PG&E Prepping Filing Outlining 5,000 Undergrounding Miles by 2037
Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. announced a forthcoming 10‑year plan to underground roughly 5,000 miles of high‑fire‑risk lines between 2028 and 2037, adding to the 1,900 miles slated for completion by the end of next year. The initiative, backed by about $1 billion in annual capital spending, aims to harden an additional 4,000 miles of overhead wire, bringing total resiliency upgrades to nearly 11,000 miles. PG&E highlighted that the 1,240 miles already buried have already saved more than $100 million in maintenance costs. The filing will be submitted to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety in Q3, under revised CPUC guidelines.
Palo Alto’s Foothills Go Underground
The City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) is close to completing a multiyear project to move its electric distribution and fiber‑optic networks underground across the city’s high‑fire‑risk zone. By burying poles and cables, the utility aims to lower the probability...
Sitetracker Launches AI Platform Scout To Improve Infrastructure Management
Sitetracker, a New Jersey‑based software firm, launched Scout, an autonomous AI platform aimed at streamlining infrastructure delivery for utilities and contractors. Scout claims to turn internal system data into real‑time risk insights, automated work packages, and faster decision‑making across planning,...
The Data Center Surge Is Here; So Is Wildfire Season
U.S. data centers are projected to consume up to 580 TWh of electricity by 2028, dramatically increasing load on an aging utility grid. Simultaneously, about 180 million wooden utility poles are vulnerable to failure and wildfire ignition as climate stressors intensify. Composite...
Tri-State Expedites Energized Line Rebuild
Tri‑State Generation and Transmission Association rented a TLL‑1300 triple‑line lifter to rebuild two short sections of a 115 kV radial line near Burlington, Colorado. The equipment enables crews to work on multiple energized lines simultaneously, cutting repositioning time and boosting overall...
Five Ways Utilities Can Make Better Decisions with the Data They Already Have
U.S. utilities spent over $50 billion on distribution upgrades in 2023, yet control rooms still drown in fragmented, uncontextualized data. Everardo Camacho outlines five practices—unifying data streams, correlating alerts, adding operational context, adopting predictive analytics, and aligning teams around a shared...
National Grid’s Little Horsted Substation in the UK Begins Operations
National Grid has placed the Little Horsted substation into service, delivering roughly 0.5 GW of capacity—enough electricity for about 480,000 homes. The project is a cornerstone of the company’s £2.7 bn ($3.4 bn) South East network investment plan through 2031. Construction involved moving...
SRP Brings Copper Crossing Solar Project Online to Support Grid and Research Efforts
Salt River Project (SRP) has placed its first owned solar facility, the 55‑MW Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center (CCERC) PV Solar Project, into service in Florence, Arizona. The plant will generate enough electricity to power roughly 11,000 homes and...
Transmission Line to Ukraine Nuclear Plant Fixed After Disruption
The 330 kV transmission line feeding Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been restored, allowing the six‑reactor complex to resume normal grid connection. Operators confirmed all systems are nominal and radiation remains at background levels. The plant, which generates roughly 5,700 MW—about...
LUMA Installs 20 Transformers to Strengthen Puerto Rico's Power Grid
LUMA Energy installed 20 new transformers across Puerto Rico, enhancing capacity and voltage regulation for roughly 78,000 customers in the eastern and Bayamón regions. The Bayamón TC Substation upgrade fortifies a key northern transmission hub, while the Fajardo unit replaces...
ComEd’s Plan to Protect Key Assets With Resilience
ComEd partnered with Polywater for a May 4 webinar to outline a new resilience strategy aimed at protecting critical transmission and substation assets. The session emphasized shifting from generic to performance‑based specifications to harden infrastructure and curb unnecessary outages. Speakers Mike...
Cross-Laminated Timber Mats for Jobsite Access
Sterling Solutions introduced TerraLam cross‑laminated timber (CLT) site‑access mats, designed for temporary roadways, crane pads and work platforms. The bolted‑free panels distribute loads evenly, offering strength comparable to traditional 8‑inch timber mats while weighing significantly less. Their lighter weight allows...
Enhancing Distribution Grid Resilience: S&C Electric's Solutions
S&C Electric Company is using the 2026 IEEE PES T&D Exposition to promote its new distribution‑grid resilience theme, "From outage response to grid resilience." The company highlighted the TripSaver FXR Recloser, designed to cut outages and costs on overhead laterals, and...
Unlocking the Grid: How Advanced Conductors and Dynamic Line Rating Boost Capacity Without New Lines
Grid‑enhanced technologies are allowing utilities to boost transmission capacity without building new lines. Advanced conductors with improved coatings and composite cores can deliver up to twice the ampacity of traditional steel‑aluminum conductors. Coupled with fiber‑optic sensing and the latest DLR‑3.0...
Oncor, LCRA TSC File Application to Build 765kV Transmission Line From Schleicher to Bell Counties
Oncor and the Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corporation have submitted a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity to the Public Utility Commission of Texas for a new 765 kV transmission line spanning Schleicher to Bell counties. The line is one...
Inside the IEEE PES T&D Conference and Expo
The 2026 IEEE PES Transmission & Distribution Conference in Chicago will convene over 15,000 engineers, utility leaders, and technology providers to address grid reliability and resilience. Hosted by ComEd, the event features more than 900 exhibitors and four themed exhibit‑floor...
Custom Utility Trailers Enhance City of Lethbridge’s Fleet Efficiency
The City of Lethbridge commissioned two custom FT‑24‑3 utility pole trailers from Felling, facilitated by dealer NCCHD, to replace aging equipment that could not handle long poles or heavy loads. The trailers feature a 27,600 lb GVWR, a telescopic tongue extending...
Why Transformer Explosions Remain a Structural Engineering Problem
Transformer explosions stem from internal electrical arcs that vaporize oil, creating rapid pressure spikes that can rupture the tank within tens of milliseconds. Conventional protection—relays, breakers, and pressure‑relief valves—detect and isolate faults after this dynamic phase, leaving the structural failure...
Transmission Is the Battleground: Eight Plays to Win the Grid Race
The article argues transmission infrastructure is now the primary competitive front in the power and utilities sector. It outlines eight strategic “plays” that firms can adopt, emphasizing speed in permitting, resource pooling, design standardization, information transparency, and innovative tariff and...
NRECA CEO Jim Matheson on the Co-Op Energy Playbook
In a T&D World Live podcast, NRECA CEO Jim Matheson outlined how electric cooperatives are adapting to heightened weather threats, wildfire risks, and a surge in electricity demand driven by data centers and AI. He highlighted the critical role of...
Conrad Fox
Conrad Fox, Principal Engineer at TD World, leads the development of advanced capacity‑expansion and energy‑storage models while designing capacity market mechanisms for a major North‑American ISO. He integrates wind, storage, and demand‑response algorithms into electricity markets and helped establish Integrated...
U.S. Department of Energy Announces $1.9 Billion Funding Opportunity for Grid Infrastructure Upgrades
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity announced a $1.9 billion SPARK funding opportunity to accelerate reconductoring and advanced transmission upgrades across the nation’s power grid. The program aims to expand capacity, boost operational efficiency, and reduce electricity costs for...
Substation Virtualization: Preparing Automation for Future Grids
Utilities are turning to substation virtualization and centralized protection to meet a projected 40 % rise in electricity demand and higher renewable penetration by 2030. By decoupling software from hardware, virtualized substations act like app‑based platforms, enabling faster commissioning and scalable...
PSEG Adds $1.5B to Five-Year Spending Plan
Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) lifted its five‑year regulated capital spending plan by $1.5 billion, targeting $22.5‑$25.5 billion through 2030. The company also raised its adjusted earnings growth outlook to 6‑8% from the prior 5‑7% range. The additional capex is aimed at...
Lessons Learned From Hurricane Helene: How Appalachian Power Safely Scaled Mutual Aid
Hurricane Helene devastated Appalachian Power’s mountainous service area, causing widespread circuit failures and road washouts. The utility relied heavily on pre‑established mutual‑aid agreements to bring in external crews and equipment. By implementing rigorous safety protocols, real‑time communication tools, and staged...
Real-Time Energy Insights: A Smarter Way to Manage Bill Stress and Rising Demand
Utilities are confronting a surge in electricity demand driven by data centers, widespread electrification, and more frequent extreme weather events. To meet this pressure, they are replacing legacy meters with AMI 2.0 smart meters that deliver high‑resolution, real‑time data. A pilot...
AI-Enabled Tool for Enhancing Storm Response and Grid Operations
IFS unveiled Resolve for Utilities, an AI‑enabled field service solution designed to boost storm response, crew coordination, and daily grid operations. Built on IFS's existing FSM platform, the tool incorporates IFS Nexus Black AI to automate crew callouts, enhance mutual‑aid...
Atombeam and Trilliant Announce Partnership to Expand Utility Network Data Capacity
Atombeam and Trilliant have partnered to combine Atombeam’s Neurpac data‑compression software with Trilliant’s AMI communications platform, offering utilities a way to transmit more grid data without new hardware. Neurpac’s “Data‑as‑Codewords” encoding claims up to 75% reduction in data size, effectively...
Small Components, Big Consequences: How Component-Level Insights Reduce Catastrophic Grid Risks
Component-level inspections give utilities granular data to improve hazard modeling, risk forecasting, and targeted mitigation. By focusing on small hardware such as cotter pins, connectors, and splices, utilities can markedly reduce outage risk during wildfires, storms, and other extreme events....
DOE Delivers $26.5 Billion in Loans to Southern Co. For 16 GW in Projects, Including New Nuclear
The U.S. Department of Energy is finalizing a $26.5 billion loan package for Southern Company that will support more than 16 GW of baseload projects, including 5 GW of new gas, 6 GW of nuclear upgrades, battery storage, and over 1,300 miles of transmission. The...