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Power at the Crossroads: Wildfires, Storms, and the Future of Energy Resilience
We start working on our February print issue at the beginning of the year, so in magazine editors’ minds, the month of January already “feels” over before we even reach Jan. 15. It certainly helps our winter blues when we are always a few weeks ahead in our heads. Of course, I drive my family crazy when I have no idea what month we are actually in and tend to already be thinking about the next big thing we have to plan for.
January and February are also those months when we tend to be covering winter storm warnings and outages, and what utilities are doing to monitor icing lines and ensure capacity for high demand. At the time of writing this year, however, we are watching the devastation of wildfires in the Los Angeles area. LADWP and SCE have been directly affected, and SDG&E and PG&E have been doing public safety power shutoffs to avoid high winds damaging equipment and potentially sparking a fire due to such dry conditions.
cover this topic quite a bit in our Charging Ahead department written by Technical Editor Gene Wolf. This month, he explains what AI-powered microgrids are; providing an evaluation of how they work for our industry. I always enjoy Gene’s take on AI; he is a realist and not a fearmonger and is the perfect engineer to share with us how new technologies can help utilities. I used to think AI was scary; Gene had helped dispel those concerns. Great benefits can be had from AI for power delivery systems, and good luck waiting until AI is non-controversial to seriously consider it, as Gene says.
The Eaton Fire led to extensive power outages for SCE; about 414,000 SCE customers were without power on Jan. 7, with an additional 454,000 under a PSPS watch at that time. LADWP also had outages affecting more than 28,000 customers. PG&E stepped in to help; providing mutual assistance: PG&E Safety and Infrastructure Protection Teams cleared brush and treated poles with retardant on the ground. The 25 SIPT engines, comprised of 2-person crews, assisted LADWP with preventing or limiting damage to infrastructure. The crews went from pole to pole to clear vegetation and treat the areas as high as they could.
And as par for the course, lawsuits are being filed, the consumer media is writing click-bait, anti-utility headlines all before investigations are completed. Every time this happens, electric utilities are the center of the story as they work to restore power and rebuild infrastructure and file Electric Safety Incident Reports where possible.
We at T&D World are heartbroken for the victims, and our hearts are with the utilities and how they will be affected by the damage and potential fault. We know utilities have come a long way in wildfire mitigation, and there is still more work to do. We will be once again putting together a special Wildfire section in our May issue, so feel free to contact us to tell your utility’s story — what you have done in the wildfire mitigation area, or even what is in your plans.
AI, Transmission Construction and Policy Updates
Last month, I included the growth of AI in utility operations as one of the top three predictions for trends this year. We will
I am proud of our cover story, as it is core to what T&D World is; it’s a transmission construction feature. We see transmission construction stories regularly appear in our top five to 10 most-visited articles in any given time frame. In this story, Dominion shares the Mt. Storm to Valley line rebuild, which stretched 64.5 miles through some seriously tough, mountainous terrain. The team had to tackle major challenges, like tough access roads, unpredictable weather, and strict environmental and regulatory rules. To get the job done, they built new roads, installed temporary bridges, and even designed custom steel towers to handle the rough conditions. They also went the extra mile to protect local wildlife, like bats and trout, while keeping everything up to the U.S. Forest Service’s high standards. Despite all these hurdles, the project wrapped up on time in December 2023, giving the area a more reliable and durable transmission system.
Policy is another big story for our industry (and every industry) this year with the swearing in of a newish presidential administration. Managing Editor Jeff Postelwait takes a frank look at the potential regulatory changes that may come with a Trump 2.0 administration. Trump’s proposed energy policy for his second term focuses on increasing domestic energy production, reducing regulations, and prioritizing affordability and reliability. Key initiatives include creating a National Energy Council, led by Doug Burgum, to streamline energy policy and encourage private investment. Trump’s energy team, including Chris Wright at the Department of Energy and Lee Zeldin at the EPA, emphasizes fossil fuel development, baseload power generation, and skepticism toward renewable energy mandates. It remains to be seen whether he will reverse many of Biden’s clean energy policies, possibly shifting focus toward resource extraction, carbon capture technology, and deregulation to achieve “energy dominance” and drive economic growth.
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We’re A Wingtip Away From An Outage
Power outages are always big news, but I was a little surprised to see stories involving animalcaused outages lately. It seems our furry/feathered friends are responsible for a lot of power outages that not only damages expensive equipment, but kills the animal. Birds have the distinction of being the top contender for animal-caused outages, with one researcher estimating that birds could be responsible for up to 25% of power outages.
In addition to the customer’s issues associated with an unscheduled power outage, there are the costs related with repairing or replacing damaged equipment, but it doesn’t end there. Another report focused on the variety of regulatory fines and penalties associated with animal related outages that utilities can be facing. What’s more, if the animals involved were an endangered species, the fines increased substantially and included enforceable animal protection initiatives.
As I continued reading these papers and reports, it brought back a lot of memories for this ex-substation engineer. I learned early in my career that critter impact was an important consideration when it came to designing and building power grid facilities. Over the years, I have dealt with a variety of wildlife, and more than a few have been memorable encounters. One of the strangest, however, was an infestation of snakes and scorpions at one of my substation projects.
Protecting the Critters and Equipment
used on all the openings in the control building and trench system.
Wildlife mitigation doesn’t need to be complicated. After personnel safety, there are two main categories when it comes to wildlife induced outages according to the experts. Those are bridging (i.e. phase-to-ground and phase-to-phase) and guano (i.e., insulation breakdown) pollution. Of these, the bridging grouping is most prevalent, and it occurs more frequently in medium and low voltage substations and overhead lines. Wildlife outage mitigation technologies have been steadily advancing.
Barriers have also improved. Hardware covers are using advanced polymeric materials to insulate conductors, bushings, bus work, and structural components in substations and on overhead lines. Equipment suppliers like Hubbell, TE Connectivity, Wesco, and others offer a wide variety of insulation for energized metalwork. Pre-molded covers and extruded polymer sheets for customed applications have proven effective along with understanding of animal behavior for better applications.
It happened at an elderly substation I had been assigned to modernize. I was told to meet the crew at the station, but to stay in my truck because this particular substation had a unique critter problem. That got my attention. The first work crew arrived, and explained there were snakes and scorpions inside the yard cable trench system and the control building due mostly to nightly temperature drops. They had a procedure in place that kept the humans and animals apart.
Upon arrival, the covers were removed from the concrete trenches. Once the covers were removed, the control building’s doors and pullbox lids were slammed many times. Then it was time for a coffee break, which gave the critters time to exit the building and trench system. This situation wasn’t considered a big deal because the creatures hadn’t caused any outages or harmed anyone. It would, however, be nice to make it safer for the humans. The fix was simple, high-density spray foam was
High-Tech Protection
In addition, there’s a wide array of high-tech devices that have also found their way into the battle of preventing flash-overs caused by animals. Ultrasonic devices emit noise above human hearing that scares small animals like mice, squirrels, and rats, which are food for predators. The high-pitched noise discourages them from living in or around the substation and its equipment. Since it’s inaudible to humans, there are no complaints from customers living close to the substation.
Another high-tech control method comes from BirdBuffer. They have developed a system using methyl anthranilate (MA) vapor barriers, which are invisible. MA is a naturally occurring plant-based compound found from grape skins, so it smells good to humans, but birds don’t like it. The MA vapor system temporarily irritates the birds in the substation and encourages them to move out of the facility without harming them.
Improving the power delivery system’s robustness and resilience is a major driving force when it comes to grid modernization, and protecting wildlife and power grid facilities is a key element. Studies reveal that roughly 90% of power outages occur on the distribution system, so reducing critter-caused outages is paramount. Wildlife can’t be kept out, but they can be protected!
Ready For AI-Driven Microgrids?
Small-scale solar installations combined with cutting-edge technologies are reshaping the power delivery system.
Would you be surprised to learn that there are about 55 gigawatts of solar generation behind-the-meter (BTM) in the United States? That’s one heck of a lot of solar generation to be BTM, but there’s more to the story. The figure came from a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) study found on the EIA’s website. It makes for some very interesting reading, starting with the statement that over one-third of the U.S. solar power capacity comes from the small-scale solar category. In case you’re wondering, small-scale solar is defined as being less than one megawatt in capacity.
Residential small-scale solar systems typically are installed on rooftops. Commercial and industrial systems can be found on both rooftops and/or ground locations because they tend to have larger capacities than homeowners need. The EIA report started off saying the installed small-scale was 44 gigawatts in 2023. It continued saying that when the 2024 figures were available, EIA estimated that the installed capacity would grow to roughly 55 gigawatts. The final figures for 2024 aren’t available yet, but the third quarter looked good.
The Behind-the-Meter-Challenge
According to EIA, in 2023, residential customers made up 67% of the small-scale solar capacity. The commercial segment accounted for 27%, and the industrial sector was 6%. If the 44 gigawatt figure was used, the residential sector’s small-scale solar capacity was about 29.5 gigawatts. That figure jumps to 36.9 gigawatts if the 2024 estimate is correct and it’s probably close given all the BTM solar activity reported as 2024 ended. When
we’re kicking around double-digit gigawatt figures, it probably doesn’t matter. What does matter is it’s getting attention!
When the experts gather, it’s being discussed and a question crops up. What if all of this BTM solar generation was available to improve the distribution network? That may sound like a challenge, but is it? Some of this small-scale solar has already been combined. It’s being sold to utilities by these aggregators using traditional methods despite their limitations. Of course, that begs another question. What impact would integrating a dynamic technology like advanced artificial intelligence (AI) into conventional microgrids have?
Well, that’s a trending topic making the rounds at smart grid gatherings worldwide. It touches so many elements of grid modernization like decentralization and decarbonization for example. Standard microgrids excel with small and localized energy systems, but they need help when it comes to merging and managing thousands if not tens of thousands of these small-scale solar installations simultaneously. For that matter, other distributed energy resources (DERs) must be included too, and this is where it really gets interesting.
Microgrid and Management
Have you heard of AI-powered microgrids, AI-driven microgrids, and AI-enhanced microgrids? These are three that come up continuously in web searches. The terms are being used interchangeably, but they really should not. There are differences, but that tends to be overlooked. Basically, AI-enhanced implies AI is a minor upgrade used to expand a system. AI-powered
takes it a step further with AI being a key component of a system. The last one, AI-driven uses AI as the predominant force behind the system’s functionality.
When dealing with gigawatts of small-scale solar and a variety of DERs, AI-driven microgrids is the technology of choice. This application is needed for microgrid technology handling multiple DERs efficiently. By definition, an AI-driven microgrid is a “decision-making engine.” It controls the majority of the system’s activities and operations in real-time. Actually with an AI-driven microgrid, it’s about the management control system, which differs extensively from legacy microgrids.
Keeping it simple, traditional microgrids struggled managing the massive amounts of data coming at them 24/7. In today’s big-data environment that is not a good characteristic. When the data is coming from an assortment of multiple DERs it’s critical for the microgrid to blend the data and respond as a single entity. That’s why AI-driven microgrids are trending; they are designed for this type of activity. Their management systems look at the data from DERs making up the microgrid and beyond to include every database interacting with the microgrid.
These include a variety of real-time databases like market prices, energy consumption, power grid conditions, environmental conditions like weather conditions. An AI-driven microgrid management system sorts through all of this real-time data and predicts energy demands, recognize system vulnerabilities, and restore the system quickly during outages and they do it autonomously. If there are areas missing in the massive big-data being supplied, the AI technology can extrapolate the data it has and fill in the blanks. These abilities make this breed of microgrid more responsive when it comes to deciding when it’s time to generate, store, or sell electricity.
AI’s Impact on the What-Ifs
There have been numerous studies published about the benefits of AI on the power delivery system and microgrids. They all point out AI technology provides higher reliability, better flexibility, improved power quality and superior responsiveness, but there are other paybacks that are hard to quantify. The statistics vary depending on the parameters of studies and what procedures were followed. Given the complexity of the subject and the wide diversity of the studies being compared, it might help reduce confusion by comparing ranges rather than numerical results.
Several groups reported that AI-driven microgrid management systems can substantially reduce energy consumption between 10% to 20%. There were also reports saying that AIdriven energy demand techniques can reduce energy waste by 15% to 20%. Another cluster said AI-driven smart grids can reduce energy distribution losses by up to 30%, but it’s improving energy utilization that fits this discussion. All of these AIdriven microgrids provide characteristics that offer a number of solutions to the “what-ifs” popping up whenever regulators, utilities, and grid operators meet.
The what-ifs are those simple questions that pop up when the evaluation process starts. It’s a progression we go through when making assessments, like what if a number of homeowners wanted to combine their respective rooftop solar panels to get a
better price for selling their excess power? Or, what if a battery energy storage system is added? How about, what if they wanted to turn all these DERs into a community microgrid? What if electric vehicles were added to these microgrids?
Rapidly Changing Landscape
Suddenly the variety of options make a simple concept a lot more tricky, which is another reason interest in AI-driven microgrids is growing. Integrating the diversity of clean energy DERs into microgrid systems are a key element for a reliable energy supply. There is still a great deal of debate going on about the pros and cons of using AI-driven microgrids, but AI usage is rapidly expanding. It does present cybersecurity issues along with its autonomous decision making abilities. There are also some who would wait until AI is a noncontroversial technology — lots of luck with that.
When rooftop solar first came on the scene, there were similar discussions about embracing that technology, but the customer wasn’t listening. They made a massive commitment to solar, and they have added energy storage systems too. A few decades later we have 55 GW of small-scale solar BTM that are ready for aggregators to power up an array of AI-driven microgrid systems. Taking it a step further, consider AI-driven microgrids managing a variety of the multiple DERs that have been discussed. What would be the potential benefits of melding these AI-driven microgrids and using them as a virtual power plant (VPP)?
This would be challenging with traditional microgrids, but not these AI-driven microgrids. Combined with advanced communication technologies and sophisticated cloud computing, AI-driven microgrids advance the VPP concept. We’ve talked about non-wire technologies being a solution to an aging and congested transmission system. AI-driven microgrid powered VPPs would be like a grid enhancing technology on steroids. It’s not that there aren’t VPP projects operating, but we need more of them and AI-driven microgrids would certainly take us to the next level.
A recent press release from Con Edison said its customers were continuing to invest in clean energy. As a result, those customers produced 647 MW of solar energy capacity from more than 72,500 solar installations last summer. They pointed out that represents “five times more energy than needed to power Times Square.” Con Edison said it “helped reduce energy peaks, impacts to the environment, and costs.” Imagine the AI-driven microgrid fueled VPP these 72,500 installations could bring about.
There are so many potential applications for AI-driven microgrids and VPPs are only one of them. What about taking advantage of the AI-driven microgrid’s to look beyond current conditions and identify a pending outage? Critical loads would be islanded and served via the microgrid without any human intervention. In a power grid striving to improve reliability and resilience, grid enhancing technologies like AI are needed, but understanding how they work is paramount. Equally important is understanding what they cannot do, but that keeps us involved and learning!
USDA Announces Awards for More Than $4.37 Billion in Clean Energy Investments
The United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack has announced awards for more than $4.37 billion in clean energy investments through the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program.
New ERA program is a result of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the program funding is available to memberowned rural electric cooperatives. Rural electric cooperatives will use the funding to support jobs, lower electricity costs for businesses and families and reduce climate pollution each year.
Andy Berke, Rural Utilities Service Administrator, highlighted the new investments at the Ramsey, Minnesota, headquarters of Connexus Energy. Connexus will use nearly $170 million in New ERA grant funding to procure over 282 MW of renewable hydro, solar and wind energy.
The cooperative will also purchase 20 MW of battery energy storage. The projects will minimize costs for its members in rural Minnesota, support nearly 400 jobs and reduce climate pollution by more than 1.1 million tons each year.
USDA is awarding $4.37 billion in loans and grants to cooperatives based in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Texas. The investments will support about 5,000 jobs and reduce climate pollution by over 11 million tons each year. For example:
• CORE Electric Cooperative will use a $225 million investment to procure 550 MW of wind and solar energy, and 100 MW of
lines and upgrades to existing transmission assets in approximately 20 rural communities across Georgia.
• Nebraska Electric G&T will use a $200 million investment to procure 725 MW of wind and solar energy in Butler, Burt and Custer counties.
• Oglethorpe Power Corporation will use a $331.5 million investment to refinance outstanding loans for the retired Hal B. Wansley coal plant.
• San Miguel Electric Cooperative will use a more than $1.4 billion investment to procure 600 MW of clean, renewable energy through solar voltaic panels and a battery energy storage system to power 47 counties across rural South Texas.
• Seminole Electric Cooperative will use a more than $1.3 billion investment to procure 700 MW of energy resources through a combination of utility-scale solar and battery energy storage projects across rural portions of Florida.
• Trico Electric Cooperative will use a more than $43 million investment to procure 80 MW of solar energy and 80 MW of battery energy storage in rural Arizona.
• United Power will use a nearly $262 million investment to offset the cost of its transition to a clean energy portfolio that will provide more than 760 MW of renewable energy resources in rural Colorado.
• Yampa Valley Electric Association will use a nearly $50 million investment to procure up to 150 MW of solar energy and 75 MW of battery energy storage for northwestern Colorado and southwestern Wyoming.
USDA has also selected six other cooperatives to move forward in the process to receive New ERA funding. These include:
• Grand Valley Rural Power Lines, Mountain Parks Electric and San Miguel Power Association in Colorado,
• 1803 Electric Cooperative in Louisiana,
• Pacific Northwest Generation Cooperative in Oregon, and
• Inland Power and Light Company in Washington and Idaho.
USDA has awarded funding to 15 cooperatives as part of the New ERA program to benefit rural electric cooperatives and their members. The funding represents almost $9 billion in New ERAfinanced grants and loans.
The projects will support good-paying jobs, lower energy costs for rural Americans, reduce pollution and enhance the resiliency of the nation’s electric grid. One in five rural Americans will benefit from the clean energy investments. USDA expects to make additional New ERA award announcements in the future.
MISO Approves Historic $30B Transmission Project Portfolio to Transform Energy Grid Across 15 States
The MISO Board of Directors has given the green light to the largest portfolio of transmission projects in U.S. history. The 488 projects cover more than 5,000 miles across 15 states—an unprecedented move to enhance reliability and support growth in the energy grid.
Here’s what’s in the works:
• Local Reliability Projects: These 459 projects span 932 miles across all 15 states in the MISO region. With a $6.7 billion investment, they aim to strengthen infrastructure.
• Long Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) Tranche 2.1: This portfolio includes 24 regional projects covering 3,631 miles in states like Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota. It features a robust 765kV backbone and represents a $21.8 billion investment with a
potential $72 billion in benefits.
• Joint Targeted Interconnection Queue (JTIQ): Five projects across states like Iowa and North Dakota will enable 28 GW of new generation. The $1.6 billion effort focuses on improving connections at the MISO/Southwest Power Pool (SPP) boundary.
“This was a massive team effort,” said
John Bear, MISO’s CEO. “We worked closely with stakeholders, neighboring grid operators, and our own staff to make this happen. The energy world is evolving fast, and we need to act now to secure reliability for today and tomorrow.”
Aubrey Johnson, MISO’s VP of System and Resource Planning said, “The JTIQ and LRTP Tranche 2.1 portfolios are truly game-changers. They lay the groundwork for the future grid while addressing today’s needs.”
MISO held more than 300 meetings with stakeholders to create a balanced and beneficial strategy. This effort is part of the Reliability Imperative, a shared commitment to tackle the challenges posed by changing generation sources, extreme weather, and a rapidly shifting energy landscape.
Southern Company and Ford Pro Partner on Pilot Program
Southern Company has partnered with Ford Pro on a 6-month pilot to explore and expand the role of electric vehicles (EVs) within fleet operations.
The pilot aims to incorporate the expertise of both companies to address barriers in EV adoption, demonstrate the transformative potential of EV fleets in supporting the resilience of the electric grid for both customers and company operations.
The pilot will involve more than 200 F-150 Lightning trucks within the Southern Company system’s fleet of company vehicles. The pilot will not only employ pricing signals and demand response to evaluate efficient charging within a fleet environment but also utilize established charging depots and more than 150 chargers with Ford Pro charging software.
By integrating Ford Pro’s VG1 charging software into the Southern Company system’s fleet vehicles, the companies will test the role of dynamic rates and demand response capabilities to balance energy loads and create more resilient grid operations. This approach will allow Southern Company and Ford Pro
to leverage insights from program data and user feedback to develop a roadmap for creating a flexible and scalable model helping fleets to adopt EVs with efficient energy and load management, informs future fleet EV charging programs, and addresses key barriers to EV adoption.
Southern Company and its subsidiaries will be able to support commercial and industrial customers by understanding fleet charging behavior, as they transition their own fleets to EVs.
Additionally, the pilot will explore the use of software to automate charging schedules enabling customers to charge at times that minimize their electricity costs and reduce strain on the electric grid.
The partnership not only supports immediate requirements for fleet and grid performance but also leads the way for nextgeneration EV fleet programs to enhance value to customers and energy system. Southern Company is exploring one of the clean transportation solutions for environmentally responsible fleet transition, through the collaboration.
Southern Company
A view back down Mt. Storm. The 5C lattice steel towers were built to withstand the region’s intense weather conditions.
Photo by Matthew Vinson, Dominion Energy.
Dominion Powers Through Tough Terrain
The utility overcame numerous challenges while rebuilding its Mt. Storm to Valley line in extreme mountainous terrain.
By BOBBY CAPEHART and MATTHEW VINSON, Dominion Energy Inc.
The Mt. Storm to Valley line 550 acts as an energy superhighway, traversing across two states and serving as a critical feed to Dominion Energy Inc.’s entire service territ2ory. Part of the original 500-kV electric transmission loop built in North America — spanning from West Virginia, to Maryland and back to Virginia — the line was first built in 1965 with weathering steel guyed towers. The line needed to be replaced due to age and corrosion.
The rebuild project faced significant challenges, including difficult mountainous terrain, changing regulations and complex engineering solutions, all of which were successfully addressed to ensure the line’s reliability and performance for the future.
Paving the Way
The construction methods used to access and rebuild the Mt. Storm to Valley line required in-depth analysis and consideration. This project was highly complex because of its location. Access was difficult due to extreme mountainous terrain, limited roads and multiple stream crossings. In addition, the length of the project — 64.5 line miles (103.8 km) and over 115 road miles (185.1 km) — made accessing the right-of-way a logistical challenge. Getting equipment, concrete and materials to the construction sites was often a precarious and slow process due to the tight circuitous forest roads.
An existing old guyed pylon on the Mt. Storm to Valley 550 kV Line.
Photo by Matthew Vinson, Dominion Energy
A fissure found while drilling foundation. Photo by Jim Barry, Dominion Energy.
(Top) A low-water crossing with anchor chains. Photo by Nathan Carmichael, Dominion Energy. (Bottom) A large crane on a temporary bridge. Photo by Jim Barry, Dominion Energy.
For example, phase 3 of the project was located on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land. This phase contained 58.4 miles (94 km) of roads to access 20 miles (32.2 km) of transmission lines. Traveling throughout the project area took an incredible amount of time. Often, several miles of access roads would need to be traveled between structures, with only one ingress and egress, this made road building incredibly complicated. Crews excavated 511,000 cu yards (390,688 cu m) of native material out of the area and installed 561,000 tons of stone to construct stable, compacted roads and work pads.
The sheer amount of earth that had to be moved culminated in tens of thousands of trips up and down narrow mountain roads creating vehicle congestion. The drive time from one structure to another could be over 45 minutes, and the time back to the material yard could be 2 hours. Several roads were barely wide enough for one truck, making it impossible to have multiple trucks traveling toward each other from opposite directions. To prevent accidents or trucks meeting on the one-way roads, the project team quickly recognized the need to organize these trips and create a communication plan. To mitigate this, crew leaders installed mile-marker signage and created a communication process on a dedicated radio channel to coordinate the flow of construction traffic.
Engineering Complexities
The road building crews had a steep challenge to construct roads to each line structure as well as cut drilling pads, crane pads
A temporary three-pole guyed structure. Photo by Matthew Vinson, Dominion Energy.
and pull pads into mountain sides — all while staying within the permitted limits of disturbance. For example, a tensioner pad was approximately 100 ft wide by 200 ft long (30.5 m by 61 m) and had to be graded within 1% or 2% of being level. This level surface was necessary to operate the large tensioner equipment safely as well as to have enough space to line up 18 reels of conductor and four reels of fiber.
The forest roads on USFS property that Dominion Energy used in phase 3 were overgrown and in poor shape. Many roads were extremely narrow and barely traversable in a pickup truck due to several decades of neglect. The Mt. Storm project rebuilt these roads to a minimum of 14 ft (4.3 m) wide. Several portions were built much wider to accommodate 240-ton, multi-axle cranes and tractor trailer traffic, which required a turning radius of 55 degrees.
For phases 1, 2A and 3, Dominion Energy installed a total 115 miles (185 km) of road, moved over half a million yards of material, imported over half a million tons of stone, and installed 73 miles (117.5 km) of erosion and sediment controls (for example, silt fence and silt sock) as well as approximately 1.2 miles (1.9 km) of culvert pipe. The utility also installed two permanent bridges on private land, one of which was over 200’ long over the south fork of the Potomac River. Dominion Energy evaluated the existing 75-year-old low water bridge crossing and determined it was not adequate for heavy equipment requiring the solution of a new bridge. To allow construction traffic to cross existing fords, we installed 15 temporary low water crossings on USFS property. These temporary bridges had to be specifically designed to meet the
USFS’s stringent low water crossing criteria, an effort that took two years to get approved by the Forest Service.
Mt. Storm’s elevation posed ongoing challenges. During winter, severe weather — snow, ice, high winds and fog — limited construction activities near the substation. After roads and work pads were cut into the mountain slopes, another difficulty arose in constructing the towers, as there were few flat areas for staging and erecting the lattice members. As a result, most towers had to be assembled in much smaller segments and assembled in the air due to the lack of flat ground.
Environmental Mitigation
From an environmental standpoint, Dominion Energy had to evaluate more than 200 different animal species to determine whether their habitats would be impacted by the Mt. Storm to Valley line project. After extensive studies, the utility identified four species — the Cow Knob salamander, long-eared bat, wood turtle and brook trout — as potentially affected. With significant time and effort, the habitats of these species were carefully mitigated to prevent any harm. There was not a single month of the year that was not encumbered by some time of year work restriction.
Additionally, during the project, a bat cave was discovered within a right-of-way corridor. To ensure its protection, experts were brought in to monitor the cave and identify the species of bats residing there. Ground-penetrating radar was also used to determine the full size and location of the cave and ensure foundation installation would not compromise the habitat.
Changing Regulations
Gaining access to the structure sites was a constant challenge. The mountainous terrain in phases 1, 2A and 3 was especially challenging for roadbuilding in the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and USFS portions of the project due to changing regulations. When revisions were made to the West Virginia construction general permit (CGP) in 2019, Dominion Energy had to totally revise its road plans in the state to be completely engineered with plan and profile (overhead and side) views, and
The line crew erects a pylon/tower on a mountainside. Photo by Matthew Vinson, Dominion Energy.
cross-sections had to be included every 100 ft (30.5 m). The level of detail required was like that of a highway project.
Additionally, the USFS enacted stringent standards for land disturbances and required all earthwork, including temporary work, to be placed in fully engineered plans and submitted for review. This made any necessary field revisions nearly impossible to implement in a timely fashion.
Park Communication
Public notification was another aspect of the Mt. Storm to Valley line project that required in-depth planning. The project had the potential to impact George Washington National Forest visitors. Partnering with USFS, Dominion Energy developed an app to keep park visitors informed on construction and road statuses. The site showed open roads with no construction, roads closed due to construction and available detours. Dominion Energy promoted the app in local newspapers and ran digital ads on social media platforms. This comprehensive communication approach benefited park visitors by minimizing disruptions during active transmission line construction.
Innovative Tower Design
The Mt. Storm to Valley rebuild called for the replacement of over 260 structures
in challenging, remote terrain, requiring the extensive road building plans mentioned above. Three-quarters of the towers needed custom-designed leg extensions to ensure the foundations were within acceptable ranges. For example, structure 550/131 had the largest elevation change across a single tower, with a 30-ft (9.1-m) difference between its first and third legs.
The project required the creation of a new family of towers, specifically designed to replace the existing guyed structures with self-supporting galvanized steel towers. The 5C lattice steel towers were built to withstand the region’s intense weather conditions. The 5C towers, designed by Dominion Energy’s standards department, featured a larger central window to improve climbing clearance for line workers. With half of the line’s elevation over 2000 ft (610 m) — and some sections even reaching 3000 ft (914 m) — the towers were designed to meet extreme ice design criteria of 2-inch (50.8-mm) thick wires and towers.
Galvanized steel was selected to prolong the lifespan of
the structures. Thicker steel members and a large box footprint were used to create stout, self-supporting towers, minimizing maintenance needs and increasing resilience to any cascading line events.
The new 5C light tangent (5CLT) and 5C heavy tangent (5CHT) towers accounted for 80% of the new structures. For towers with large foundation reveals on side slopes, 2.5-ft (0.76-m) leg extensions were used. The 5C extra-heavy tangent (5CXHT) suspension V-strings were made from bundle 66k glass insulator bells to reliably handle over 3000-ft (914-m) weight spans, as they could very likely get covered in over 1 inch (25.4 mm) of ice.
Custom fiber deadend and suspension assemblies were created for the mega spans by using yoke plates and insulators in parallel. The fiber itself was a dual-layered Alumoweld with 36 fibers in the core and a maximum tension design of 47,155 lb (21,389 kg). The new conductors and shield wires were designed to handle more extreme weather events, higher electrical loads and improved ground clearances. These updates met current industry standards for reliability and performance in the region’s harsh weather conditions.
Making Modifications
In one area where a mountain slope made it impossible to construct a traditional wire
Rigging wire for a midspan splice. Photo by Matthew Vinson, Dominion Energy.
New self-supporting deadend tower beside graded tension pad. Photo by Bobby Capehart, Dominion Energy.
pull pad at a deadend tower, construction crews adapted their approach. They used Kellems grips to pull two reels of wire together, stopping the wire grips precisely on an intermediate deadend tower. This approach enabled the utility to avoid having to install an extra splice in the line. Crews worked with vigilant care to successfully pull two reels, totaling approximately 18,000 ft (5486 m) of triple-bundle 1351 ACSS/TW/HS-285 Martin wire across the mountains.
Additionally, permitting delays required modifications to the original line design. Double deadend towers were added or swapped to ensure stopping points were located outside the forest at both ends of phase 3. At another one of these new stopping points was installed (see photo on page 4) a directembed guyed three-pole double deadend structure. At each transition point, from the new triple-bundle wire to the existing two-bundle wire, a trifurcator-to-bifurcator connection was used in the jumper loops.
The project also faced significant elevation changes that impacted wire tension during installation. To address these challenges, offset clipping was frequently required to equalize tension in the wire pulls. Phase 2 was the only phase that did not require calculating offset clipping reports. Careful coordination between engineering and field crews was essential to have the data for the temperature range in time for the wire sagging operations. Values from the charts were also used to verify the sag in the blocks before applying the offsets.
Project Success
Despite the shear number of challenges, Dominion Energy’s project team and crews successfully completed the Mt. Storm to Valley rebuild by the scheduled energized date of December 2023. The project was a remarkable achievement in engineering, roadbuilding, permitting and construction. It stands as a testament to the creativity, perseverance and commitment to quality displayed by the entire team.
With this rebuild, Dominion Energy fully utilized the existing right-of-way, kept structures in the same general location as the existing structures, addressed long-term reliability needs and improved durability without requiring excessive maintenance.
BOBBY CAPEHART is a Superintendent in the Electric Transmission Construction Group at Dominion Energy Virginia. He is responsible for road building, and other civil construction related activities necessary to support Transmission Line construction projects. Additionally, his group is responsible for maintaining environmental compliance with all associated project permits. Bobby has been with Dominion since 2011 in various roles.
MATTHEW VINSON is a Consulting Engineer at Dominion Energy Virginia. He has been designing Transmission Lines for 12 years and has been involved in many complicated line projects over the years from 115 kV temporary lines up to several 500 kV rebuilds. He recently completed his largest 500 KV rebuild and is now focused on greenfield 500 kV lines in the data center region of Virginia, as well as mentoring new engineers.
Con Edison Charges Forward on Infrastructure
The utility follows best practices to build out its vehicle charging infrastructure, with a goal of having about 2000 charging stations across all its properties by 2030.
By SEAN UMLAND, Consolidated Edison Inc., and JOE CAYWOOD, Terex Utilities
As the largest energy provider in New York state, Consolidated Edison Inc. has committed to supporting the clean energy transition in numerous ways — including taking steps to fully electrify its fleet vehicles. The utility serves 10 million people who live in
New York City as well as Orange, Rockland and Westchester Counties.
“Our goal is to electrify our fleet of light-duty vehicles by 2035 with an interim target of 80% by 2030,” said Fortunato Gulino, chief automotive engineer at Consolidated Edison (Con Edison).
“Going forward, 100% of our light-duty fleets will be electrified vehicles.”
Con Edison has taken some big steps toward its electrification goals already. The utility was an early adopter of the industry’s first all-electric bucket truck when it purchased a zero-emissions 55-ft (17-m) aerial device from Terex Utilities in 2022. Con Edison’s fleet also consists of electric and hybrid light-duty vehicles, including a Chevy Bolt EV and EUV, Chevy Blazer and Silverado EV, Ford Lightning and Ford Mustang Mach-E. The utility also has deployed plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) like the Toyota Prius and RAV 4 Prime, Kia Sportage and Dodge Hornet R/T. The Freightliner eCascadia was the latest addition to Con Edison’s fleet in 2024.
As its fleet becomes more electrified, access to charging stations has become imperative. “In addition to our service area, we also support neighboring utilities with mutual aid and other nonemergency projects. Charging access for our fleet was identified as a definite need,” Gulino explained.
Con Edison has more than 20 properties throughout its service area in New York, with 165 charging stations and 205 charging plugs. The utility expects to grow this to more than 300 charging plugs by the end of 2025. By 2030, its goal is to have approximately 2000 charging stations across all its properties. With such an aggressive target, the utility has learned several best practices along the way that are helping it to meet this goal.
Calculated Planning
Because of its vast footprint and huge undertaking ahead, Con Edison began a deliberate planning process that involved
Terex EV bucket truck combines the Terex HyPower SmartPTO by Viatec with the International eMV Series battery-electric vehicle (BEV), containing a 33,000-GVW chassis with a Terex Optima 55-ft aerial device. Photos courtesy of Con Edison.
constant communication among departments and engaging with employees upfront to understand charging needs and preferences. “Toward the beginning of our planning process, we started by defining our end goal and worked backwards from there,” said Shannon Solomon, electric vehicle strategic initiative specialist at Con Edison.
“A part of this was identifying the fleet and equipment we have at each site and defining what the future was going to look like,” Solomon explained. “That way we have an initial understanding of the charger quantities that will be needed at each location. We also worked on our charging infrastructure plan from a future proofing standpoint. We want the infrastructure to have ample capacity to allow for future charging stations to be installed.”
Con Edison also planned for predominately Level 2 charging stations in addition to some direct-current (dc) fast charging stations at each major workout location. With the utility’s fleet typically living at a specific location, it made sense to have most of the charging infrastructure as Level 2. That way, the EVs could charge overnight but also have the ability to dc fast charge when needed.
challenges that arose along the way. “We found that it can be quite a lengthy process to install electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE),” said Gulino.
The process involves working with engineering to lay out the design plans. All the needed electrical equipment needs to be ordered and the installation plan needs to be developed, which includes tying everything in and activating the charging stations.
“When it comes time for the physical construction, you need to make sure you have the proper permits in place or that could cause significant delays,” Gulino added.
If a utility is in a more metropolitan area, like New York City, permits may be required. Also consider the actual site and whether other permits may be needed,
“We also found that it’s important to standardize all of your electrical equipment and components — and how you design each facility,” Solomon added. “This helps with maintenance and the replacement of parts.”
Utilities should also identify what they want from the charging infrastructure: Is it just to charge the EVs or to also collect data? If collecting and reporting on data is a goal, its best to start with a charging manufacturer with good software.
As the process moved forward, it became apparent how important it was to have well-thought-out plans due to
such as with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Con Edison also dealt with delays because of long lead times on electrical components, such as switchgear, transformers and panel boards, due to supply chain constraints. “That’s why it’s very important to plan further out in advance and order equipment ahead of time, so delays aren’t as significant,” Solomon said.
Thorough Site Assessments
A thorough site assessment with a certified electrician should be conducted at each location to determine electrical capacity and potential upgrade needs. “The main
Con Edison’s fleet also consists of electric and hybrid light-duty vehicles, including Ford Lightning and Ford Mustang Mach-E.
part of this assessment is the load analysis, which determined how much load we were going to need at that facility to support the charging stations. After that, we looked at our existing load and identified what
Freightliner eCascadia was the latest addition to Con Edison’s fleet in 2024.
we needed to do to support future charging infrastructure,” Solomon recalled.
An assessment of the physical layout of each property was also conducted. Utilities should put chargers in areas that make the most sense, logistically speaking.
“For example, we recommend that utilities place dc fast chargers in a more wide-open area and set them up like a fuel station, so that larger trucks have the ability to
charge there with no issue,” said Solomon. “Utilities should also take into consideration the fast-charging cable length, as the dc fast chargers tend to have thicker, shorter cables.”
“We also found that it’s important to plan for charging locations that balance convenience with cost-effective installation,” Solomon explained.
Placing charging stations close to the service point of entry can decrease the amount of cable trenching and conduit links. The planned location should also take into account how operators will access the charger with their EV based on charging port locations.
“Our intent was to plan the install in the most cost-effective, logical and rational way when it came to the construction,” Solomon added.
Future Factors
As Con Edison continues forward with expanding its EV fleet and adding charging infrastructure, it looks at the scalability and capacity of each location.
It is installing charging infrastructure with extra capacity to accommodate future growth and expansion. “If down the road we realize we need additional charging stations at a location, it will be purely installation and then connecting the station to the existing power supply,” Solomon noted.
Con Edison also considers the size of the vehicle and battery. “We want to make sure we install the correct chargers. We’re installing for higher-capacity level 2 chargers. Many in the industry uses 7.6 kW, but we’re installing 80-A, 19.2-kW chargers. This isn’t necessarily for the vehicles today but for the vehicles of the future,” Solomon explained. “Battery technology is ever changing, and manufacturers are shipping vehicles with bigger and bigger batteries.”
Another factor Con Edison keeps in mind is flexibility. The utility uses modular-type charging systems that can be easily upgraded or replaced as technology advances. The stations come configurable with either one or two charging plugs, based on the need. When constructed, the major components are kept separate from each other. That way, for example, if one plug gets damaged, it can be replaced without having to rip out the whole charging station and start over. In addition, if the electric industry shifts toward one type of plug, Con Edison’s modular design will enable it to swap out existing plugs.
Another important component to Con Edison’s charging station plans is using equipment with smart charging capabilities that have comprehensive charging management software. The telematics from this solution provides information and insights into energy usage, efficiency and charging optimization. “We can gather data on charging station use, including the number of charging sessions, length of each session and energy used per session,” Solomon shared. “We can also determine when most people are plugging in and how long people stay on the charger after they have completed charging.”
This enables Con Edison to optimize the charging station use, so it can get the most efficient use out of them. This includes continual employee communication and training as the telematics data comes in.
“Finally, we continue to follow industry
trends and standards and diversifying our EVSE to ensure our infrastructure remains compatible with emerging technologies,” said Solomon.
SEAN UMLAND (umlandse@coned.com) is manager of the electric vehicle strategic initiative at Con Edison. With over 12 years of expertise in fleet operations, Umland oversees the design, planning and installation of EV charging infrastructure for both Con Edison and
Orange & Rockland Utility. He drives initiatives that align with the company’s clean energy goals for a more sustainable future.
JOE CAYWOOD ( joe.caywood@terex.com) is director of commercial operations at Terex Utilities. He currently leads marketing, product management, sales operations, technical support and warranties. Caywood has been with Terex for more than 22 years and served in a variety of leadership roles at both Terex Utilities and Genie.
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Trump’s Energy Playbook 2.0
One goal mentioned was increasing baseload power generation to help reduce electric bills for individuals and businesses as well as prevent blackouts and brownouts.
By JEFF POSTELWAIT, Managing Editor
At the time of this writing, Donald Trump is still president-elect, but there have already been a flurry of announcements coming out of the president’s social media accounts and his team that give some indications as to what his plans are for the energy sector. For electricity, it sounds like the administration’s emphasis will be on producing more affordable and reliable power.
As many incoming presidential transition teams do, Trump said he plans to reshuffle the way the White House and federal agencies approach energy with a new council. President Biden’s administration, for example, created the National Climate Task Force, among other things.
Nov. 15, Trump posted to Truth Social, a social media outlet owned in part by Trump, that his second administration would form a National Energy Council, consisting of all agencies and departments that deal with energy production, generation, distribution, regulation, etc.
Trump’s pick to lead the Department of the Interior, North Dakota Gov. Doug
Burgum, will lead the council. Burgum formerly advised the second Trump campaign on energy policy. Goals of the council will be “cutting red tape,” encouraging private sector investment in the energy sector and focusing on innovation, Trump wrote.
In the same announcement, Trump wrote that Burgum would help usher in a new age of American peace and prosperity through domestic resource extraction. Another goal mentioned was increasing baseload power generation to help reduce electric bills for individuals and businesses as well as prevent blackouts and brownouts.
Other likely members of the National Energy Council could be Fox Business personality and former U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, Trump’s pick for the Department of Transportation; Republican fundraiser and businessman Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Commerce; and former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s candidate to serve as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator.
In statements since the election, Trump said his administration will focus on
“energy dominance,” with an eye toward driving down costs, winning technology arms races with China and others, and expanding American soft power to end wars across the world.
In brief, Trump’s picks so far point to slashing regulations, pushing for more energy extraction and production, and focusing on cheaper electricity. Trump takes office a critical time for energy, as electricity costs climb, renewable capacity ramps up, climate worries intensify and power grid infrastructure ages rapidly.
Chris Wright at the DOE
Another member of this new council will be Colorado energy CEO Chris Wright, who heads up one of the world’s largest fracking operations. Wright is Trump’s selection to lead the U.S. Department of Energy.
Wright replaces Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the current energy secretary appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2020. Where Granholm focused on the Biden administration’s goals of achieving net zero carbon dioxide by 2050, Wright has a history of making climate skeptical remarks, drank fracking liquid on camera in 2019, and said the country is not in the midst of an energy transition.
In a statement after his nomination, Wright said he will further the mission of providing reliable and affordable energy to the U.S. and beyond. Trump called Wright a pioneer of the shale gas revolution in the U.S., which led to a boost in natural gas production via hydraulic fracturing extraction.
In his public statements, Wright says that oil and gas companies are voluntarily cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. At an oil and gas conference in August 2021, he said his industry had achieved the largest gross reduction of any industry thanks to investments in safer pipelines,
cutting gas flares and better detection of methane leaks.
At the same conference, Wright made a point of saying “there is no climate crisis.” He says fossil fuels are bettering human lives and says seeking out markets in developing countries will benefit them, eliminating the need to cook meals or heat homes with dirtier fuels.
Wright is an engineer by training and has degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering. According to a biography from Liberty Energy, Wright founded a hydraulic fracturing company called Pinnacle Technologies in 1992. He moved into shale gas production in 2006, becoming the chair of Stroud Energy, before founding Liberty Resources in 2010. Liberty focused on exploration and extraction in the Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota. Liberty Midstream, another arm of the company, is a provider of midstream services.
Wright is on the board of EMX Royalty Corp., a royalties payment firm for mineral rights. Wright also sits on the board of
Oklo, Inc., a Santa Clara, California-based advanced nuclear energy technology company. Oklo’s Aurora nuclear reactor is a concept fission powerhouse that the DOE gave a permit for testing in 2020.
The company said the plant would use recycled low-enriched uranium from breeder reactors to generate power at a commercial level.
In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Trump said traditional nuclear power plants are “too big and too complex and too expensive,” pointing to proposed new reactor projects that were canceled during his first administration. He went on to say that small modular nuclear reactors could hold promise for generating clean energy.
SMRs remain in the pilot stage in the U.S., although companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon are investing in the technology, seeing them as a potential way to provide reliable electricity to data centers, the growth of which is currently behind a massive increase in electricity need.
The DOE is charged with overseeing the energy supply in the U.S., research
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A hydraulic fracturing rig in Colorado. Energy CEO Chris Wright, who heads up one of the world’s largest fracking operations, is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the DOE.
into new energy sources, cleaning up Cold War-era environmental hazards and running the network of 17 National Laboratories. It also maintains the nuclear weapons in the U.S. and works toward nuclear non-proliferation.
Lee Zeldin at the EPA Zeldin, the candidate to lead the EPA, said he plans to support Trump’s agenda of rolling back regulations and promoting U.S. energy production while protecting public health and the environment.
“Looking forward to collaborating with her to make the EPA work best for the American people!” Zeldin posted on social media. The Senate, now controlled by Republicans, will consider Zeldin’s nomination in early 2025.
“We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” Zeldin wrote.
In his first term, Trump first selected
ASPEN
resigned in 2018 amidst ethics investigations, and then Andrew R. Wheeler. If confirmed, Zeldin will replace Michael S. Regan, President Biden’s choice to head the EPA. In 2020, Regan worked with Duke Energy on coal ash cleanup.
During Trump’s first term, Zeldin ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York
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impeachment hearings. A veteran of the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Corps and former New York senator, Zeldin served on the House Conservative Climate Caucus and the Climate Solutions Caucus. Like Trump, Zeldin opposes the Paris Agreement, and as a candidate for N.Y. governor, he pledged to overturn a ban
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Alison Esposito and Lee Zeldin march in Brooklyn, New York in 2022. Zeldin is Trump’s pick to serve as EPA Administrator.
against Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which invested billions into energy transition infrastructure and research.
Environmental groups reacted to Zeldin’s selection with alarm, with the Sierra Club calling the pick “unqualified” and added this was evidence of Trump’s plan to once again, sell our health, our communities, our jobs, and our future out to
governorship, Burgum focused on energy policy, calling for carbon neutrality by 2030. Carbon capture and sequestration technology and using stored carbon for enhanced oilfield extraction was a cornerstone of this policy.
In January 2023, Burgum joined a group of North Dakota officials threatening to sue the state of Minnesota and
lost to Trump — over that state’s energy policy banning the purchase of electricity generated from carbon-emitting sources.
Like Trump, Burgum is a fan of tall buildings. As a founder of the Kilbourne Group, a Fargo-based property developer, Burgum proposed a 23-story building, completed in 2020, in that city. Burgum has one foot in the technology sector as
OFFSHORE WIND AND TRUMP
Back in 2006, when he was still just an ex game show host who occasionally tweeted about politics, Donald Trump had a nowlegendary spat with a Scottish offshore wind farm under development by Vattenfall off the coast of the Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course.
The former and incoming president was not successful in his fight to stop the 11-turbine European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, and it began generating power for National Grid in 2018, during his first term.
At a rally in May, Trump called offshore wind power “horrible,” and “the most expensive energy there is.” It is probably safe to say that he has not changed his mind about offshore wind, but presidents are only one factor in what sorts of energy projects move forward.
First Offshore Wind Leases
2023 was the second-best year ever for the global offshore wind industry, with a total of 75 GW of global offshore wind capacity was in operation by the end of 2023, according to a report by the Global Wind Energy Council.
The first commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S., Block Island Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island, did not start construction until 2015. The 30 MW project hit many snags, with regulators initially saying and courts upholding that
the cost of the electricity was too much for ratepayers.
There were no commercial scale offshore wind projects with approved permits when President Joe Biden took office, but the Biden Department of Energy approved 10 large offshore wind farms with a capacity of 15 GW, according to the Department of the Interior.
Trump and Offshore Wind
While offshore wind projects saw some strides under Biden, Trump’s campaign trail comments show his attitude about wind turbines has not changed since his first term.
“We are going to make sure that that ends on day one,” Trump said at a May rally in New Jersey. “I’m going to write it out in an executive order. It’s going to end on day one.”
Trump’s first term saw a flurry of executive orders within its first month, not all of which were able to go into effect due to legal challenges. However, there are projects in the pipeline that already have their approvals. It is the projects without permits that may be in question.
Following Trump’s win in November, TotalEnergies, a French oil and gas company, said it would put its planned offshore wind project off the coast of New Jersey on pause, according to Bloomberg.
The offshore wind industry in the U.S. may finally have been finding its footing during Biden’s tenure, although nagging
inflation and supply chain woes caused problems before the outcome of the election was certain.
The industry also faces headwinds that have little to do with who sits in the Oval Office. The technology remains costly— taking about $4000 per kilowatt-hour, compared with about $1200/kWh for a combined cycle natural gas-fired plant—and is often reliant on government supports. However, these costs are lowering as the industry matures.
The industry will require a half a million new wind power technicians by 2028 if global wind energy earmarks are to be met, according to a joint report by the Global Wind Energy Council and the Global Wind Organisation.
RELIABILITY REDEFINED
Information Administration, North Dakota is the third-largest crude oil producer in the U.S. and has large coal and natural gas reserves. While a large hydropower facility and a growing installed wind power capacity makes about a third of North Dakota’s electricity renewable, the state still relies heavily on natural gas and coal for its electricity. The state is also a producer of biofuels and ethanol.
In past statements, Burgum criticized government support for electric vehicles and infrastructure. He also called for more mining for rare earth metals on Bureau of Land Management land. He has also supported building pipelines for carbon capture.
The centerpieces of energy policy for Trump’s second term have mostly to do with oil and gas production, with frequent mentions of drilling and “unleashing” U.S. energy production. For the DOI, this presumably will involve more extraction on the millions of acres managed by the federal government, potentially including nature preserves and national parks.
The Biden administration was marked by an emphasis on electrification and clean energy funding and research, particularly via the Inflation Reduction Act, which offered tac credits to renewable energy and clean energy R&D. Trump’s energy policies would be a reversal of much of this, with the president elect saying unspent investments in clean energy could be halted.
The DOI is important to the energy sector as it oversees public lands, mineral rights, as well as lands used by Indigenous people, national parks and wildlife refuges.
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A project off the shores near Trump’s Aberdeenshire golf course was the beginning of the president’s feud with offshore wind.
Biden’s Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is a proponent of offshore wind development and the administration’s clean energy goals.
Under Haaland, the DOI approved 41 renewable energy projects, including some of the largest solar and transmission developments such as the Greenlink West Transmission Project, a 472-milelong project in Nevada that will connect
clean energy sources to power 1.2 million homes, and the Libra Solar Project, according to a release from the DOI.
The Biden administration also saw the U.S.’s first commercial scale offshore wind projects, with 10 major projects approved by the DOI. Trump, who famously opposed an offshore wind project off the coast of his Scotland golf course, has promised to push back on supports for
offshore wind. At a rally in May, Trump called offshore wind “horrible,” and “the most expensive energy there is.”
Donald Trump had two secretaries of the Interior during his first term. His first pick, Ryan Zinke, was a former Navy SEAL, business development consultant, property manager and former U.S. Representative from Montana, resigned in 2019 amidst ethics investigations. Zinke’s tenure at DOI saw federally managed lands opened for resource extraction.
Colorado attorney and oil industry lobbyist David Bernhardt was Trump’s second Interior Secretary in his first term, a veteran of George W. Bush’s DOI and prior deputy secretary for Trump. As secretary, Bernhardt ordered plans for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which were halted and eventually canceled by the Biden administration.
FACES OF THE FUTURE
BY AMY FISCHBACH, FIELD EDITOR
Lexie Bryant
Omaha Public Power District
Getting Her Start
I grew up knowing a lot of lineworkers. I had gotten my degree in a few other things like pre-radiologic technologies, went to business school at the University of Nebraska and decided to be a paralegal and go the law school route. Every doctor and lawyer I met always hated their jobs and dreaded work. The only group of people I’ve ever met who enjoyed their job and talked about it with such passion were the lineworkers I knew. When it came to line school or law school, I chose line school to take a chance. I then went to a full-day boot camp to interview for a position as an apprentice.
Training in the Field
I’ve been an apprentice twice for a municipality and an REA, and this is my second year at Omaha Public Power District (OPPD). We work out of three centers that we rotate through in Omaha, Elkhorn and Papillion, Nebraska. The work at each center is a little different. We have a climbing yard, hurt man rescue training, classrooms and test rooms at each center, as well as an underground training site for all of our URD work. We are constantly going to training whether it be online, in-person or taking classes in the training room.
Rotating Crews
We alternate crews every three months. It gives you a chance to see everyone’s tips and pointers and definitely gets you acclimated to different personalities. We focus on climbing, troubleshooting, underground construction and maintenance as well as the same for aerial. On-the-job training is doing the work with the lead journeyman and maybe one or two other people. At the center I’m working at now, which works primarily on jobs 200 hours or less, we get different work orders every day.
Challenges and Rewards
I think we have it a lot better than the apprentices before us just due to the way corporations are moving. They definitely aren’t as hard on us like they were when the lineworkers I knew were coming through. I think the tools available and safety features provided make it a lot better as well. I don’t feel like we are facing the challenges like the older generations.
Life in the Line Trade
I absolutely love what I do. I love that it’s a challenge and can keep me engaged unlike a lot of the other professions I had that just came easy. This is hard mentally and physically for me and I get to go home most days knowing I’m improving or seeing improvement in areas. You don’t get that at a corporate job. I love working hard and feeling the rewards from it knowing I am doing things I never thought I could’ve done.
• Is a second-year apprentice.
• Enjoys hunting, fishing, camping or anything outdoors.
• Has a two-year-old daughter named Rorie.
• Power tools have come in handy to help her with productivity. She says more products are coming out every day for safety that make lineworkers feel better about the environment they work in.
Succeeding in the Apprenticeship
It takes grit, mental determination and ambition. If you don’t have fun with it, you won’t ever love it. I have always had a healthy dose of ambition and it has helped me more than ever here. I don’t like quitting so whatever it is or how hard it is I usually will be the volunteer and try until I get it done.
Advice for Other Apprentices
Always be safe. Plan your second step before making a move in your first. Fast is slow. Adapt and overcome. Listen to the people who are above you but use discretion who you take advice from. You have to love it and have a passion for it, or you won’t cut it. I got lucky having such a passion for what I do so even on the hardest days it doesn’t feel like work.
Plans for the Future
I hope in five years I’ll be a journeyman and have passed my test. I also want to feel confident in what I do enough to help newer apprentices. I would like to be the first female journeyman lineworker for the company I work for. That would be a huge step for me and my goals here.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to nominate an apprentice for Faces of the Future, please email Field Editor Amy Fischbach at amyfischbach@gmail.com . All profiled apprentice lineworkers will receive a tool package from Milwaukee Tool. Also, to learn more about Lexie Bryant and her career in the line trade, be sure to check out our Faces of the Future series for T&D World’s Line Life Podcast on Podbean at linelife.podbean.com.
Lexie Bryant has worked her share of storms as an apprentice at Omaha Public Power District.
Training on the Line
A Nebraska mom defies odds and pursues a career path in line work.
By TODD PFEIL, Northeast Community College
Brittany Grammer packs up her climbing gear, tosses her hard hat into the passenger seat and pulls away from Northeast Community College Campus in Norfolk, Nebraska.
The 36-year-old mother of four — the only female in her class of 48 future utility line workers — makes the hour-and-a-half commute back to her home in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska. She greets her family, cares for her pets — seven cats, two dogs, four birds, two turtles and three chickens — and logs into work for her employer in Baltimore, more than 1,200 miles away.
Grammer works remotely fulltime designing under-and aboveground power infrastructures for a Maryland utility provider. With a certification in computer-aided drafting, she can read plans and plot electrical lines located halfway across the country from the comfort of her home office.
But by the time she graduates with dual associate degrees in drafting and utility line from Northeast Community College, she’ll be qualified to work in the field — and 80 ft up in the air.
“I occasionally replace utility poles at my job, but I always liked the idea of being out in the field, going out and fixing something myself,” she says. “As a designer, you’re a little limited. You pretty much draw the pictures. If I design it, I might as well be qualified to go out and fix it.”
She dreams of one day being on-call for storm duty, traveling to the site of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and snowstorms to restore power.
“Not that I like the idea of storms happening and people having to suffer, but I like the idea of fixing something, especially in emergencies,” she says. “You have
to think on your feet and be able to adapt to any situation that arises. I like to think I’m pretty level-headed in a crisis.”
Getting Her Start
A military kid born in Germany and raised in Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska, her family moved to Maryland when she was 10 years old. She studied automotive in high school as part of a magnet program — early evidence of her mechanical leanings — but decided to pursue health care after graduation. She earned her Certified Nursing Associate (CNA) license and worked in a hospital for seven years.
“I decided I need a change of pace,” she said.
A lifelong knack for drawing inspired her to earn a drafting certificate in Maryland. With no on-the-job experience but glowing referrals from a drafting instructor, she landed her first job in utilities.
Today, she spends most of her time designing underground electrical cable replacements.
Beyond spatial awareness and computer skills, her job requires attention to detail, ensuring local standards are adhered to throughout the building process.
“When I was getting started, I was not at all familiar with utilities,” she said. “But the more I worked with them, the more I fell in love with electricity — and really the whole distribution system, how it gets from one place to another.”
When COVID hit, she relocated her family back to Nebraska, where she grew up, to be closer to extended relatives. Fortunately, her employer agreed to let her work remotely. Back in Nebraska, it was only a matter of time before she learned about the utility line program at Northeast Community College, only 70 miles from her home in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska.
Learning the Trade
Established in 1978, the utility line program at Northeast is one of only three two-year utility programs in the nation. The program is comprehensive, starting students at the ground level (literally) and preparing them with everything it takes to succeed in what can be described as a high-demand, high-wage, physically challenging industry.
Most utility line students begin the program as total novices but graduate fully prepared to work in the industry — often with full-time jobs already lined up. During the training program, the students start with the basics: operating trucks, handling poles, climbing and electricity fundamentals. In the second semester, the team adds more skills training. But
after that, all Northeast utility line students leave for an internship with a state electrical association. Most of them may still be new to the trade when they first start their internship, but when they return, they are young utility professionals ready to go.
As one of the Midwest’s preeminent utility line programs, Northeast churns out many graduates who will make up the future workforce. The demand for utility professionals, including lineworkers, will only continue to grow. Thousands of professionals are needed just to keep up with the number who are retiring. Because retirement tends to happen early in the utility industry, those who retire need to be replaced. Many employers are lining up to get the graduates out of Northeast Community College.
Dan Hellbusch, vice president of operations at Loup Power District, agrees. According to Hellbusch, a graduate of the utility line program, utility providers around the country need skilled workers. A significant portion of Loup Power District’s new hires, he says, are Northeast graduates.
“For decades, the internship part of the program has been helping to supply our skilled workforce,” Hellbusch said. “We actually wait for Northeast interns to graduate before filling a position. These students arrive prepared and equipped with the necessary skills to make great utility workers.”
The industry’s growing demand means ample financial and career opportunities for students willing to come aboard. That makes the utility line program at Northeast an appealing option, especially considering the cost-to-reward ratio. The program has a high return on investment, and the amount students can get back from the 21 months it takes to get from start to finish is substantial.
For Grammer, the opportunity means something even more significant. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 4.1% of electric power line installers and repairers in the United States are women. She’s breaking barriers and defying the odds in a field that, traditionally, has been dominated by men.
She has never shied away from any of
the challenges and is right there with the guys in her class, says her instructor. In fact, she’s usually the first in line to go.
Working as a Woman in Line Work
About 35 ft in the air, Grammer adjusts her climbing harness and feels the utility pole she is clinging to swaying softly with the wind. She looks out over a sea of
classmates, decked out in safety gear and hard hats, suspended in the air, blotting out a deep blue sky.
Today is the softball game. To become acclimated to twisting, bending, and moving freely on the pole, she and her classmates toss each other a softball. The rules are simple: If you drop it, you must climb back down (shamefully, of course) and start over again.
STRYKER ST SERIES
- Allows for independent control of 2 units with 1 remote
- Multiple users can operate lights in close proximity
- Quick and simple pairing without dipswitches
- On-Command return to 0° home
- Simultaneous Pan + Tilt
- Fluorescent Remote Buttons
ELECTRIC
“It seems tedious at first, but the more you do it, the more confident you become on the pole,” Grammer said. She, herself, has grown comfortable with climbing. That’s probably because her class tackled it in baby steps — just one step up on the first day of class, two steps the next day, and so on.
Climbing is just one of many physically demanding aspects of line work Grammer
has grown accustomed to. Being a female, she says, has never made her back down.
“It’s demanding work, but it’s not something a girl can’t do,” she said. “In fact, I think because girls have wider hips, we may even adapt to the physical toll of climbing a little quicker. Our anatomy helps out. A lot of the guys I climb with will complain about sore hips, but my feet start hurting before my hips ever will.”
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One of her proudest moments was related to drafting, when her class project was selected to represent Northeast at a home-build showcase.
“The construction program students had built a house and were auctioning it for sale,” she said. “The drafting students each created a blueprint and 3D model of the home. My design was chosen to showcase for the open house.”
While at Northeast she also earned her CDL, meaning she will eventually be able to drive utility trucks.
“That was the first time I ever drove a manual. I was pretty proud of myself for getting that,” she said.
She’s currently working on her drone license so she can conduct aerial work. She’s also an active member of Utility Line Club, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and TRIO — a program for firstgeneration, low-income and students with disabilities.
“I am incredibly proud to be a firstgeneration student in my family,” Grammer said. “When I graduated high school, I couldn’t even afford my cap and gown. I want to set an example for my kids and show them they can accomplish anything and that I’ll always be there to support them.”
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When she walks down the aisle in 2026, she will be the first in her family to graduate college. But she’ll also be one of only three women in Northeast history to graduate from the utility line program.
“Brittany is a go-getter,” said her instructor. “She knows she’s one of a few women in a male-dominated career, but there’s no way she’s letting that hold her back. I think it drives her.”
She said there’s not a day that goes by when she says, “I don’t want to do this today.”
“It’s just really fun to be a part of this, to be involved,” she says. “I think a lot more women should do it.”
TODD PFEIL (tpfeil@northeast.edu ) teaches Utility Line courses at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska. A proud Northeast alumnus, Pfeil graduated from the Utility Line Program in 2006. After 14 years working for a utility provider in southeast Nebraska, he brought his hands-on experience to the classroom as an instructor in 2020.
PARTING SHOT
PHOTO BY ELAINE MESKER-GARCIA , CENTERPOINT ENERGY
CenterPoint Energy crews repair tornado-damaged infrastructure and equipment following severe storms in the Greater Houston area on Dec. 28, 2024.
Paul Koehler
The journeyman lineworker and crew leader works out of IBEW Local 51 in the Lasalle, Illinois, operating center.
• Born in Peru, Illinois. Has two brothers and one sister.
• One of his brothers works with him as a journeyman lineman at Ameren, and his brother-in-law is a journeyman gasman.
• Married for 16 years to Gina, a third-grade teacher. Their two children are Guiliana, who tragically passed away at age 10 in 2022, and nine-year-old Kipton.
• Loves golfing, traveling with his family, fishing, baking bread, coaching baseball and football and spending time at their pool with friends and family.
• With a lot of new solar fields going up in his service territory, his crews need to upgrade lines to be able to handle the load the new projects will be putting on the grid.
Early Years
When I was 16 years old, I worked as a summer helper at a small municipality with its own electric department. A job opportunity came up right after high school, and I took it. I decided I wanted more, so I applied for ALBAT and was super lucky to get in right away. After working outside construction out of IBEW Local 51 for seven-and-half years, I took a position at Ameren Illinois in 2008. I’ve been here ever since. The reason I fell in love with the trade is working outdoors and in a different location almost every day.
Day in the Life
Paul Koehler and his family raised money for the Climbin4kids fundraising campaign alongside Jason Novak during the 2024 International Lineman’s Rodeo Week. All donations go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Learn more and donate at climbin4kids@gmail.com.
When you move from working for a contractor to a utility, responsibilities change. I went from mainly new construction and rebuilding to mostly maintenance and emergency repairs. Troubleshooting was a new challenge. Currently I’m a crew leader, and we do everything from pole change outs to underground service and anything from sub transmission to streetlights. The most rewarding part of our job is storm restoration and getting the lights on in all conditions.
Safety Lesson
Luckily, I’ve never been near a super serious injury, but I believe in leading safety by example and never asking someone to do something I wouldn’t do myself. I have had friends seriously hurt, and to hear a story about being rescued will always be in the back of my head when teaching apprentices about the importance of hand lines and proper gloves.
Memorable Storm
I’ve been fortunate to go on several hurricanes in my career
and have been gone for upwards of 30 days at some points. Conditions change so much. Sometimes you sleep in a nice hotel, and other times, you are in a college gym with no power and 300 other guys. The destruction from storms like that is so widespread, it seems like the work will never end. Here in Illinois, we get quite a few tornadoes, and we can get power on usually in a couple days. For hurricanes, however, it can take weeks, if not months.
Tools and Technology
The battery-powered tools have become a norm in all our trucks, and we love them all. We no longer need to use hand presses. The safety factor in being able to press a button and use one hand and not strain your muscles like the old crimped tools is amazing. New technology with specs and prints on them saves so much paperwork.
Life in the Line Trade
I would 100% do everything again. I love the trade and love being a lineman. I’m proud to serve my community in storm restoration. The future in the power industry is rebuilding an old infrastructure to accommodate for more load. Solar farms, wind farms and new power sources are going to need lineworkers to rebuild for the amount of capacity needed.
Paul Koehler, shown with his two children at a Lineman’s Rodeo a few years ago.
MEDIA SALES
Director, Business Development
Stephen M. Lach
Phone: 708-542-5648
Email: slach@endeavorb2b.com
Account Manager
Brent Eklund
Phone: 303-888-8492
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EVENT SALES
Account Manager
John Blackwell
Phone: 518-339-4511
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Account Manager
Denne Johnson
Phone: 607-644-2050
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International Linemen’s Rodeo, and Events
Sam Posa
Phone: 913-515-6604
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Utility Analytics Institute
James Wingate
Membership Development Manager
Phone: 404-226-3756
Email: jwingate@endeavorb2b.com
Utility Analytics Institute, Smart Utility Summit and Smart Water Summit
Building the Backbone of the Global Energy Transition:
COP29’s
Transmission Pledge
As COP29 drew to a close in Baku this past November, the urgent need for new transmission infrastructure to make the global energy transition a reality came into sharp focus.
Even ahead of the event Mukhtar Babayev, the president of COP29 and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources for the Republic of Azerbaijan, had announced a series of high-profile initiatives aimed at advancing the energy transition. These include the Green Energy Zones and Corridors pledge, designed to drive investment and economic growth through infrastructure development and the establishment of transmission corridors that efficiently deliver renewable energy to demand centers. Furthermore, a landmark commitment was made to scale up global grid investment, aiming to add or refurbish over 80 million kilometers of transmission networks worldwide by 2040.
nearly double by 2030 to over $600 billion per year.
Capacity Investment
Despite evidence of a dire capacity crunch in the making, soaring demand is nonetheless prompting investment among the major cable manufacturers. For instance, Prysmian’s CAPEX plan for 2023-2025 includes plans to invest €500m per year to support production capacity growth, including a new submarine cable plant in the USA and a new cable-laying vessel. Meanwhile, earlier this year, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Prysmian signed a €450 million finance contract to support electricity transmission and distribution in Europe.
Another of the big three cable companies, NKT, has also declared a record order book and announced an approximately €1bn investment program to match.
However, while recognizing the need for infrastructure investment is an important first step, achieving the objectives becomes far more challenging considering the demand for HVDC equipment and the growing backlog of orders.
Soaring Demand for HVDC
There are multiple drivers behind this demand growth, such as the lack of efficient power infrastructure across developing nations, together with a shifting focus towards enhancing and refurbishing existing grid networks. In addition, growing investments in grid network development are needed to drive the green energy transition. Another significant influence has appeared in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine and associated concerns over the security of energy supply. This is prompting greater cross-border interconnector development for instance.
The industry is struggling to respond. One of the three leading suppliers of HVDC cable technology, Prysmian, has not only highlighted its substantial forecasts for market growth but also the impact on its order book. Prysmian’s current order backlog exceeds €9 billion.
The key challenge is whether the supply chain can meet demand for both ambitious projects currently planned as well as anticipated future requirements.
It’s clear that transmission, and HVDC in particular, is becoming a chokepoint for the clean energy transition. Unfortunately, as the IEA points out, while investments in renewables have surged, spending on grid infrastructure has remained relatively stagnant at around $300 billion per year since 2010. The Agency is clear that to meet climate targets, grid investment needs to
Similarly, in the summer, Hitachi Energy announced plans to invest an additional $4.5 billion by 2027 to accelerate the clean energy transition in response to its $30 billion order backlog.
The market is prompting a substantive response from the industry, but with projections for adding or refurbishing more than 80 million kilometers of transmission networks by 2040, there’s clearly a big storm on the horizon without additional actions.
Indeed, in light of the HVDC capacity crunch, some of the more ambitious projects are building new cable manufacturing capacity as part of the project.
For example, the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project plans to connect 11.5 GW of wind and solar capacity and battery storage in the Guelmim Oued Noun region of Morrocco directly to the UK in Devon. To do so, four 3,800 km HVDC cables will need to be developed to create two 1.8 GW dipole links. With a need for around 15,000 km of cable and recognizing this is many multiples of the entire European HVDC cable manufacturing capacity, a separate company was established purely to produce HVDC cables and invest in a state-of-the-art cable-laying vessel.
Leaders and stakeholders must not only endorse ambitious plans but must also ensure that practical measures are put in place to accelerate transmission infrastructure development. Government backing for large-scale cross-border projects and rapid investments in HVDC supply chains must become a priority. The urgency cannot be overstated: without immediate, concerted efforts, the energy transition will falter. Now is the time for action.
