By Michael Hyland, American Public Power Association When measuring reliability, electric utilities must go beyond the percentage of time the power is flowing and look at a bigger picture of their operational health. read more

Luottoluokitusyhtiö Fitch Ratings on laskenut Teollisuuden Voiman luottoluokitusta. Syynä on Olkiluodon ydinvoimalan kolmosreaktorin viivästyminen.

Call it the copycat syndrome or marketing burnout wherein a company has a success with one product at which point every company in the space copies the effort leaving a market dotted with me-too products with little differentiation other than price. Eventually through this process value is suctioned out of the product or service, demand wanes, and consumers move on. It is almost impossible to satisfy consumer desire for the cheapest or most innovative product/technology/service/oh-heck-anything, particularly because in the end the equilibrium price may well be zero and innovation may be defined as simply announcing that something is innovative.

Central Maine Power, a subsidiary of Iberdrola USA, has reached yet another major milestone in its Maine Power Reliability Program (MPRP), a $1.4 billion upgrade of CMP’s bulk electric transmission system in Maine. read more

Two overnight interruptions to power supply on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, are required during June 2013 to allow ElectraNet to safely finalize a $25 million reinforcement of the Ardrossan West substation, and to progress a $10 million refurbishment of Hummocks substation. read more

Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited (Toronto Hydro), celebrated the start of construction on its new downtown transformer station on May 22, 2013. read more

Energex has commenced work on the $10.5 million upgrade the Rocklea Substation, which will improve the reliability of electricity supply to 4,100 homes and businesses in the surrounding area of South East Queensland, Australia. read more

Siemens Energy Sector has been awarded two contracts valued at approximately EUR200 million by Saudi Electricity Company (SEC). read more

Expanding the BURNDY Engineered System to encompass mechanically installed connections, BURNDY introduces a line of professional grade torque wrenches to enable end users to accurately terminate mechanical connectors to their required torque value. read more

The issue of energy may have been overshadowed by that of tax at yesterday’s EU summit of Heads of State in Brussels, but its growing importance and impact on Europe’s economy is one that cannot be ignored. As the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, Europeans are paying a lot for their energy – prices are 37% higher than those in the US and 20% hi

A proposed $500 million fund to help developers of geothermal power explore new sites for projects may leverage about $9.6 billion of new investment, unleashing as much as 2,400 megawatts of capacity, a report found.

Many American Indian tribes have been considering business opportunities in connection with solar projects. To date, most of the focus has been with respect to the siting of utility scale solar projects on tribal land in the desert. For instance, the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians have leased land on their Nevada reservation for a 250 MW solar project being developed by kRoad Solar.

Since 2007, more than 40,000 MW of new wind generation has been built in the U.S., according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Tens of thousands of new turbines are operating, a testament to the entrepreneurial and engineering spirit of renewable development firms, equipment suppliers and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies.

Tavaratalo Kärkkäinen myy tänään polttoainetta 0,99 euroa litralta. Kyseessä on markkinointitempaus, joka aiheuttaa välittömiä tappioita Kärkkäiselle.

With the amount of energy required to produce a vehicle, it makes sense that automobile manufacturers are exploring solar power to help cut costs and position themselves as environmentally-conscious companies. Incorporating solar energy into their operations is already popular among European vehicle manufacturers: from SEAT’s 10.6 megawatts (MW) of

Rockland Capital has raised $120 million in financing to support solar installations in nine towns along Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The financing will allow Broadway Electrical to install more than 37 megawatts of photovoltaic (PV) projects throughout the region, including projects on landfills and rooftops. The projects have

Jimmy Dean, a lead lineman for Alabama Power, has a hobby that is demanding, exacting, painstaking and, on some days, just a real grind — and he loves it. read more

Vito Longo, Technology Editor There is a new normal. Now most utilities exist in some sort of deregulated atmosphere. read more

By Jiwon Kang, Dongil Lee and Jaewon Chang, KEPCO Research Institute An ambitious underground testing facility exists for conventional and renewable energy systems. read more

Ruotsalainen energiayhtiö Vattenfall siirtää uusien ydinreaktoreiden rakennuttamista ainakin viidellä vuodella.

SkyWave Mobile Communications has introduced SCADAconnect, an end-to-end connectivity solution. read more

Smart Utility Systems has been invited to present in Washington D.C. SUS will be presenting SCM™ - Smart Customer Mobile as a part of the Federal Smart Grid Task Force on May 30, 2013. read more

E Source has launched the Residential Customer Insights Center, an easy-to-use database that helps utilities gather information about their customers’ energy use, behavior, and attitudes toward conservation. read more

Itron, Inc. has announced a strategic alliance with Choice, a Brazilian technology company, to integrate and jointly market a non-technical loss solution to utilities around the world, with a strong focus in Brazil. read more

Using SAS Analytics for utilities, SCE has begun improving its forecasting efficiency by integrating and analyzing vast stores of data in its energy forecasting platform. read more

Extending its already deep reach into renewable energy, Google reportedly has acquired a startup and its flying-kite wind turbines that promise to tap better wind energy resources at higher altitudes with far lower costs and more efficient output.

Duck River Electric Membership Corp. is making new services available to its members by implementing AMI, Smart Grid Meter Data Management, and other smart grid applications from AT&T. read more

Mitsubishi Electric Corp. it will globally enhance business relating to smart meters, which are advanced electricity meters with communication functions, in collaboration with its partner Echelon Corp. read more

Georgia Power has upgraded its website to feature a suite of accessibility tools, including an assistive technology-enabled gateway that allows customers with disabilities to navigate the website more easily. read more

Ambient Corp. has announced that all of its Smart Grid Nodes fully support DNP3 protocol, which enables local data aggregation and control at distributed locations on the utility grid. read more