric Coop Wins POWER Magazine Smart Grid Award
Posted on Aug 2, 2011 in Environmental, Grid & Infrastructure | Comments Off on Vermont Electric Coop Wins POWER Magazine Smart Grid Award
Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) was recognized as the winner of the inaugural POWER Smart Grid Award. Among other smart grid technologies, VEC has implemented bidirectional meters, a new GPS-enabled outage management system, substation upgrades, and online access to electricity usage information. These efforts have cut outages in the VEC territory in half. They have also reduced...
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