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Scaling the Grid for Explosive Load Growth
Dominion Energy shares how it is planning for the data center boom. By
PGE Takes Holistic Approach to Mitigation
Portland General Electric’s holistic approach to mitigation serves as a model for preventing wildfires. By BEN FELTON, Portland General Electric
Electric Sets Three-Year Action Plan
Enhanced wildfire safety strategy is founded on a four-pillar approach to long-term reduction in risk.
By MARC ASANO, Hawaiian Electric
Preparedness from Coast to Coast
The Illinois utility shares five of its strategies to recruit and train talented and local candidates and keep them safe in the field.
A key component of the plan includes repurposing aging rotating assets to operate as synchronous condensers.
The utility describes four tactics for better restoration from the 2024 hurricane season. By
To face the challenges associated with mounting energy prices and limited resources, innovative solutions will be key.
Wildfires pose a growing threat across the U.S., requiring utilities nationwide — not just on the West Coast — to adopt proactive measures. By JOSH TWEEDY, POWER Engineers Inc.
A Strategic Approach to Wildfire Risk Mitigation
A proactive strategy integrates advanced technology, and predictive modeling.
By BY ALIREZA MAJZOOBI, ZHENZHEN ZHANG, Quanta Technology LLC, and DANIEL HAUGHTON, LUMA Energy
How Flexible Recloser Design Strengthens Wildfire Mitigation
Reclosers play a role in power system protection. By JEFF SEMELKA, G&W Electric
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When the American Society of Civil Engineers released its Infrastructure Report Card in 2021, the energy sector was rated at a ‘C–’. That didn’t seem acceptable to me at the time: The infrastructure that our nation relies on for the basis of civilization was below average, or barely passing? We had just come out of the worst of the Covid pandemic, when American workers worked from home, and most children did virtual or hybrid school.
Reliable electricity and a robust internet connection were even more essential; work and schoolwork relied on it. My kids were high-school aged at the time, and a C– on one of their report cards wouldn’t have made me very happy either.
But I found out it can be worse. My kids got into college, and my daughter had a difficult class that we would have celebrated a C in. (She ended up changing majors.) So I guess you could say “it’s all relative?”
As far as our energy infrastructure, it “came home” with a worse grade this year than in 2021: a D+.
A “D,” as defined by ASCE, generally means “poor, at risk.” It means “infrastructure is in fair to poor condition and mostly below standard, with many elements approaching the end of their service life. A large portion of the system exhibits significant deterioration. Condition and capacity are of serious concern with strong risk of failure.”
The energy sector really hasn’t budged much in ASCE’s eyes over the past 12 years. In the 2013 and 2017 Report Cards, Energy received a D+. We all know a lot has changed in energy over the past 12 years, and a D+ is more warranted this year than ever.
We are facing critical challenges, including supply chain issues, aging infrastructure, extreme weather, and lack of transmission capacity. These issues are being compounded by a growing reliance on energy-intensive technologies like electric vehicles, AI, and data centers, which are expected to more than double electricity demand by 2030.
While federal investments have ramped up to address these needs — particularly through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — ASCE noted that the efforts, while impactful, are not enough. Transmission investments have grown, and major projects like the Southline Transmission Project and the Cross-Tie Transmission Line are underway. In total, the IIJA allocates $73 billion to grid modernization, including $10.5 billion for resilience through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program. These funds are meant to bolster the grid against extreme weather and support the integration of renewable energy through more resilient and efficient infrastructure.
Despite these efforts, ASCE warns of a looming funding shortfall, estimating a $578 billion investment gap by 2033 — even if current funding levels continue. Without continued support from policies like the IIJA and the Inflation Reduction Act, that gap could widen to $702 billion.
Interestingly, ASCE has been making some of the same recommendations to improve the grade over the last 12 years as well. Seems we can’t see to listen enough.
The ASCE’s recommendations in 2025 build on those from 2021 but reflect the mounting urgency and complexity of today’s energy landscape:
• Federal Energy Policy : Both 2021 and 2025 call for the adoption of a comprehensive federal energy policy to address current and future needs, including carbon reduction, renewables, and affordability. The language remains nearly identical.
• Consensus-Based Standards: Both years emphasize requiring consensus-based safety and reliability standards for overhead T&D lines, substations, and structures — an acknowledgment of the aging infrastructure and need for uniformity.
• Grid Reliability and Hardening : The 2021 and 2025 reports both focus on enhancing grid reliability through more frequent and effective asset inspections and call for a national hardening plan to prepare for disasters, including natural and man-made events.
• Infrastructure Design & Transmission Buildout: The need to consider life-cycle cost analysis and build additional transmission to deliver power efficiently from generation to high-demand areas is a consistent recommendation across both years.
Most of these topics have been talked about for longer than a decade. The nature of American politics (or any politics) has policy priorities shifting every four years. In a conversation I had with Larry Gasteiger, executive director of WIRES last week for a T&D World Live podcast session, we both agreed that some goals are “non-partisan,” such as reliability and resiliency. Some industry leaders think that the grade is a bit unfair; ASCE is probably as tough as my some of my journalism professors were. But the electric utility industry itself is continuing to move forward, and I believe many regulators are willing to listen and learn. This is also a “technical” sector, and policy shouldn’t be created and passed without a good comprehension of the engineering, operational, and economic realities that utilities face every day.
Improved Internet Searching With AI
Iknow artificial intelligence (AI) has not been widely accepted, and many want it ban altogether, but that’s not going to happen. AI is here to stay, and we really do need it in today’s data intensive world. It’s estimated that over 400 million terabytes of data are produced every day globally, and there’s no way to extract useful information from megadata without AI.
It’s a good bet that smart grid technology is contributing terabytes to that total daily, and it’s being stored and processed along with the rest of it. That requires datacenters and sophisticate computers, which affect our power grid. What got me thinking about this was our new Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, coming here to New Mexico this week.
megawatts. And hyperscale datacenters can consume 100 megawatts or more with numbers growing constantly. In 2024, datacenters accounted for around 1% of the global electricity consumption according to IEA. If you look at the U.S., China, and the European Union, they each use about 2-4% of their grid’s capacity for datacenters. This demand growth is expected to grow to around 10% or more by 2030.
He’s on a nationwide tour of the national laboratories and his first stop was at New Mexico’s Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs. Wright shared his excitement with the work going on at Sandia and Los Alamos. These labs are the leaders in the Nation’s AI research and development efforts. He mentioned that Los Alamos had announced a partnership with OpenAI, which will be a key part for future AI development.
It’s interesting that we talk in terms of terabytes and megawatts, which are great for giving the scope of an issue. But from the perspective of quantities describing things we use every day, they’re not too meaningful. That’s what caught my attention with a news item from Goldman Sachs. It addressed the amount of power consumed by AI-enhanced web inquiries. The Goldman Sachs commentary said that the average AI-enhanced internet search consumes up to 10 times more energy than a non-AI inquiry does.
Doing Routine Stuff With AI
AI Driven Power Consumption
The Secretary also spoke about the nation’s growing need for more electricity due to the increased demand that AI and datacenters are driving. It got me pondering some other press releases I had run into recently. They highlighted recent reports and studies from research groups and government agencies investigating the power consumption of datacenters and AI tools. There was one from IEA (International Energy Agency) noting that the average datacenter power requirement is 5-10
Google’s “AI Overviews” uses an enhanced generative-AI feature that smartens up searches. Google says it’s an evolving technology that is improving continuously, but it can make mistakes. I did notice a few questionable topics, but for the most part, the responses were focused on my specifics. Overall, the AIenhanced assisted queries saved me a lot of time, but I hadn’t thought about the power those simple searches used until I found the Goldman Sachs observations. It could be argued that with more efficient AI-enhanced queries, it requires less searches to get the information we need. On the average, my traditional searches produced dozens of pages of responses, each requiring some amount of reviewing. More often than not, I would end up rewording the query and doing several more searches. By reducing this process, and finding the material with only one or two inquiries, it would be a bargain even with the 10 times energy cost added. Even with old-school searches costing one-tenth of an AI search, it may actually save energy in the long run. With that in mind, as I wrote this editorial, I concentrated on utilizing Google’s “AI Overviews” feature for my web searches.
I found my time spent in research was more productive than it had been without AI. In most cases the lead items on the first response page usually gave me the information I needed without more searching. Granted, this isn’t hard empirical data, but it’s a tangible examples of how AI improves one searcher’s efficiency.
It’s estimated that the internet’s database was about 147 zettabytes at the end of 2024 and growing, so we need help. Someone looking for specialized information is much like a utility searching its multiple databases for specific information and saving time is saving money. I have a much better appreciation of how AI’s cost/benefit ratio applies to ferreting out meaningful intelligence. I hope it helps you too!
Enhanced Technologies Are Providing a New Toolset
The power grid needs more than upgrades and updates for today’s technological evolution.
The power delivery system is being challenged from all quarters and it’s a little overwhelming. Load demand is projected to increase by more than 10% by 2030 while dealing with extreme weather impacts. Hyperscale datacenters have growing energy needs. Exacerbating the problem is an industry transitioning from fossil-fuel generation to clean energy. Also there’s the insufficient transmission capacities to deliver the customers’ electric-power. There’s more, but this gets the point across.
The industry has been doing everything practical to balance supply and demand. Still more is required. All indications show the conventional technologies have reached their limits when it comes to efficient utilization of the power delivery systems infrastructure. It seems that it’s time to concentrate on more non-traditional approaches. One of the most popular of those has been artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-enhanced tools. They have had a positive affect, but their use has upped datacenters’ power consumption, adding other issues.
According to the research company, ResearchAndMarkets, the global hyperscale datacenter market will grow from USD 162.79 billion in 2024 to USD 608.54 billion by 2030. That’s a 24.6% compounded annual growth rate! They attribute the growth to “Enterprises’ growing adoption of cloud computing.” In other words, the use of AI-related technologies will continue, requiring a resilient electric-power system.
Future-Gen is Here
With all of these issues, there’s a great deal of interest in what to expect and what topics to watch in 2025. Back in February 2025, Rick Bush and I were asked to do a podcast for T&D World (https://www. tdworld.com/electric-utility-operations/podcast/55269682/td-world-podcast-lessons-from-
the-past-challenges-for-the-future) discussing the present and future the power grid’s evolving technologies. Of course that opened a wide area for us.
Today’s novel technologies represent both business opportunities and challenges, but many people view many of these technologies as in the future. Rick, however, addressed that twist. His comment was, “The future is already here, it’s just not widely distributed yet!”
Let’s look into that statement a little deeper. One group of future-gen applications that seem too good to be true are found in the emerging grid-enhancing technologies (GETs). Honestly, GETs applications are not in the science fiction realm. They’re off-the-shelf grid-tools that are available from many suppliers in our competitive marketplace. Since space is limited, let’s look at a couple of GET applications that have been featured in “Charging Ahead” columns previously.
Advanced conductors and dynamic line rating (DLR) technologies have been accessible for many years. They’re a commercial technology and are making
tremendous impacts where they’re being used. Still, they’re meeting resistance deployment-wise, yet studies have shown that DLR can add 20% to 30% more capacity to an existing power line. Advanced conductors can carry two to three times the amount of power than traditional conductors of the same size. Using both of these technologies would put a huge dent in the 2030 decarbonization goals for adding to the grid’s transmission capacity.
Legacy thinking, along with each utility’s insistence on performing their own analysis, is a significant roadblock when it comes to adopting new methods. How often have new ideas been met with that old saying, “We’ve never done it this way” response. Over the past few years the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a series of orders that will encourage utilities and grid operators to include GETs in their planning studies. Hopefully, that will help overcome this resistance.
Change is Coming
Why is there resistance to such innovation? It’s complicated; change makes
Tom Brakefield via Getty Images
Geysers geothermal power plant is the largest geothermal powerplant in the U.S. with 15 geothermal power stations in operation.
us uncomfortable. New technologies require knowledge of the applications before we’re confident with them. Also, it doesn’t help that these advancements are happening at warp speed. Still, as Rick pointed out, “Innovation always overcomes resistance because resistance can only delay, and delay is costly.” Sometimes it’s external factors that motivate innovation like hyperscale datacenters sucking massive amounts of electric-power off the grid 24/7.
Getting back to the podcast, we kicked around the small modular reactors (SMRs) technology a bit. Years ago, SMRs were introduced as a mobile reactor for use with microgrids. We discussed them finding a niche as datacenter power supplies, but technologies don’t stand still. Now it’s a technology that’s needing another updating because it’s getting closer to being shelf-ready. SMRs are moving into the status of “near-term deployment” as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) puts it.
IAEA reports that there are more than
80 SMR designs globally. Most of these are in various stages of development, but there are “some claiming as being nearterm deployable.” In addition, Texas A&M announced they were making land available to four nuclear companies to fasttrack the deployment of their SMRs. A&M calls the project, “The Energy Proving Ground.” Hyperscale datacenter developers have been cutting their own deals with SMR manufacturers, but SMR technology has been attracting interest in many areas.
A bit of background—the New York Times recently reported that about 780 large coal-fired powerplants have been retired since 2000 leaving less than 400 of these fossil-fueled powerplants in service. Many of these units are also earmarked for retirement, which has received attention because the loss of inertia these plants represent. That’s an issue that has inspired growing interest from other power grid stakeholders. DOE (Department of Energy) recently published a coal-to-nuclear transition information guide that’s chock full of data.
DOE explained that hundreds of these powerplants that have been or will be retired could be converted to clean energy resources utilizing SMRs. It not only saves construction costs, but it keeps the rotating machines that produce inertia in service. Plus they’re already connected to the power grid via existing transmission lines. This different application is being assessed by stakeholders for its feasibility. There’s a lot going for SMRs and the power grid, so it’s a trend that deserves watching.
New and Improved
While digging into the SMR technology another clean energy power technology popped up that has potential. It’s the latest variation of geothermal energy technology called “enhanced geothermal power systems.” The International Energy Agency (IEA) is excited about enhanced geothermal projects. IEA predicts they could account for up to 15% of global energy up from 1% today. Like the SMR technology, enhanced geothermal
power plants can operate at their maximum capacity continuously.
Advancements in technology are multifaceted. One area that’s promising is the “superhot rock formations located deep in the Earth. Deep well drilling is a proven process from the oil and gas industry. These wells average two miles (3.1 km) in depth, but that’s not a limitation. Deeper wells make enhanced geothermal power systems work anywhere on the Earth. Like the SMR applications, deeper wells can be drilled at retired or about to be retired fossil-fuel powerplants, and provide another method of repowering them with clean energy.
This isn’t the only advanced technology being explored for enhanced geothermal power applications. Several geothermal developers are taking advantage of AI, horizontal drilling, distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS) and others. The horizontal drilling allows for creating heat gathering mesh-loops to be installed in hot subsurface rock formations. DFOS uses fiber optic cables to provide real-time monitoring of subterranean conditions. AI has many applications from translating the data generated underground to determining the best locations to site new geothermal projects.
Remember that saying location, location, location? It’s valid even with enhanced geothermal power application. DOE has reported a groundbreaking process called, “Wells of Opportunity (WOO),” and it’s a hot topic. When oil and gas wells stop producing, they are capped, abandoned, or in some case orphaned by the developers. Both abandoned and orphaned wells are a massive problem in oil-patch. Estimates place abandoned wells in the U.S. around 3.5 million with orphaned wells near 120,000. The DOE has a suggestion, why not turn them into a commercially viable geothermal power plants? The holes exist, the technology to convert them into electric-power producers is available. DOE wants to bring them together.
The smart grid has gotten smarter as our industry moved into the 21st century. Intelligent toolsets that have taken decades in development are available in today’s marketplace. As we discussed, there are many cases where they haven’t been deployed yet because of a myriad of
reasons. Regulator issues and problems have taken their toll. Installing them isn’t cheap and there are big up-front costs for the transition. There’s an uncertainty on the part of stakeholders due to a lack of knowledge of the new applications, and that’s only a small portion the hesitancies.
Legacy technologies have been updated and upgraded, but those are band-aids, and they have reached their limitations.
We have found more is needed to modernize our power delivery system. Once we are comfortable living with these futuregen technologies, we’ll wonder how we were able to live without them. Not to mention why did it take so long to make the transition? Of course it’s going to be uncomfortable, and it’s disruptive, but it’s also exciting. The future is here, so hold on tight!
WE BUILD TOUGH. YOU MOVE FORWARD.
Eaton Expands Transformer Manufacturing with New Facility in South Carolina
Eaton, a global power management company, has announced a $340 million investment to expand U.S. production of threephase transformers, which are essential for electrical power distribution. The new facility, located in Jonesville, South Carolina, is expected to begin production and hiring in 2027. Eaton will continue manufacturing three-phase transformers at its existing facilities in Wisconsin.
support a reliable and sustainable energy future.”
State and local officials have welcomed Eaton’s investment, emphasizing its potential economic impact.
Eaton invests $340 million in new South Carolina manufacturing facility for its three-phase transformers, the company’s third in the U.S. Image of transformer manufacturing process from the company’s Wisconsin facility.
The expansion aims to address the growing demand for transformers amid increased electrification, industrialization, and data center development. The project is supported by local, state, and federal economic development incentives, and Eaton is collaborating with readySC and regional schools to facilitate hiring and workforce training.
“Eaton’s new operation in Union County, which will bring 700 jobs to the area, reflects confidence in South Carolina’s skilled workforce,” said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. “This investment marks a significant milestone for Eaton and the region.”
“Eaton’s expansion will generate job opportunities and stimulate the local economy,” said Senator Tim Scott. “South Carolina continues to attract major investments that drive economic growth.”
“Electrical power demand is rising, and our solutions support energy systems across the utility grid, industrial operations, data centers, and buildings,” said Mike Yelton, president, Americas Region, Electrical Sector at Eaton. “We appreciate the support in South Carolina, where Eaton has a strong manufacturing and innovation presence. This investment underscores our commitment to expanding production and creating jobs to
Congressman Ralph Norman also commented, “South Carolina’s business-friendly environment and strong workforce make it an ideal location for Eaton’s expansion. We look forward to the lasting impact of this investment.”
In addition to
the new South Carolina facility, Eaton will continue producing three-phase transformers in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and single-phase pole-mount and pad-mount transformers in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Since 2023, Eaton has invested over $1 billion in North American manufacturing to support increased demand for power distribution solutions, including transformers, voltage regulators, switchgear, switchboards, and circuit breakers. This expansion aligns with the company’s broader strategy to enhance electric grid infrastructure and energy resilience.
Eaton
NEMA Responds to Trump Administration’s Tariff Policies
The electric utility industry is closely monitoring the latest tariff policies introduced by the Trump Administration, as concerns grow over potential disruptions to supply chains and infrastructure projects. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has responded with a call for collaboration to safeguard the stability of the U.S. electrical system and support domestic manufacturing.
In a statement following Trump’s announcement of a universal 10% tariff on imports, NEMA President and CEO Debra Phillips emphasized the critical role that electrical manufacturers play in the nation’s economy. She highlighted that since 2018, the industry has invested over $185 billion in domestic production, creating thousands of jobs and bolstering the availability of key electrical products.
“The electroindustry has one of the most complex global supply chains of any sector,” Phillips stated. “We urge
the Trump Administration to prioritize business certainty, U.S. competitiveness, and realistic transition periods for moving key supply chains. Minimizing the impact on critical manufacturing sectors is essential to maintaining a secure and reliable grid.”
The electrical manufacturing industry is a major contributor to U.S. trade, ranking as the second-largest exporter and importer of manufactured goods. With the North American electrical system serving as a backbone for economic growth and infrastructure development, industry leaders stress the need for trade policies that enable continued investment in U.S. manufacturing and energy production.
It has been difficult, if not impossible to predict the effect of tariffs on the power delivery industry; uncertainty has been the norm as far as that goes. News articles from January and February are already outdated, as some tariffs that were threatened did not take effect, or
there has been uncertainty in whether certain commodities or goods qualified and at what rate. However, yesterday Trump announced a 10% “baseline” tariff on imports to the U.S. Sixty countries are to be hit with higher rates of up to 50%, while countries in the European Union face a 20% tariff. The tariffs are set to take effect April 5 on some, and April 9 on the rest. Trump also confirmed previously announced tariffs on specific goods, including 25% on steel and aluminium.
Despite these challenges, NEMA has said it remains committed to strengthening domestic production through its “Make It American” initiative. This program aligns with the Build America, Buy America Act, aiming to ensure that manufacturers can confidently produce compliant electrical goods while supporting American workers and communities.
“The electroindustry supports the Trump Administration’s objectives to strengthen the U.S. energy system and expand our manufacturing base,” Phillips added. “We encourage collaboration to develop trade policies that align with these goals while ensuring the continued reliability of our power infrastructure.”
As electric utilities navigate these evolving trade dynamics, industry stakeholders will continue advocating for policies that balance economic growth with grid modernization and energy security. The coming months will be critical in determining how utilities, manufacturers, and policymakers work together to address these pressing challenges.
Dominion Energy shares how it is planning for the data center boom.
By KATELYNN VANCE, Dominion Energy Inc., and JUSTIN ETHEREDGE, Simple Thread
Today, data centers are becoming larger and increasingly power hungry due to society’s rapid digitization and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). The proliferation of digital devices and services is driving unprecedented demand for computation. This shift has positioned data centers as one of the leading contributors to load growth worldwide in the coming decades and will undoubtedly be a key contributor to Virginia’s expected 85% increase in power demand over the next 15 years.
The scale of this growth is staggering, and with the U.S. government increasingly pushing for AI leadership, it is only set to
grow from here. With announcements of multi-gigawatt data centers appearing almost weekly in the news, energy demands are set to skyrocket. PJM Interconnection LLC estimates that the Dominion Energy zone will almost double its summer peak load in the next 15 years, from about 22 GW in 2023 to roughly 42 GW in 2038, as shown in PJM’s long-term load forecast report and Dominion Energy’s latest integrated resource plan.
Achieving this level of growth presents monumental challenges. Doubling the capacity of the grid in just 15 years requires massive investments in both generation capacity and transmission infrastructure. Compounding these challenges is the growing
necessity to transition to cleaner energy sources, as mandated by state and corporate sustainability goals.
To address these hurdles, Dominion Energy recognized the need for smarter, more sustainable planning methods. With the stakes higher than ever, the utility set out on a path to modernize grid planning and ensure the reliable delivery of power in the face of explosive load growth.
Digital Transformation
As the energy industry evolves to meet the demands of a more interconnected and electrified world, Dominion Energy has
been on a strategic digital transformation path to enhance operational efficiency, improve reliability and support its ambitious sustainability goals.
One of the early strategic technology initiatives identified was the need for a more precise and scalable approach to managing planned outages of the transmission network in the operational planning time horizon. As the capital project volume increased, the number of necessary outages also grew, creating greater complexity in maintaining reliability. Because the system must uphold N-1 security, outages cannot simply be scheduled at will — they must be carefully coordinated to prevent risks to grid
A Dominion substation.
Photo courtesy of Dominion.
reliability. However, the sheer number of outage permutations made it impossible to study them effectively using traditional methods. Without the ability to analyze these outages at scale, the complexities of scheduling often result in frequent rescheduling or delays, significantly driving up operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.
To address this need, Dominion Energy created a platform called Analysis on Demand (ANODE) that leverages large-scale modeling and simulation to provide an evergreen view of the entire outage schedule. This capability is especially critical when capital expenditures are high and the grid is operating with minimal margin, such as during periods of massive load growth. Through comprehensive outage analysis, ANODE helps to minimize O&M expenditures and maximize capital efficiency, enabling projects to be executed with improved reliability and predictability.
The success and extensibility of the ANODE platform laid the groundwork for further innovations. Building on its methodologies and insights, Dominion Energy’s strategic initiatives team tackled other critical challenges, such as long-term load integration planning. The team recognized the principles underlying ANODE — that is, operational planning data visualization, predictive analysis and scenario testing — could be applied to address the rapidly growing demand for power. This led to the development of tools like the Hosting Capacity Analysis platform, which provides a comprehensive view of the transmission grid’s
ability to accommodate new loads and can also be adapted to evaluate generation.
A Better Way to Plan
Before this project began, analyzing the transmission grid’s ability to accommodate incremental load, often referred to as hosting capacity, was a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. Distribution-level hosting capacity, which has been a concept for years, is easier to evaluate because the system is connected radially. Transmission-level analysis is more complicated due to the networked nature of the system. Because the transmission system operates as a graph network rather than a radial one, changes in load growth or generation in one area can significantly impact capacity in other areas. There are also significantly more regulations placed on the planning and operations of the transmission network by the regulatory body, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
Because of this complexity, each study often required several weeks to manually run different data scenarios and compile results. As the demand for these studies increased, it became clear the existing process was unsustainable. The team recognized the need for a more efficient and scalable approach to keep pace with this growth. Automating these analyses quickly emerged as a critical first step.
The Dominion Energy team required a method to identify the optimal locations for these centers, considering cost, logistics and
focus on the tool’s core objectives. Simple Thread’s expertise proved invaluable, helping to transform a complex problem into a practical and effective solution.
other factors. Since no out-of-the-box tools exist for this purpose and no standard methodology is available for such studies, an in-house standard for conducting hosting capacity analyses at the transmission level had to be developed. Additionally, a tool capable of performing these computationally intensive studies at scale was necessary.
Hosting Capacity Analysis
This vision led to the creation of Hosting Capacity Analysis, a tool codeveloped by Dominion Energy, Simple Thread and Right Analytics LLC. Building on Dominion Energy and Simple Thread’s successful collaboration on ANODE and other projects, the team combined expertise in power systems, user experience and software engineering to design a solution that is both user friendly and powerful. The result is a customized modeling and visualization tool that delivers insights into the evolving transmission capacity in Dominion Energy’s service area.
The team began by developing and rigorously vetting an analysis methodology to ensure it was the right approach. This critical first step was designed to confirm their proposed methods for tackling the challenge would perform effectively across the various scenarios under consideration. Establishing this foundation was essential for all subsequent work.
One of the key challenges was scaling a solution that was inherently geographical while also accounting for network topology as it iterated through N-1 and N-1-1 scenarios. The task required integrating multiple layers of data while maintaining a clear
Simple Thread collaborated closely with Dominion Energy’s and Right Analytics’ internal teams to evolve the prototype from a set of power systems analysis and data mapping scripts into a fully functional, production-ready tool that lowered the bar rier to entry for someone looking to ask what-if questions. The result was a scalable, flexible and user-friendly platform that was visually intuitive and, most importantly, highly actionable for business development and planning purposes.
With the Hosting Capacity Analysis software now in place, team members can input all relevant variables into a scenario and quickly generate a detailed report outlining how that sce nario would impact the available capacity on the transmission network. The tool identifies transmission bottlenecks by run ning contingency analyses under various conditions, allowing planners to pinpoint areas of the grid with sufficient capacity for new loads. Users can also configure new scenarios and execute studies based on custom assumptions, giving them the flexibility to adapt as conditions change.
The impact has been transformative. What once took weeks of effort can now be accomplished in just a few hours. If ad justments are needed, planners can modify inputs and rerun scenarios almost instantly, enabling faster decision-making and reducing downtime between iterations. This level of efficiency ensures discussions can move forward without the delays that previously hindered progress.
This analysis is crucial for Dominion Energy’s planning team as an infrastructure investment tool, but it is also critical for customers.
A few screens from the Hosting Capacity Analysis application showing how studies are queued and processed. Graphic courtesy of Simple Thread.
Whether it is load or supply, it all must be balanced and it all uses the same wires. The same transmission planning tool initially designed to evaluate grid capacity for new demand can also be adapted to study optimal connection points for new generation. As clean energy generation continues to grow, the potential benefits of using a unified tool for both demand and supply are challenging to quantify but easy to envision.
Although Dominion Energy does not currently leverage this functionality — since it falls under PJM’s responsibility — the tool could play a role in supporting aspects of FERC Order 2023, which in part seeks to accelerate the integration of clean energy.
Solution Highlights
The Hosting Capacity Analysis tool delivers transformative benefits:
• Utility providers, policymakers and business development have an easier time understanding the impact new development has on the grid.
• Scenario questions that previously took weeks to answer can now be answered in a matter of days or hours.
• Accessibility has increased with a larger number of employees being able to use the software.
By combining user experience expertise, engineering ingenuity and cutting-edge software, Dominion Energy, Simple Thread and Right Analytics have partnered to create a solution that is not just meeting today’s challenges but also laying the groundwork
ASPEN
ENGINEERING SOFTWARE
for a smarter future in Virginia and beyond.
As an important footnote, Dominion Energy, Simple Thread and Right Analytics submitted the project for the AmericanMade Digitizing Utilities Prize from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity and won both rounds. The award recognizes innovative tools and data analytics to address the vast amounts of data on the grid, while accelerating electrification and renewable energy integration.
Acknowledgments
The project team included Katelynn Vance, Amirreza Sahami, Nathan Rice, Andrea Pinceti and Kevin Jones from Dominion Energy; Nick Agliano, David Leyden and Spencer Hansen from Simple Thread; and Saman Babei and Hanif Livani from Right Analytics.
KATELYNN VANCE is manager of electric transmission planning and strategic initiatives at Dominion Energy. She leads operational and planning teams focused on solving complex challenges not traditionally addressed within the utility.
JUSTIN ETHEREDGE (justin@simplethread.com) is cofounder and CEO of Simple Thread. With nearly 25 years of experience as a software engineer, Etheredge leads a multidisciplinary team of software engineers, designers and power systems experts. Together, they leverage decades of industry expertise to design and build digital solutions tailored to the complex challenges facing the energy and utility sectors.
OneLiner
Short circuit, relay coordination and breaker rating for transmission networks.
Power Flow
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DistriView
Fault simulation, relay and fuse coordination, voltage drop, harmonic analysis, and reliability calculation for distribution networks.
Relay Database
Customizable database for relays and related equipment.
Line Database
Customizable database for overhead lines and underground cables with built-in electrical parameters calculation engine.
EDX Module
Customizable platform for collaborative OneLiner/Power Flow model building and database-driven model data management.
ComEd Powers the Future with a Focus on Community
The Illinois utility shares five of its strategies to recruit and train talented and local candidates and keep them safe in the field.
By AMY FISCHBACH, Field Editor
Illinois will move toward 100 percent clean and renewable energy by 2050 as part of its landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). For ComEd, the electric utility serving 70 percent of the state’s customers and communities, this will bring expanded solar and EVs and advancements in grid technology to support a low-carbon future — and all of this will require a skilled and diverse talent pipeline to move toward these goals. In fact, a recent ComEd-commissioned study finds that the clean energy transition will create as many as 150,000 jobs in Illinois by 2050.
As it builds its future clean energy workforce, ComEd is taking steps to reflect the vibrant communities it serves, including more than 9 million people from a variety of backgrounds, who speak more than 50 languages and live in both rural and urban areas.
“Diversity and inclusion are central to our efforts to ensure a strong and productive workforce that will power ComEd well into the future,” said Erin Howe, ComEd manager of operations planning and analysis. “As our near 6,600-strong workforce advances the clean energy goals of the communities we serve, we will continue our efforts of recruiting and building a highly skilled talent pool to meet the need.”
Here are four ways the utility is focusing on strengthening its workforce to meet clean energy goals.
Enrique Garcia, training instructor at ComEd Chicago Training Center, coaches a Women’s Climb Clinic participant as she climbs a practice utility pole.
Photos courtesy of ComEd.
1. Focus on trades training and STEM education.
ComEd has targeted efforts to reduce barriers and reach varied candidates through its award-winning trades training and STEM education programs, some of which offer utility pole climb training and test prep sessions for the Construction and Skilled Trades (CAST) exam, an industry-required test.
In 2018, ComEd entered an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 15 to expand entry-level trades opportunities tied to CEJA and FEJA (Future Energy Jobs Act). Since then, ComEd has hired more than 1,000 construction workers and overhead helpers — those starting their journey to become future lineworkers. In July 2024, ComEd unveiled its seventh training center in northern Illinois to boost training opportunities across the communities it serves.
Illinois also has several top-rated colleges and engineering and STEM programs.
“ComEd employs the best and the brightest, and through collaboration with a variety of local and regional partners, we’re able to recruit and open pathways for more people who have an interest in construction and the utilities to enter our field,” Howe said. “We’re also fortunate
here in Illinois to be able to draw upon some of the best talent and one of the most educated workforces in the nation.”
2. Expand internal and external training programs.
The utility is taking a comprehensive approach to meeting future workforce demands, which includes growing both
Andrea Simmons, ComEd crew leader, demonstrates how to climb a utility pole to participants of a March 2025 Women’s Climb Clinic for a first-hand look at what it takes to join the electrical trades.
Right: Simmons helps a Women’s Climb Clinic participant put on her personal protective equipment.
internal and external training programs offered in partnership with many organizations in its region, to ensure its employees and candidates have the skills needed to build the clean energy grid of the future.
“Within the company, we are continuing job rotations and cross-training to ensure current employees maintain a broad skillset and knowledge of the latest technology and industry requirements,” Howe said. “In addition, mentoring programs are offered to ensure employees have the support and sponsorship they need to navigate our company and the energy industry.”
ComEd is also upskilling local jobseekers and inspiring youth for future clean energy jobs through its suite of workforce development programs.
“We launched three new programs in 2023 which, along with our established job training and STEM education programs, reached more than 2,000 individuals,” Howe said. “One of the newest programs, the Power Up Academy, is a career training program designed to
prepare more area men and women for in-demand technical roles in the energy sector without requiring a college degree.
The program was accredited by the City Colleges of Chicago in November, meaning that past and future participants are eligible for up to a semester’s worth of
“ComEd is leveling the playing field to career success in the overhead world by making the necessary modifications so that anyone, regardless of age, shape or size, can excel at being a proficient climber.”
college credits to help them advance their education and career in the engineering field.”
Since 2013, ComEd’s trades training program, the CONSTRUCT
Infrastructure Academy, has graduated more than 900 members of the community and connected more than 70 percent of them to full-time jobs.
“These programs are successful thanks to the strong partnerships we’ve built with key community agencies, education organizations and sponsoring companies across our service region,” Howe said.
For example, Central States SER, a local non-profit, recently awarded ComEd the El Cambio Advocates for Change Award for its adult workforce programming.
“It’s a coalition of agency partners and potential employers, powered by the relationships cultivated within the community, that allow for local, rising talent to get connected to rewarding career opportunities,” Howe said.
3. Enhance recruitment to reach more women in the line trade. Due to ComEd’s efforts to be inclusive in its hiring and recruitment processes, the utility has made considerable progress in bringing more women into the field.
Ashley Siwula, ComEd overhead lineworker, provides a safety refresher to Women’s Climb Clinic participants before they begin practicing climbing the utility pole
“From kicking off all-female utility pole climb clinics, to creating safety equipment fitted for women in field positions, ComEd continues to invest in creating an inclusive work culture at a company where women reflect about half of all executive leadership roles,” Howe said.
Industry-wide, female participation in craft roles is 4.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the last year, ComEd hired more women into entrylevel field positions that lead to becoming a lineworker, representing a more than 70 percent increase in women in craft positions at the company in one year.
“This is just the beginning, and through our partnerships with local education and workforce agencies, as well as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 15, we collaborate toward progress in not only bringing more women into the field but also setting them up for success in their careers,” Howe said.
Physical labor required in the field is a challenge encountered by all apprentices. For example, overhead line workers need
to be able to lift 50 lbs. of equipment on top of their own body weight when climbing utility poles.
That’s why, in 2022, ComEd launched the first-ever all-female climb clinics where women who were interested in joining the overhead apprenticeship program could practice climbing utility poles, which is required to pass employment testing. Since then, ComEd has seen an increase in women applying for trades roles. This points to the success of the program’s effort to raise awareness among, but not limited to women, on the good-paying and impactful jobs within the trades through recruitment and outreach in partnership with IBEW Local 15.
4. Ensure inclusivity and safety by expanding protective equipment and clothing offerings.
As ComEd builds a talent pipeline to support the clean energy transition in Illinois, more women are joining the ranks of field workers ready to maintain and modernize the power grid. With safety as its utmost
priority, this increase in different-sized frames prompted ComEd to look deeper into how safety gear can be improved to fit and protect women while working overhead.
Some of the safety equipment that must be worn by overhead lineworkers includes body belts and “climbers,” which are stirrups with gaffs that enable lineworkers to ascend, descend or secure their position on a pole.
Tim Griffin, an instructor at ComEd’s Chicago training center, recalled some female overhead students wearing loosefitting climbers and having difficulty keeping the body belt in the desired location while ascending the pole.
“As we recruit and train more people to join the clean energy workforce, we need to innovate our equipment to accommodate a growing number of workers with varying body types to ensure the safety of anyone who is interested in becoming a lineworker,” he said.
A properly worn pair of climbers extend from the instep to below the knee, and
climbing boots should fit snuggly in the stirrups. The perfect fit can be difficult to achieve for people with smaller or narrower feet and below 5 ft, 5 in. in height. Since women are 5 ft, 3½ in., on average, it’s more likely that they will have fit issues. Another key piece of safety equipment is the body belt that goes around lineworkers’ hips for support while off the ground. This belt has been designed for the male body since its introduction more than a century ago, even as other enhancements were introduced to improve comfort and safety. Last year, ComEd commissioned shorter and narrower climbers from an equipment
vendor, Buckingham Manufacturing, and received several sets for trainees across ComEd’s overhead training sites. ComEd’s safety team also worked closely with Buckingham to pilot a two-in-one body harness that combines shoulder and leg straps to ensure a secure hold on the worker while up high. Both male and female ComEd apprentices field-tested these prototypes between 2023 and 2024. Narrower climbers have been available for employees since June 2023, and as of December 6, 2024, ComEd employees can order a Safety-approved two-in-one body belt and harness. Asianay Johnson, an overhead basic
school apprentice for ComEd, says when she started the initial overhead qualification school, she was so small she couldn’t fit into the company-approved belts. When she was introduced to the harness, it allowed her to become more comfortable and confident in her climbing abilities.
“ComEd is leveling the playing field to career success in the overhead world by making the necessary modifications so that anyone, regardless of age, shape or size, can excel at being a proficient climber,” Johnson says. “The gender wall is coming down, and I look forward to seeing more women enter this line of work.”
Besides hardhats and safety glasses, one of the most important pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for field workers in the energy sector are flame resistant (FR) garments. FR clothing protects workers who may become exposed to an electrical arc flash or flash fire and are properly worn as the outer layer of clothes.
FR shirts, for example, are properly worn buttoned and tucked into pants, with sleeves rolled down. That’s why as more women join the trades workforce in the energy field, companies like ComEd must be able to provide comfortable workwear that will keep employees safe, regardless of their size, shape or gender.
In 2022, ComEd’s Safety team kicked off an FR committee, lead largely by craft employees, in close collaboration with the employee union IBEW Local 15, and fire-retardant vendor, Tyndale, to provide female field workers with an extensive collection of women’s FR clothing and work boots.
Upon providing employee feedback, Tyndale got to work right away. The company has since periodically sent new clothing for female field workers to test across the seasons and requests feedback for the continuous improvement of inclusive PPE.
“It’s not enough to provide the same PPE men wear in smaller sizes,” Howe said. “By offering a wide variety of clothing dimensions, we are catering to diverse frames, ensuring the best fit and comfort that’s essential for workers to stay safe.”
AMY FISCHBACH (amyfischbach@gmail.com) is the Field Editor for T&D World magazine.
Asianay Johnson, ComEd overhead apprentice, climbs a practice utility pole at the ComEd Chicago Training Center wearing the standard lineworker body belt.
Queensland Grid Overhaul Underway
A key component of the plan includes repurposing aging rotating assets to operate as synchronous condensers.
By DREW ROBB, Contributing Writer
Australia is a vast landmass. It is about 2500 miles (4023 km) between Perth on the West Coast to Brisbane in the East. Population centers are so far apart that grid infrastructure is largely localized. Even within states like Queensland, the transmission network weakens when moving away from the Brisbane metro area in the south. Towns to the north, like Cairns and Townsville, are around 1000 miles (1609 km) away. It is another 500 miles (805 km) to the rich mining area of Mount Isa to the West, and that is still not at the border with neighboring Northern Territory.
Transmission strength has been a problem for years. Now, it finally is getting the attention it deserves as part of the Queensland SuperGrid. This initiative is largely in response to the build-out of renewables. Generation from renewables has doubled over the past decade and currently accounts for around 30% of the state’s total electricity generation. Many more large-scale solar and wind generation projects are either under construction or in the development stage.
The state’s goal is to switch from 70% coal generation in 2023 to 70% renewables by 2032. That is only attainable if the transmission network gets an overhaul. As such, 8.1 GW of coal is being phased out with 25 GW of large-scale wind and solar, 7 GW of rooftop solar, 3 GW of battery storage and 6 GW of pumped hydro storage (PHS). To boost system stress, add stability to the grid and compensate for lack of reactive power, the
plan includes repurposing aging rotating assets to operate as synchronous condensers (SCs).
“Australia needs strong grids to meet its 2030 decarbonization goals,” said Darren John Garwood, head of field sales Pacific region, gas services, Siemens Energy Inc. “RATCH Australia’s Townsville power station in northern Queensland will contribute to grid stability by converting its gas turbine and generator to a hybrid rotating grid stabilizer. It can instantly switch from power generation to grid stabilization mode, preventing potential blackouts.”
Three Upgrade Zones
The conversion project has been split into three Queensland renewable energy zones (QREZ), and work is already underway. The first phase involves adding four new high-voltage (up to 500-kV) backbone transmission projects to connect 6 GW of new renewable capacity. Additionally, two PHS facilities totaling 2 GW will store excess renewable energy for demand centers on the coast.
For example, the northern town of Townsville is getting a 466-mile (750-km), 500-kV line to connect it to a new PHS plant and larger load centers to the south. Farther inland to the west of Townsville lies the 20-MW Hughenden solar farm, which is earmarked for expansion with a 5-GW wind farm. Another 230-mile (370-km), 500-kV line will be required to bring that
energy to where it is needed. In addition, tentative plans consist of extending these lines to connect Mount Isa where mining operations can take advantage of Hughenden’s output.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) recognizes the consequences of retiring massive amounts of coal generation and downgrading natural gas combined cycle units to peaking operation. To address these challenges, ARENA aims to improve system strength and inertia services while expanding the transmission network.
“Retirement of fossil-fuel generation, particularly large coalfired power stations, is projected to reduce both system strength and inertia,” according to a June 2023 ARENA report. “The international energy transition and adoption of more inverterbased renewable generation is driving international demand for
large SCs. One possible solution is to convert existing fossil-fueled generators, which are synchronous machines, into SCs. At face value, this should provide a cost-effective way of providing the required security services.”
Three-Pronged Approach
The agency believes repurposing generators as SCs is an economical way to provide system strength, add inertia, provide reactive power for voltage control and reduce the number of faults. Modeling by grid operator Powerlink Queensland and analysis from consultancy Ernst & Young LLC supported ARENA findings. As a result, Powerlink and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) are embarking on a series of projects to support ongoing transmission upgrades. The grid operator has adopted a three-pronged approach:
1. Adding more battery energy storage systems (BESS) to store excess renewable energy for use when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining and take some stress off the grid at times of high renewable output
2. Introducing at least two new stand-alone SC machines at a cost of around US$80 million each
3. Converting gas turbines into SCs — about half the cost and half the lead time of new SCs. Some of these turbines will be brand new (Queensland is adding 3 GW of new gas turbine plants as part of its SuperGrid) while other turbines are aging units that have typically seen their hours of operation downgraded from baseload to the provision of peaking power when needed.
Townsville Power Plant in Queensland, Australia.
Photo courtesy of Ratch Australia.
Photo
Townsville Upgrades
Australian utility RATCH owns a power station in Townsville, Queensland, that lies at the intersection of much of the expansion called for in the SuperGrid. As more renewable energy floods
allowing the generator to rotate at 3000 rpm without the gas turbine to provide inertia, voltage control, short-circuit power and other grid stabilization services for the network. Its shortcircuit contribution will be between 350 MVA and 400 MVA,
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Entergy Shares Strategies for Storm Response
The utility describes four tactics for better restoration from the 2024 hurricane season.
By BILL PERRY, Contributing Writer
Before the first hurricane of the season even makes landfall, electric utilities strengthen their systems, practice response strategies and create a proactive approach to restoration. In a typical year, about seven hurricanes, including three major ones, hit the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Last year, the Atlantic hurricane season encompassed 11 hurricanes, including three major ones, some of which have directly impacted Entergy’s service territory.
Over the last 25 years, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has given New Orleansheadquartered Entergy 48 Emergency Response Awards for the way it tackles storm outage recovery and assistance. Entergy’s approach may help other utilities across North America consider different priorities for restoration or double-down on the things they are already pursuing.
With the uptick in storm activity, Entergy and its contractors were busier than ever restoring power for customers and neighboring power companies. To mitigate the increased strength and frequency of severe weather hitting its service
territory, Entergy, among other things, continues building a more resilient grid.
“Resilience is not only the strength of the system but also how quickly we recover and restore power to our customers following severe weather,” said Dakin DuBroc, vice president of incident response for Entergy.
Looking Back on the 2024 Hurricanes
Among last year’s challenges for Entergy were Hurricanes Beryl and Francine. Beryl made landfall on July 8, 2024, as a Category 1 hurricane near Matagorda, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and 97 mph gusts. Beryl also notched the record for the most tornadoes produced by a single storm in the region.
“Within five days, we restored power to approximately 90 percent of customers
who could safely receive power,” DuBroc said.
Francine, a Category 2 storm, made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, on September 11, 2024, with sustained winds of about 100 mph. After landfall, the center of the storm moved northward into Mississippi. Service was disrupted for about 316,000 customers, but within four days, Entergy restored 100 percent of its customers who could safely receive power.
According to DuBroc, the speed with which restoration happened during Beryl and Francine is partly attributable to resilience investments like constructing raised substations, undergrounding feeders where possible and hardening distribution poles.
As Francine cut across the eastern portion of Louisiana, 437 poles Entergy
Entergy crews work with contractors during Hurricane Beryl restoration.
Photo courtesy of Entergy.
recently installed as part of its Entergy Future Ready resilience strategy sustained zero damage. In the wake of Francine, customers on Grand Isle, Louisiana, which extends like a finger into the Gulf of Mexico, saw little to no power outages, which is attributed to upgrades made after Hurricane Ida in 2021, DuBroc said,
During Beryl, which affected Texas’ Bolivar Peninsula, Entergy reported no damage to new poles installed in this location as part of its resiliency effort. A new substation on the peninsula and another under construction are elevated, and neither sustained damage from wind nor storm surge, DuBroc said. These measures are part of Entergy’s effort to increase the wind standard at which the utility builds new equipment across its transmission and distribution system.
Changes in the Utility-Contractor Relationship
Many utility contractors and their trade allies have evolved from “chasing storm work” to operating in a way that mirrors
storm-ready utilities like Entergy, said Mike Zappone, chief operating officer at Tempest Energy, which delivers storm response services for utilities across the United States and Canada.
Zappone said that contractors must continually develop their skills and know-how while assessing qualifications via resources like ISNetworld. Utility professionals say contractors who stand out are, in part,
RESILIENT STRUCTURES FOR A RELIABLE GRID
As severe weather events intensify around the world, electric power grids are increasingly tested by hurricanes, ice storms and wildfires. In the face of these challenges, more than ever before, we need to stay connected – to the electrical grid and to each other. Resilient Structures composite poles have demonstrated near perfect performance by reliably standing strong in nature’s harshest conditions. Engineered to be resilient, safe and environmentally sound they are the new standard in grid reliability.
A Louisiana distribution operations center optimizes communication during Hurricane Francine. Pictured, from left to right, are Drew Angelloz, Entergy operations coordinator; Timothy Santos, Entergy distribution dispatch supervisor; and Felton Coleman, Entergy Louisiana distribution control center manager, in the switch room at the Louisiana Distribution Operations Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
the ones embracing technology and at the forefront of innovation. An example of that could be developing a cloud-based health, safety and environmental orientation tool or a mobile app to reduce the time to confirm the availability of storm restoration resources.
“Establishing objectives from the outset to consistently communicate with the public, regulators and local, state and federal officials helps everyone know the extent of damage and when they can expect power to be restored,” Zappone said.
Making contract crews feel safe and familiar with processes requires technology, usually in multiple languages whether they are working on overhead line distribution, vegetation management or other disciplines, Zappone said.
“Contractors have to think like the utilities they work for,” said Zappone, who retired from Eversource before joining Tempest Energy. “If you’re going to work and drive tens of thousands of hours and miles on a system without incident, a contractor has to leverage technology to get in lock step with a utility.”
Outlining Four Tactics for Better Restoration
When asked what utilities planning for major events in other parts of North
America can learn from the 2024 hurricane season, DuBroc and Zappone offered the following.
1. Make safety job one.
Entergy’s emergency action plan protects workers, contractors and the public by preparing for and preventing the risks with downed power lines and restoration. The plan includes provisions for only qualified personnel providing oversight to crews, heat-stress mitigation and limiting the number of workers any lead can effectively and efficiently oversee.
Tempest Energy, for example, worked 81,000 hours for Entergy without a safety or environmental incident in 2023, which led to winning the utility’s 2024 Storm Response Award. Zappone said part of why that happened was anticipating what the incident response team needed while balancing a sense of urgency with safety.
“Any third parties used during restoration efforts are trained in our expectations and requirements before beginning work,” DuBroc said. “We are monitoring and managing workers’ potential fatigue, which includes restrictions on how many hours they work each day.”
The payoff: For Beryl, Entergy’s native and contract crews worked about 341,000 hours with no serious injuries.
During Francine, crews worked more than 550,000 hours without a single severe injury.
2. Prepare, prevent and predict.
In advance of Francine, Entergy’s teams patrolled more than 1,200 miles, trimmed overhanging tree limbs at about 1,400 locations and removed 340 trees that threatened electrical infrastructure, DuBroc said. The work helped reduce outages from vegetation contacting electrical infrastructure and mitigated the potential for trees and limbs falling and blocking access to assets. Entergy also pre-staged crews and equipment as close as it safely could in areas the utility expected the hurricane would impact, which expedited restoration.
In addition, Entergy continuously improves its processes to have the right resources in place at the right time for restoration. Hurricanes Francine and Beryl gave Entergy the opportunity to launch an enhanced resource and logistics planning tool. With the tool, the utility collaborated simultaneously across its transmission, distribution, supply chain and incident response groups to prepare prior to each storm’s landfall. Entergy also tapped technology called Storm-DEPART, shorthand for the Damage Estimation, Prediction and Resource Tool.
“Storm-DEPART uses national hurricane forecast data and Entergy asset data to provide predictions for distribution and transmission assets, which helps determine resources,” DuBroc said.
3. Apply new technologies for assessment.
Entergy also optimized how it assessed damage to its system by using a new application dubbed the Damage Assessment Collection Tool, or DACT. With the tool, assessors in the field cataloged things like broken poles and damaged transformers in real time and digitally transferred the information to the restoration planning team. Assessors accessed online maps in DACT to relay the exact location of damage. Both native and non-native crews use DACT as part of restoration.
Zappone said smaller utilities may not have the workforce to quickly assess storm damage. Some rely on paper maps and
Entergy transmission crews work with contractors to replace damaged insulators via airboats in Chauvin, Louisiana after Hurricane Francine.
Expediting restoration ultimately “requires the right processes, electronic tools and trained personnel in place well in advance of a storm,” DuBroc said.
BILL PERRY (bperry@march24media.com) is a New York-based freelance writer who has covered the utility, manufacturing and software industries for more than 20 years.
highlighters to report and track restoration efforts.
“This is an area where contractors, with experienced damage assessors and managers, can be an efficient resource to augment or even lead a smaller utility’s storm center operations,” Zappone said. “Contractors and vendors are also developing technology to replace manual damage assessment processes, particularly for smaller municipalities and cooperatives.”
4. Build new lines of communication.
Establishing community partnerships between government and incident commanders before a storm is a critical opportunity to set priorities for re-energizing assets. Through meetings with utilities and contractors, government officials can highlight the importance of what might otherwise be a low-visibility location like a water or sewage treatment plant.
By keeping an eye on people who are changing roles, whether at a utility, government agency or contractor, an opportunity arises to educate new contacts. By understanding the overall storm plan, someone who is otherwise new to his or her position can then effectively contribute when a storm strikes.
“Building and maintaining these connections before a major outage ultimately means smoother communication because people know one another and the priorities; that helps with faster restoration of services for constituents,” Zappone said. “Don’t let the worst time be the first time you discuss plans, priorities and expectations.”
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The Edison Electric Institute recently awarded Entergy with its 50th Emergency Response Award, recognizing the dedication and excellence of its power restoration workers during and after Hurricane Francine.
To face the challenges associated with climate change, mounting energy prices, limited resources, and concerns about security of supply, innovative solutions will be key.
As the world’s dual transition towards a digital and sustainable future is challenging how businesses leverage technology to achieve their sustainability goals, it has become evident that modern technology is providing answers to some of our society’s oldest challenges.
While technology may hold the key to maintaining the longevity of our planet, many organizations continue to struggle with finding the right ESG investments and solutions for their needs. The current state of sustainability and facility management is evolving rapidly, driven by increasing awareness of environmental impacts and the need for energy efficiency. At Capgemini, we have worked to combine digital engineering, hybrid intelligence, and IoT to optimize building assets consuming energy and help organizations accelerate their sustainability efforts. We call this effort the Energy Command Center (ECC).
Research shows that the operations of buildings account for 30% of global final energy consumption and 26% of global energyrelated emissions. With capabilities such as real-time monitoring and predictive analytics enabled by platforms like the ECC,
enterprises can easily monitor their energy consumption and ensure optimal efficiency.
To face the challenges associated with climate change, mounting energy prices, limited resources, and concerns about security of supply, innovative solutions are the key to optimizing energy resources and pushing a sustainable future.
Rethinking Consumption
This year, government policies, volatile market forces, and societal demands are reshaping the pace and direction of the energy transition agenda. With the widespread recognition of climate change as a leading cause of future operational disruptions, 57% of global business leaders believe their business’ investment in clean tech will rise over the next 2-3 years. This is only heightened by global economic incentives such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan.
And while 52% of businesses are expected to increase their sustainability investments in the next year, there are several challenges across the building sector and facility management, such
Opposite: A skyscraper’s facade in Sydney, Australia. Research shows that the operations of buildings account for 30% of global final energy consumption and 26% of global energy-related emissions.
as slow adoption of new solutions, inefficient processes, outdated and siloed systems, and reactive rather than predictive solutions that result in waste, higher costs, and inadequate decision making. Retrofitting or upgrading existing infrastructure will have a direct impact on the cost and scale of implementation as businesses justify the return on investment (ROI) for a building that’s already been utilized for most of its life.
Today, almost 80% of CO2 emissions come from energy. It is crucial for leaders to understand the carbon footprint of their facilities, specifically with growing regulatory risks and increased gas and electricity prices. The adoption of new solutions like the ECC will not only help enterprises address customer challenges regarding measuring and reporting, but also directly improve their bottom line as operations become more efficient with data-driven decisions. The platform will also assist businesses in meeting ESG reporting compliance and achieving their overall sustainability goals for carbon emissions reduction and net zero targets.
Although we are seeing new buildings inherently designed to be greener and more energy efficient, leveraging emerging technologies to address waste for buildings that need to be retrofitted is the fastest and least capital-intensive solution to reduce energy use, costs, and emissions.
Mastering Enterprise-Wide Efficiency
By leveraging an IoT-based architecture, the ECC platform has extensive monitoring and management capabilities. For example, the ECC monitors and manages all of Capgemini’s energy usage across India.
There are several capabilities required for a dynamic and proactive solution like ECC to thrive. These include:
• Offline reporting: Provides reporting on basic KPIs related to energy usage and carbon footprint, alongside trend analysis that offers insights to enable the journey towards net zero energy.
• Dynamic real-time monitoring: Through alerts, events, and notifications, the ECC facilitates connected equipment visualization and real-time assessment of energy usage and carbon impact.
• Proactive control and optimization: Leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) based advanced controls to drive highly efficient energy management and decarbonization efforts with prescriptive equipment maintenance through real-time monitoring and energy optimization.
With this platform fully operational, enterprises can measure and predict various metrics such as indoor air quality, energy intensity, water usage, the health of critical assets and operations, renewable energy generation, and the overall performance.
The proactive approach and applied learnings of IoT, AI, and ML developed in-house is what makes a platform like the ECC unique. Paired with inherent knowledge and understanding of
the facility ecosystem and an innovative partnership with Schneider Electric, the ECC has driven a delivered impact of 29% in energy reduction across Capgemini’s eight campuses in India.
Owning Your Strategy
The sustainability journey is unique to every organization. Whether it is to achieve net zero, mitigate climate change, decrease emissions, or all the above, the road to the green future starts with those willing to take the first step.
Enterprises can expect to feel the benefits of data-driven solutions that can quickly scale and control the success of energy decarbonization.
For instance, the ECC helped a leading global consumerpackaged goods company identify potential savings of up to 30% in waste, water, and energy efficiency. A separate life sciences manufacturer discovered a yearly net savings of €2M and 21% in energy consumption through a maturity assessment and energy efficiency transformation roadmap.
Technology has a substantial role in every organization’s sustainability strategy to mitigate the impacts of climate change and other environmental challenges. With efficient energy management at the top of sustainability agendas, it’s clear that accelerating the creation and implementation of innovative solutions hinges not just on the technology, but collective action and a shift in mindset.
Outside of relying on emerging technologies like the ECC, organizations can take up several alternative initiatives to meet their sustainability goals:
• Invest in sustainable supply chains: Implement sustainable practices in the supply chain such as sourcing materials responsibly to reduce waste in downstream processes and ensure fair labor processes.
• Waste reduction programs: Focus on programs like reducing single-use plastics, recycling, and composting are just a few ways in which an organization can encourage a circular economy.
• Optimization of fleets: Invest in fleet management by switching to sustainable fuels, promote fuel-efficient driving behaviors, or utilize battery-powered vehicles to reduce emission and fuel consumption; this can ultimately reduce an organization’s carbon footprint.
• Employee engagement: Promote active participation through company-wide sustainability programs, committees, and training to empower employees to not only
This year, government policies, volatile market forces, and societal demands are reshaping the pace and direction of the energy transition agenda.
incorporate sustainable behaviors into their daily work routines but drive them to feel invested in their company’s overall sustainability goals.
While it’s proven that solutions such as the ECC can deliver incredible results, emerging technologies should not be viewed as a silver bullet or a quick fix. Addressing the climate and ecological crisis will require systematic change and commitment that goes beyond the use of technology. Although every organization’s sustainability journey is their own, the importance of leveraging existing ecosystems through co-innovation or partner expertise and exploring proven, scalable, and readily available solutions like the ECC, will be crucial as organizations must act decisively and at pace to realize their sustainability goals and ultimately bring corporate activity, and its outputs, back into balance.
is senior director of engineering and research and development services for energy transition & utilities,
Smoke rises from a brush fire in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Photo by Kelly, pexels.com
A Spreading Problem
We examine wildfire mitigation every year, but this issue shows the breadth and scope of the problem.
By Jeff Postelwait
In our past issues of our T&D World Wildfire Mitigation Supplement, we focused on how wildfire season is now extending well beyond its historical timeframe in North America. Indeed, in many areas, periods of high fire risk can crop up at any time of the year.
What we are now seeing is the geographic spread of high fire risk into many places around the world that formerly were not commonly associated with out-of-control blazes. In Appalachia, the Hawaiian Islands, the Pacific Northwest, the US Southwest and other places where climates were more predictable, we see superdroughts, record high temperatures, harsh winds, thunderstorms and accumulating vegetation fuel, any combination of which can be deadly. Electricity production, transmission and consumption are human activities with inherent potential to spark blazes, so the utility industry must continue to work around the clock and in all kinds of geographical and climate conditions to ensure that the next wildfire did not happen as a result of its negligence.
“Electricity
a line. Devices like lightning arresters, fire-safe fuses, advanced circuit breakers, rapid earth fault current limiter (REFCL) systems, and undergrounding power lines where it makes sense to can all play key roles in making sure a blaze never catches. High technology, low technology and every solution in between are constantly under evaluation by utility engineers and researchers.
It’s also worth mentioning that without data from places like the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Weather Service, a lot of the work performed to protect us all from wildfires would be done, effectively, in the dark. Having grown up in Oklahoma, I know these services save lives.
production, transmission and consumption are human activities with inherent potential to spark blazes, so the utility industry must continue to work around the clock and in all kinds of geographical and climate conditions to ensure that the next wildfire did not happen as a result of its negligence.”
Several of our contributors this year spell out the severity of the problem with greater accuracy than I can, but suffice to say wildfires are growing more commonplace even as they become more deadly and dangerous. Utilities are exploring the power of predictive software, more advanced climate models and automated cameras and drones to gather a more comprehensive viewpoint on the current level of fire risk in their service territories. They strive to keep the public informed with educational outreach, mobile alerts, emergency preparedness tips and services, as well as interactive fire and outage maps.
Preparedness ahead of time is crucial, since stopping a blaze is infinitely preferable to needing to clean up and perform repairs after one. Utilities are still working to tailor their public service safety shutdown (PSPS) plans to make sure they do not interrupt service on a scale wider than what is needed to stop a fire. As always, there is no substitute for good old-fashioned vegetation management work, since most wildfires are still triggered by natural causes like tree limb contact causing a fault on
It’s clear now that older models and historical data will not protect us from the evolving risk of wildfires, so keeping an eye on how that threat is evolving is a matter of life and death. At a time of public officials (elected and otherwise) slashing R&D spending and firing thousands of top minds after years of public service, I hope the excuse of “government efficiency” does not put us at greater risk from deadly blazes. At T&D World, we will continue to keep an eye on how public policy guides how the industry prepares for wildfires and other disasters.
Covering such a technical, multifaceted topic as wildfire mitigation every year is always a daunting task as policies, technologies, strategies and legislation change over time. However, I always look forward to this issue for those exact reasons. The same factors that make it a challenge to provide analysis for also make it endlessly interesting. Furthermore, our readership in print and online always seem to respond well to it. The past two wildfire supplements also won Azbee Awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), which are awards granted for excellent quality reporting in business-to-business, trade, association and professional publications. So, thank you for helping make this issue a success, and I hope you find our selections this year enlightening.
PGE Takes Holistic Approach to Mitigation
Portland General Electric’s holistic approach to mitigation serves as a model for preventing wildfires in the Northwest.
By BEN FELTON, Portland General Electric
Wildfires are a growing national issue, affecting more communities across the U.S. each year. With increased frequency, intensity and unpredictability, wildfires cause environmental devastation, health impacts, community displacement and economic loss. In 2024 in Oregon, more than 2000 fires burned almost 2 million acres (809,371 hectares) — a 302% increase above the state’s 10-year average.
“Our focus remains on protecting communities through investments in infrastructure hardening, advanced technology for situational awareness, community engagement and year-round collaboration
with agencies and emergency responders,” said Kellie Cloud, senior director of wildfire and operational compliance for Portland General Electric (PGE). “By using cutting-edge technology and building strong community partnerships, we are working to prevent wildfires while fostering a more resilient energy future for Oregon.”
Launched in 2018, PGE’s wildfire prevention strategies are reducing wildfire risk in designated high fire risk zones (HFRZs). Over the last few years, key initiatives by the utility include enhancing vegetation management, developing a fire risk assessment model, targeting system
hardening investments, establishing a wildfire operations team and implementing public safety power shutoffs.
“In less than 10 years, we have significantly advanced our understanding of the wildfire risk in our service area,” Cloud noted. “We work day in and day out to counter and prevent wildfire threats.”
Understanding Risk
PGE is at the forefront of wildfire risk management, executing a comprehensive approach to understanding and preventing fire hazards in its service area. At the heart of this strategy is an annual wildfire risk mitigation assessment, which is a thorough
A Pano AI camera keeps watch over a section of PGE’s service area. As part of our wildfire mitigation efforts, PGE has installed a network of Pano AI cameras in high fire risk zones that provide real-time information and situational awareness. This information helps PGE and partner agencies coordinate a fast, informed response to wildfires before they escalate, safeguarding lives, communities and the environment.
Photo courtesy of Pano AI.
evaluation that incorporates the latest in system design changes, advanced modeling techniques and scientific analysis. This assessment helps to identify and update HFRZs and considers a range of factors, including asset locations, environmental changes, weather impacts and potential fire behavior.
Wildfire prevention measures require substantial investments over time, which is why utilities must be vigilant about how they use customer dollars. In support of
Buce, a construction project manager with PGE (left) and Bodhi Long, a quality control inspector with PGE (right), conduct powerline inspections in support of PGE’s wildfire mitigation efforts in the Mt. Hood National Forest near Zigzag, Oregon. PGE’s service area includes more than 2.2 million trees and approximately 12,000 miles of overhead power lines. PGE and Asplundh crews conduct routine, yearround tree-trimming and vegetation management.
these efforts, PGE became the first utility in Oregon to develop a cost-benefit approach to its vegetation management program, enabling it to balance the cost of prevention measures with customer price impacts. Typically used for large capital investments, this cost-benefit approach integrates weather, environmental factors and fire behavior models to inform the utility’s vegetation management efforts in HFRZs.
A Resilient Grid
“One of the key aspects to building a resilient grid is our capital investments,” said Brett Phillips, senior manager of wildfire operations program management for PGE. “These are actions and programs to strengthen the grid such as overhead-tounderground conversion projects, replacing wood poles with ductile iron poles and installing technologies like sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) cameras that provide situational awareness.”
Investments like the ones Phillips refers to are some of the capital investments PGE is planning for over the next three years to four years that will be in service for more than 50 years.
PGE has deployed an array of advanced technologies across its service area, including a network of 37 high-definition AI
cameras strategically positioned across HFRZs and near critical generation facilities. These cutting-edge cameras provide real-time visual data to both PGE and over 190 fire agencies, greatly improving response times and coordination efforts.
Complementing this advanced-tech camera network are 85 PGE-installed weather stations, with plans to add more in 2025. These stations provide PGE’s meteorological team with precise weather
condition information, a crucial factor in predicting and managing wildfire risks.
“Another important aspect to building a resilient grid is our operational programs,” said Philips. “We project these initiatives, like vegetation management and enhanced inspections, will continue to reduce risk in our high fire risk zones.”
At the forefront of this effort is PGE’s advanced wildfire risk reduction (AWRR) program, a year-round enhanced vegetation management effort, which has already demonstrated remarkable success, particularly in heavily forested areas on Mount Hood, where the program achieved an almost 75% reduction in ignition risk events and outages during fire seasons,
Jason
Photo courtesy of Portland General Electric.
Linemen with DJ’s Electrical conduct preventive maintenance on PGE’s distribution lines in the Mt. Hood National Forest near Zigzag, Oregon.
Photo courtesy of Portland General Electric.
An Asplundh tree crew member fells a tree during hazard tree removal operations in Mt. Hood National Forest.
Photo courtesy of Portland General Electric.
which in Oregon runs approximately from June to November.
Phillips said the AWRR program, which focuses on strategic vegetation management and patrols during active growth periods, is predicted to prevent 174 ignitions annually. Complementing this, the utility’s rigorous annual ignition prevention inspections in HFRZs aim to identify and correct potential fire hazards, with projections indicating these efforts could prevent an additional seven ignitions each year.
Engaging the Community
Throughout the year, PGE works closely with local, state and federal land and emergency management agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Land Management, Oregon Department of Forestry, and local tribes, fire districts and emergency responders. PGE conducts outreach and community engagement year-round in support of wildfire planning and mitigation across its service area, which helps to prepare the utility and community for a wide range of emergencies and events such as active wildfire response and public safety power shutoffs.
“Collaborating with and maintaining strong relationships with these organizations helps PGE coordinate and plan for potential emergencies,” said Brooke Brownlee, PGE’s senior manager of community engagement. “Planning early and often also establishes clear lines of communication and close coordination before, during and after events.”
A National Solution
The teams at PGE work tirelessly to build a resilient grid that can stand up to the impact and threat of wildfire while bolstering system-wide reliability. However, PGE is just one part of the solution to the issue of wildfire. It will take everyone: state and federal agencies, utilities, companies and customers working together to help prevent wildfires and promote community preparedness.
BEN FELTON is the executive vice president and chief operating officer of PGE. With more than 30 years of energy industry experience, Felton held positions with Consumers Energy, NiSource Inc. and DTE Energy prior to joining PGE. He most recently served as the senior vice president of energy supply at DTE. He held a variety of senior leadership positions, including leading electric operations and power delivery at NIPSCO, a subsidiary of NiSource, and the electric systems operations and maintenance at Consumers Energy.
Hawaiian Electric Sets Three-Year Action Plan
The utility’s enhanced Wildfire Safety Strategy is founded on a four-pillar approach to long-term reduction in risk.
By MARC ASANO, Hawaiian Electric
As seen during the blaze that devastated Lahaina in August 2023, wildfires are a significant and persistent threat in Hawai‘i. Hawaiian Electric is meeting this challenge by accelerating the implementation of its Wildfire Safety Strategy that was created in 2019 and updated in the months after the windstorm and fires on Maui.
The latest update, an expanded threeyear blueprint filed in January 2025 with the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission (PUC), highlights actions that will significantly reduce the risk of wildfire started by its equipment and increase situational awareness:
• Deploy covered conductor in the highest risk areas.
• Move overhead circuits underground in select areas of high risk.
• Replace, upgrade and strengthen poles and equipment.
• Install more AI-assisted high-definition video cameras to have visibility
of all high and medium wildfire risk areas.
• Add more weather stations beyond the 53 installed in 2024 in wildfireprone areas on four islands.
Four Pillars
As detailed in its 2025-2027 Wildfire Safety Strategy, Hawaiian Electric plans to deploy new technology, fortify infrastructure, minimize fire hazards and expand community partnerships. The enhanced plan, which was filed for review by the PUC, underscores the recent emergence of extreme weather events as requiring a coordinated effort by many organizations and supportive public policy to keep communities safe.
“Our 2025-2027 expanded Wildfire Safety Strategy builds upon our past work and that of many others,” said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric. “It is not just a technical road map, it is our shared and steadfast commitment to a safer, more resilient Hawai‘i. Hundreds of stakeholders and partners have contributed to wildfire prevention efforts, including the work that resulted in this plan. Through collective action and thoughtful approaches, Hawai‘i can
Hawaiian Electric crews replace older power lines with aluminum cabling along Hakimo Road in Wai‘anae, an initiative under its Wildfire Safety Strategy.
A breakout group at Hawaiian Electric’s Wildfire Safety Symposium in April 2024 discusses collective actions for wildfire safety during day 2 of the symposium on Hawai‘i Island. Photos courtesy of Hawaiian Electric.
create a fire-safe environment for generations to come.”
Hawaiian Electric’s enhanced Wildfire Safety Strategy is founded on a four-pillar approach to long-term reduction in wildfire risk. Each pillar reinforces the others and creates a comprehensive framework of actions that enhance resilience and fortify the electrical grid and communities against ignition. The four pillars are as follows:
• Harden and redesign the grid
— Upgrade infrastructure, such as installation of covered conductors, targeted undergrounding and equipment replacements to enhance fire safety. These efforts also aim to improve reliability impacts resulting from safer operational practices put in place in 2024.
• Expand and improve situational awareness — Deploy weather stations, AI-assisted cameras and spotters to improve real-time fire weather monitoring and early identification of potential ignitions. Also implement a watch office and an operational wildfire risk model to inform real-time decision-making.
• Improve operational practices — Use enhanced fast trip settings and public safety power shutoffs with advanced weather monitoring to reduce ignition risks. Also enact restoration procedures in areas with elevated wildfire risk. In addition, expand vegetation management
One of dozens of Hawaiian Electric weather stations used to monitor conditions across its service territory. The weather station pictured is on the island of O‘ahu.
programs and annual inspection of electrical assets in the highest-risk areas.
• Strengthen stakeholder and community partnerships — Engage partners and the public through tailored outreach and collaborative events like the Wildfire Safety Symposium and Working Group meetings.
The cost of the 2025-2027 plan is estimated at about $450 million, including $137 million budgeted for work in 2025. Some of the cost is already funded through existing programs, including a federal grant for grid resilience received in 2024. The utility plans to continue refinement of the program, so the long-term cost and scope of work are subject to change.
Key 2024 Initiatives
The 179-page strategy was filed with the PUC on Jan. 10, 2025, for review and acceptance. Many of the initiatives described are already underway or recently completed.
In 2024, Hawaiian Electric undertook significant initiatives to enhance the resilience and safety of its infrastructure. The utility replaced and upgraded 2124 wood poles while also testing 5805 poles to ensure reliability. Additionally, more than 23 miles of older overhead lines were replaced with new, more resilient lines to improve the durability of the system.
To bolster safety measures, Hawaiian Electric installed 3177 single-phase fault current indicators in high-risk areas. These devices allow crews to more quickly locate and address disturbances on power lines. Furthermore, the utility replaced 3558 expulsion fuses to help reduce the risk of ignition and updated 213 substation relay settings to enable rapid power shutoff when disruptions are detected.
Addressing wildfire risks, the utility installed 53 weather stations in wildfireprone areas on four islands. Mounted on utility poles, these stations provide critical data on wind, temperature and humidity, helping Hawaiian Electric better predict and respond to fire weather conditions. For example, the data can enable the utility to make informed decisions about activating and deactivating a public safety power shutoff. Additionally, the utility installed 44 AI-assisted high-definition wildfire detection cameras to monitor numerous wildfire risk areas.
The Next Three Years
Among the initiatives spanning the four pillars set to be completed in the next three years, Hawaiian Electric plans to continue grid hardening, asset inspections and vegetation management, prioritizing areas with medium to high risk of ignition. Covered conductors will be deployed in the highest-risk areas, and approximately 2 miles of overhead power lines will be undergrounded in critical safety areas in Lahaina. A community working group will be convened to provide area-specific knowledge and input on this effort.
The utility will replace, upgrade and strengthen poles and other equipment while also improving inspections of electrical assets. Vegetation management will
Hawaiian Electric has deployed a network of high-resolution video camera stations using artificial intelligence technology to provide early detection of ignitions in elevated fire risk areas near company infrastructure. Pictured is a sample live stream viewshed from the Lahainaluna camera station on Maui. Hawaiian Electric’s video camera system is monitored 24/7/365 by California-based ALERTWest. The public has access to the ALERTWest dashboard.
be expanded through hazard tree removal and the creation of wider rights-of-way for vegetation clearing.
In addition, Hawaiian Electric will install even more weather stations and hazard-detection cameras, with the goal of enabling 100% camera viewshed coverage of all high and medium wildfire risk areas. To strengthen wildlife preparedness, the utility intends to create a watch office with meteorological expertise to provide more situational awareness within Hawaiian Electric. It will also implement an operational wildfire risk model to support real-time decision-making and refine its public safety power shutoff program.
Engaging with stakeholders and communities will remain a priority. Hawaiian Electric will continue convening Wildfire Safety Working Group meetings to bring experts together and share best practices. Additionally, the utility will continue partnering with local organizations to host community events, reach individual residents and share resources.
Significant Risk Reduction
With the enhancements implemented in 2024 and those planned through the 2025-2027 Wildfire Safety Strategy, Hawaiian Electric’s initial risk modeling
estimates that, by the end of 2027, the baseline risk of electrical facilities igniting a significant wildfire will be diminished by an estimated 68% to 72%. While this marks substantial progress in risk reduction, the responsibility does not rest with the utility alone.
Preventing devastating wildfires requires a collective effort across the state to address risks that extend beyond utility infrastructure. Collaboration among all stakeholders
is essential to fortify public safety and support the long-term economic resilience of communities.
MARC ASANO is the director of Integrated Grid Planning with over 17 years of utility experience. He has led Hawaiian Electric’s development of long-range plans and strategies to achieve 100% renewable energy, including significant quantities of distributed energy resources, its grid modernization strategy and most recently its Wildfire Safety Strategy.
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Hawaiian Electric crews install wire mesh as a fire retardant to protect its utility poles in Wai‘anae, O‘ahu.
Wildfire Preparedness
Wildfires pose a growing threat across the U.S., requiring utilities nationwide — not just on the West Coast — to adopt proactive measures.
By JOSH TWEEDY, POWER Engineers Inc. Member of WSP
When thinking about wildfire risk, New England is probably not the first region that comes to mind. These events are more closely associated with the arid, mountainous West. However, that does not mean other parts of the map — and the utilities that operate within them — are free of risk.
Drought conditions seized large chunks of the U.S. Northeast in the closing months of 2024. Swaths of New Jersey and Massachusetts experienced what the U.S. Drought Monitor classified as severe or extreme drought conditions. The same was true in West Virginia and Ohio. Unsurprisingly, this translated into above-normal levels of significant wildland fire potential. Late-year fires in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut claimed more than 8000 acres.
Farther south, a pair of wildfires burned more than 400 acres in North Carolina in January 2025. Local officials claim that one of them — the McDowell County Crooked Creek fire — was sparked after a tree fell on a power line. Downed trees and debris from Hurricane Helene helped to fuel both blazes. In December 2024, a 10-acre brush fire threatened residences around Chattanooga, Tennessee. Eight years earlier, a series of wildfires devoured more than 80,000 acres across North Carolina, northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. Regional drought conditions at the time were within the U.S. Drought Monitor’s extreme and exceptional range.
By the numbers, these figures are far below the acreage that wildfires burn in places like California, Idaho and New Mexico. In these places, wildland flames
regularly claim hundreds of thousands of acres per year. Yet, this kind of comparison is not nearly as straightforward as it might seem. Even California, the most populous state in the Western U.S., has far fewer people per square mile than densely populated states like Massachusetts and New Jersey. It is also worth noting that outside the wide-open spaces of the West, humanbuilt infrastructure is not only everywhere but also typically much older.
For the rest of the U.S., the risk of conflagration is there. It has happened before and will happen again. With researchers projecting increased risk for precipitation shortfalls, swelling fuel stocks and elevated fire conditions in coming years, the potential threat to life and property is difficult to ignore. Utilities from coast to coast and everywhere in between must be prepared.
Colossal wall of wildfire smoke billows over mountains near Los Angeles, California. Photos by POWER Engineers.
Strategic Planning
As western utilities have learned through hard experience, successful wildfire mitigation means replacing reactive responses to crisis with proactive plans. They aim to stop fires from sparking and manage and minimize their impacts when they do. While reactive measures (for example, developing storm response plans) can help to swiftly repair damage and restore service, they do little to manage the risk of either starting a fire or making one worse. On the other hand, proactive planning entails diligently scrutinizing risk and carefully allocating resources in ways that reduce it.
Developing a fire potential index (FPI) is a crucial first step in supporting strategic planning and real-time decision-making. As a composite metric incorporating
factors like fuel abundance, precipitation, wind speed and human activity, the FPI is part of a suite of tools for grid operators to assess and quantify fire risk across specific sections of the grid. Its resolution is constrained only by the availability of localized data on these key parameters.
A robust data model and complete, accurate data are needed to support the calculation of an FPI. In turn, this metric can be used as a basis for confident decision-making at the strategic (for example, executive leadership and long-term planning) and tactical (such as real-time operations and frontline response) levels.
With an FPI, quantitative models replace guesswork with real statistical risk assessment. As a result, utility leaders and control room operators can be more confident the decisions they make ahead of,
during and after a fire risk or fire event are the right responses to the right data.
Public Safety Power Shutoffs
A public safety power shutoff (PSPS) event provides an excellent illustration of strategic and tactical decision-making as informed by an FPI. To visualize how an FPI might inform decision-making from a strategic perspective, consider the following questions:
• When is the risk present?
• Where physically is the risk in relation to real assets?
• What does end of life look like for the assets in at-risk areas? That is, how prone to ignition risk are the assets?
• When was the last time the assets were inspected?
from Coast to Coast
Smoke from a wildland blaze clouds the horizon
• When should customers lose their ability to power their homes and businesses?
Answers to these key questions help to create tangible thresholds for when PSPS events will affect a utility’s customer base. Because the decision to institute a PSPS is anchored in data rather than assumptions, the utility’s response will be repeatable and predictable — both for their customer base and their regulators.
From a more near-term, tactical perspective, the FPI can inform the duration and extent of the PSPS event. Those strategically predetermined thresholds set useful boundaries for tactical, in-the-moment decision-making. Consider the following:
• What is the utility’s ability to isolate risk while keeping customers in service?
• When is the risk of creating new fires at an acceptable threshold for restoring customers’ access to power?
• What is the utility’s ability to prepare prewritten switching plans?
There are certainly more questions utilities must begin to ask themselves regarding how an FPI should be integrated into their wildfire response plans. Questions like these can help to clarify how this tool
and approach differs from traditional storm response plans.
Robust wildfire mitigation strategies depend on having the right tools and processes in place before a destructive blaze even starts. A storm response plan, on the other hand, effectively begins after the storm has passed.
Plan for the Worst
Children and people who work in dangerous professions are taught to stop, drop and roll if their clothes catch fire. This basic fire safety technique is taught for a simple reason: People need to know what to do if they are in a life-threatening fire emergency before the emergency happens.
Many utilities across the U.S. identify as public service utilities. Public service carries with it an implicit responsibility: to not be responsible for one of the worst events in their customers’ lives.
To exemplify that ethos, utilities both plan for and react swiftly and effectively to wildfire threats. They put well-informed strategic and tactical decision tools and protocols in place before their assets spark a fire or are threatened by one.
Utilities own and operate complex, tightly interlinked systems on which the
whole of modern society depends to perform even the most basic functions. A single bad decision has the potential to cause devastating consequences, effectively becoming the worst thing that ever happened to a community.
This is a reality everywhere. Even in areas where wildfires rarely dominate headlines, diligent planning based on robust, verifiable data is an essential step to guard against devastating worst-case scenarios.
Utilities that develop a robust and comprehensive understanding of how fire risk is distributed across their assets position themselves to respond intelligently, effectively and predictably to crisis conditions. Predictability is critically important here. Defined decision matrices that govern when to deenergize or reenergize assets not only benefit ratepayers but aid municipal first response and help to support other critical infrastructures, as well.
Western utilities are already deeply familiar with the challenges inherent in effective wildfire mitigation. They know what it takes to plan and prepare for the worst. But these concerns are not isolated to any specific patch of geography.
With drought conditions on the rise and potential fuel loads increasing, utilities from coast to coast can benefit from examining their risks and developing effective strategies and tactics to address them. By crafting predictable response plans rooted in real-world data and preparing to tackle fire emergencies long before they hit, public service utilities can continue to deliver the same reliable public service to their communities they have provided all along.
JOSH TWEEDY is a seasoned utility operations leader with over 20 years of experience in system operations and grid modernization. His expertise centers on utilityscale wildfire preparedness, response and recovery, having directed multistate wildfire mitigation efforts, public safety power shutoffs and incident management procedures. As a director of operations at major utilities across the U.S., he has led cross-functional teams in developing and executing comprehensive wildfire response strategies, integrating advanced tools like meteorology tools and data integration; Power BI dashboards; advanced distribution management, distribution management and energy management systems; Maximo/SAP; and Palantir to enhance decision-making and operational visibility.
Burned land beneath high-voltage conductors.
Utilities operating in wildfire-prone regions face a growing challenge: the risk of power line-related ignitions and presence of flammable vegetation.
A proactive strategy integrates advanced technology, predictive modeling, data-driven decision-making and adaptive infrastructure planning.
By ALIREZA MAJZOOBI, ZHENZHEN ZHANG, Quanta Technology LLC and, DANIEL HAUGHTON, LUMA Energy
Wildfire risk management is becoming an increasingly critical priority for electric utilities as they seek to safeguard communities, protect infrastructure and maintain uninterrupted service. The growing threat of wildfires calls for a clear, strategic approach to mitigation and resilience. Climate change and the expansion of wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas have further intensified these risks, both the frequency and severity of wildfire events. Proactive strategies are essential for preventing fire ignitions and minimizing the operational, financial, and regulatory risks associated with wildfires.
By integrating system hardening, targeted vegetation management and advanced protection technologies with predictive analytics in the form of a wildfire risk mitigation model,
utilities can create a robust strategy to mitigate wildfire risk. These measures not only reduce the likelihood of power linerelated wildfires but also strengthen grid resilience, ensuring a safer and more reliable power system in wildfire-prone regions.
System Hardening
Utilities operating in wildfire-prone regions face a growing challenge: the risk of power line-related ignitions and presence of flammable vegetation. While the probability of a fault occurring and igniting nearby fuel beds is relatively low, the consequences can be severe. Utilities must adopt a proactive, risk-reduction strategy focused on preventing faults and ignition sources before they lead to catastrophic wildfires. A strategic asset management approach plays a key role in preventing faults. By implementing
system hardening — such as covered conductors, fire-resistant poles and undergrounding power lines — utilities can significantly reduce ignition risks.
While costly, undergrounding has been shown to reduce ignition risk by 99%, according to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in its 2023-2025 Wildfire Mitigation Plan R5. Covered conductors provide a cost-effective alternative, reducing wildfire risk by up to 72%, as cited by Southern California Edison in its 2023-2025 Wildfire Mitigation Plan.
Vegetation Management
Beyond infrastructure, vegetation management is a crucial aspect of wildfire prevention. Overgrown vegetation near power lines remains a leading cause of utility-induced wildfires, making risk-informed vegetation management strategies essential. Traditional vegetation management follows a fixed schedule, but modern utilities are leveraging remote sensing, satellite imagery, light detection and ranging-based monitoring, and drone-based aerial imaging to optimize vegetation clearance schedules and identify high-risk areas. This data-driven approach improves efficiency, ensuring vegetation removal is targeted and effective in reducing ignition risks.
To further mitigate ignition risks, utilities need to address equipment vulnerabilities that contribute to fire hazards. Fireprone components such as expulsion fuses and legacy surge arresters have historically been linked to ignition events. Replacing these with fire-safe alternatives has been shown to reduce ignition risk by more than 68%. Additionally, advanced fault detection systems, including high-speed protection relays and reclosers, help utilities to detect and isolate faults before they escalate into fire-starting events.
Advanced Protection
Protection strategies also play a crucial role in wildfire risk reduction. Utilities implement enhanced power line safety settings, including fast curve relays, sensitive ground fault (SGF) protection and fire-adaptive relay profiles. Disabling reclosers during high fire-risk periods prevents ignition from restrikes, reducing ignition risk by up to 40%. While reclosers improve reliability by restoring power after temporary faults, their operation during fire season poses ignition risks, leading to their disablement in high fire-threat districts (HFTDs).
Utilities can deploy wildfire tracking systems, which leverage fire sensors, drone-based infrared imaging and real-time weather analytics to detect fire activity early. Preemptive de-energization through public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) plays a key role in reducing wildfire risks in extreme weather conditions. While the impact of power outages on customers and critical facilities is a serious consideration, ensuring public safety should remain the top priority for utilities. In addition, utilities must be prepared to coordinate real-time wildfire suppression tactics with emergency responders. Fire suppression efforts can be enhanced through geospatial risk mapping, fire behavior simulations and predictive fire spread modeling. These tools provide actionable insights for prioritizing firefighting resources and ensuring grid operations remain adaptable to changing fire conditions.
Risk Mitigation Model
Electric utilities in wildfire-prone regions face growing threats of infrastructure-induced ignitions, leading to the implementation of comprehensive wildfire mitigation strategies. Utilities can follow a wildfire risk mitigation model to quantify both the likelihood of ignition events and their potential consequences.
Key inputs to assessing wildfire risk include weather conditions, historical wildfire records and the performance history of electric feeders, including past outage data, all of which contribute to estimating ignition probability. Historical outage and ignition data reveal recurring causes such as conductor clash, vegetation interference and aging infrastructure are major contributors to fire risk. Weather conditions further influence fire risk, with high winds and heat causing equipment failures, while drought conditions increase fuel availability. The utilities operating in wildfire-prone areas usually implement an ignition tracking system, combining geospatial incident records and meteorological data to develop predictive models.
A wildfire spread model can be used to evaluate the consequences of ignition. A fire behavior simulation tool models wildfire propagation and assesses potential impacts by simulating fire spread across specific landscapes. Then, the wildfire risk is determined by multiplying the probability of an ignition event, caused by a utility asset, by the resulting consequences. To improve fire modeling accuracy, weather scenarios are developed to represent conditions ranging from moderate to extreme. By simulating different scenarios, utilities can evaluate fire behavior under various environmental conditions and assess potential risks in the absence of intervention.
Wildfire risk assessment results can be visualized through heat maps, where darker shades indicate higher fire risk. These maps serve as decision-support tools for utilities, enabling them to prioritize mitigation efforts effectively.
Additionally, historical outage and ignition data are analyzed to pinpoint common ignition causes, such as conductor clash, equipment failure, vegetation interference and wire down. These causes are then mapped to wildfire mitigation strategies, including undergrounding, covered conductors, pole replacements and equipment upgrades. The effectiveness of each strategy can be continuously assessed to refine risk models and optimize prevention efforts.
Proactive Protocols
Utilities can take a proactive approach by implementing preemptive de-energization protocols based on a risk-prioritization system that integrates weather-level data (for example, wind, dead fuel moisture and precipitation) and feeder-level inputs (such as historical vegetation contact and vegetation management records). By using these combined inputs, the system can prioritize high-risk areas for intervention and recommend targeted preemptive measures, including de-energization in extreme fire conditions.
Also, to enhance situational awareness and response, utilities can invest in real-time weather stations and fire-detection cameras to monitor fire conditions dynamically. These systems allow for real-time adjustments in wildfire mitigation strategies.
The integration of multiple alerts from National Weather Service and Global Wildfire Information System can further guide risk-informed decision-making, ensuring more precise and proactive de-energization strategies.
A comprehensive communication plan also should be developed to support the preemptive de-energization protocol. This plan should incorporate stakeholder engagement, customer notifications, regulatory compliance measures, operational coordination and continuous improvement initiatives. By ensuring all regulatory bodies, emergency responders and affected customers are informed in advance, utilities can minimize the social and economic impact of de-energization while maintaining public safety.
In summary, a wildfire risk management strategy enables utilities to shift from a reactive to a proactive approach by integrating advanced technology, predictive modeling, data-driven decisionmaking and adaptive infrastructure planning. Implementing
these mitigation strategies enhances a utility’s ability to prevent, mitigate and recover from wildfires, ultimately protecting critical infrastructure and the community it serves.
DR. ALIREZA MAJZOOBI, Ph.D., PE, has an extensive experience in power system operations, reliability and resilience, smart grid software solutions, and data analytics. He is currently an advisor at Quanta Technology, working within the Assest Management team, focusing on grid resilience and wildfire risk management for various electric utilities. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES).
ZHENZHEN ZHANG , Ph.D., specializes in climate risk, geospatial modeling and machine learning for utility asset management. She applies advanced data analytics to support wildfire risk assessment, vegetation management and infrastructure resilience planning.
DANIEL HAUGHTON, Ph.D., serves as LUMA’s Director of Transmission and Distribution Planning, bringing deep technical and industry leadership to LUMA Energy’s T&D Planning, DER and Renewable Integration, Grid Modernization and Technology Innovation.
How Flexible Recloser Design Strengthens Wildfire Mitigation
Reclosers can play a crucial role in power system protection by automatically interrupting and restoring power flow in response to faults.
By JEFF SEMELKA, G&W Electric
Wildfires pose an escalating threat to power systems, requiring solutions that can adapt to shifting environmental conditions and ongoing grid modernization efforts. Utilities must navigate the challenge of balancing reliability, safety, and cost-effectiveness in their wildfire mitigation strategies.
While system hardening and automation have taken center stage in recent years, the adaptability of protective devices, particularly reclosers, is emerging as a critical factor in wildfire risk reduction.
This article explores the critical role of flexible recloser design in wildfire mitigation, highlighting how adaptable technologies can help utilities safeguard power systems against the increasing threat of wildfires.
Adapting to High Fire Risk
Utilities operate across diverse landscapes, each presenting unique wildfire risks. Mountainous terrains, urban-wildland interfaces, and rural areas require tailored mitigation approaches. Furthermore, climate change is expanding wildfire-prone regions, compelling utilities to reassess and adapt their strategies continually. This necessitates a shift from rigid, one-size-fitsall solutions to flexible approaches that can be customized to specific needs and evolving conditions.
Modernization initiatives further underscore the need for adaptability. As utilities integrate system hardening, undergrounding, and advanced protection schemes, flexible solutions become essential for seamless integration and optimal performance.
Recloser Results
Reclosers play a crucial role in power system protection by automatically interrupting and restoring power flow in response to faults. The use of reclosers has evolved significantly since their inception in the 1940s. Initially, their primary function was simply to keep the lights on by restoring power after momentary faults. In the 2000s, their application became more refined, focusing on reliability improvements and minimizing industry indices like SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) and SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index). Today, with the growing threat of wildfires, recloser usage has been further fine-tuned to prioritize fire mitigation. This includes faster remote operation, rapid fault interruption, and even proactive power shutoffs during extreme weather events.
In the context of wildfire mitigation, the adaptability of reclosers is vital.
Traditional reclosers with fixed parameters may not be sufficient to address the dynamic nature of wildfire threats. Modern wildfire mitigation demands precision and adaptability in recloser settings to respond effectively to evolving threats.
To effectively mitigate wildfire risks, utilities are leveraging flexible recloser settings that allow for real-time adjustments based on changing conditions:
• Sensitivity Adjustments: Fine-tuning sensitivity allows reclosers to detect high-impedance faults, often precursors to ignitions, which conventional overcurrent protection may miss.
• Fast Trip Settings: Rapid de-energization of lines during high-risk periods is crucial to prevent sustained arcing and ignition. Flexible reclosers enable utilities to implement fast trip settings without compromising coordination.
• Integration with Real-Time Monitoring: Integrating reclosers with weather monitoring and grid analytics allows dynamic adjustments to protection schemes based on real-time conditions. This proactive approach enhances responsiveness and reduces wildfire risk.
Utilities are increasingly recognizing the importance of flexible recloser design in their wildfire mitigation strategies. By adopting reclosers with adaptable settings and advanced
A G&W Electric Viper-ST® recloser Z Module designed for wildfire mitigation is placed in service. Courtesy of G&W Electric.
functionalities, they can enhance grid resilience and minimize the risk of ignitions.
Flexible Recloser Design
G&W Electric’s Viper-ST recloser is designed for wildfire mitigation. Its adaptability makes it suitable for diverse grid environments and evolving wildfire conditions.
The recloser’s dead-front design enhances safety by preventing flashovers at the recloser itself, such as those caused by animal contact. This design minimizes the risk of ignitions originating from the recloser and minimizes exposure to live energy, reducing secondary ignition hazards and improving safety for personnel. The recloser offers multiple current transformer (CT) ratio options, allowing for greater granularity at low current readings. This is essential for detecting highimpedance faults and downed conductors, which are often precursors to wildfires. Lower CT ratios provide enhanced
sensitivity, enabling utilities to set lower trip thresholds in high-risk areas and prevent these incidents from escalating into fires.
Wildfire-Resilient Distribution Grids
The evolution of wildfire-resilient grids will be driven by continuous innovation and adaptation. Advanced automation, AI-driven analytics, and real-time monitoring will further refine recloser responses to dynamic fire conditions. Utilities should prioritize solutions that allow for modular upgrades, ensuring long-term adaptability and compatibility with emerging technologies.
Investing in flexible protection schemes, rather than rigid solutions, will be crucial for balancing wildfire mitigation with grid reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Solutions Beyond Reclosers
Key areas of focus for the future of wildfire-resilient distribution grids include advanced grid modeling and microgrids. Sandia National Laboratories is developing advanced grid modeling tools to simulate wildfire behavior and assess grid vulnerabilities. This research aims to improve utilities’ ability to assess, plan, and adapt to wildfire risks.
Microgrids, localized electrical networks that can operate independently, offer enhanced resilience during wildfires. They can provide backup power to critical facilities and communities, minimizing disruptions caused by grid
outages. Microgrids do, however, require specialized protection schemes when connecting to the utility grid to ensure safe and reliable operation. Reclosers like the Viper-ST enable those protection schemes, allowing one device to be used for both distributed energy resource (DER) and microgrid integration, further enhancing their value in wildfire mitigation and grid modernization efforts.
Other potential solutions may include artificial intelligence, rerouting power flows and deploying sensors. Integrating fire-ignition electrical fault data with highresolution Earth observation data can enhance wildfire risk assessment and prediction. AI-powered analytics platforms can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns, predict potential ignition points, and optimize mitigation strategies.
Research has shown that rerouting power flows through vulnerable parts of the grid during dry, windy conditions can decrease the probability of wildfire ignition. This methodology aims to improve decision-making in power systems operations to help utilities keep serving customers while reducing the risk of wildfire ignitions.
The development of wildfire sensors that detect gases and particulate levels is a promising area of innovation. These sensors can provide early warnings of fire ignitions, enabling rapid response and potentially preventing large-scale wildfires. By embracing these advancements and adopting a forward-looking approach, utilities can build more resilient distribution grids that can withstand the growing threat of wildfires and ensure the continued delivery of safe and reliable electricity.
JEFF SEMELKA is a regional vice president for G&W Electric. He specializes in medium voltage equipment for utility and commercial and industrial (C&I) markets across the Western United States. With 25+ years of experience in sales and business development within the electric utility industry, Jeff helps customers enhance grid reliability and efficiency through advanced automation, integration, and protection solutions. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Valparaiso University and brings deep technical expertise in the application of products that modernize and safeguard electrical substations and distribution systems.
The recloser’s dead-front design enhances safety by preventing flashovers at the recloser itself, such as those caused by animal contact.
Courtesy of G&W Electric.
A G&W Electric Viper-ST recloser placed in service. Today, with the growing threat of wildfires, recloser usage has been further fine-tuned to prioritize fire mitigation.
Courtesy of G&W Electric.
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FACES OF THE FUTURE
BY AMY FISCHBACH,
Logan Pollei
Duke Energy
• Is a third-year apprentice lineworker.
Logan Pollei, an apprentice for Duke Energy, removes the preform from the line to complete this step in the second mystery event at the 2024 International
On the Job
I work on a crew of six guys. Our day varies based on what work we are given. We do pole change outs and new installs. The crew works together regardless of status as an apprentice or lineman. Based on what year you are in your apprenticeship, you may be limited on what live voltages you can handle.
Challenges and Rewards of Line Work
I think some rules that are in place for apprentices can hold them back from learning. For example, some apprenticeships won’t allow the apprentice to handle primary voltage until a year-and-a-half into the apprenticeship. Apprentices may be doing a good job and may be ready to advance sooner but are limited by rules that are in place based on their time on and not their ability level. Every apprentice progresses at different time frames and the rules should mold around your ability level.
Working Storms
I’ve only worked local in-state storms. Generally, we work sixteens every day until the system is restored. We’ve had a few decentsized tornado outbreaks that have caused a lot of damage. The crew just keeps taking tickets until the job is done.
Life in the Trade
I think it’s a great job. It’s a great combination of using your hands and using your brain. My favorite part is working outdoors every day.
Secrets for Success in an Apprenticeship
• Married to his wife, Kara, and they have a two-year-old son named Bryce.
• Enjoys running and working out with his wife and spending time with his son.
• Completed a pre-apprenticeship program prior to getting hired on by Duke Energy.
• Says all the new power tools make his job easier than it used to be with a lot of hand tools. Cutters and presses now take a push of the finger rather than a lot of effort.
• Safety is a big focus in today’s utility industry, which he says is a good thing for apprentices learning the trade.
• In the future, he sees a continued progression in tools to make jobs safer for lineworkers.
Inspiration for Going into Line Work
I had family friends in the trade. I wanted a good career that worked outdoors. I’m the first one from my family to do line work.
Training in the Trade
I’m a third-year apprentice, and our apprenticeship is a total of four years. My local yard has poles to climb, and we also have a main training facility that has a training field and hot room set up. Most of our training is on the job, but once a year we go to our main training center for a school. We also have to “test out” in front of trainers doing specific tasks to determine if we are allowed to advance to the next level.
You have to be a hard worker. Everybody needs to do their part. Apprentices who want to learn and like to listen to instruction do well. Those who can’t take criticism and don’t put in effort do not do well. Attention to detail matters in this trade.
Advice to Other Apprentices
Make sure you actually want to do the job and aren’t just interested in money. You work in hazardous situations in the worst of weather conditions. It takes focus and effort to do the job safely. Listen to the lineworkers who have been doing the job for longer than you and don’t be a know-it-all.
Focusing on Safety
Our company takes safety very seriously. We cover up the right way and don’t take unnecessary risks. Safety is the most important thing in the trade. One moment of being careless can get you or others killed.
Future Plans
In the future, I will continue to learn and progress in the trade.
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.
Lineman’s Rodeo. Courtesy of Logan Pollei
Investigating Power Line RFI
Lineworkers can learn how to find and eliminate the noise.
By JON BACKMAN, Contributing Writer
Imagine yourself driving home from work on a nice summer evening. You put in a few hours of overtime, and the sun is just starting to sink low on the horizon. You have that satisfied feeling after finishing a long day on the job, and the local baseball team is on the radio. It’s the bottom of the ninth inning, your team is down by a run, and they just moved a runner to third. With two outs, your favorite player steps up to the plate. What better way to end the day than listening to your team rally for a comeback win?
Just as the pitcher winds up to deliver the ball, your radio signal is overcome by the ear-splitting crackle of radio static. Stuck at a red light, all you can do is wait
and listen to the popping white noise. Finally, the light turns green, and as you drive ahead down the road that annoying crackle continues for a half mile before the fading static is replaced by the familiar voice of your team’s announcer. “Well fans, it was a heck of a game tonight, and I can’t believe what we all just witnessed! I’m not sure such an exciting ending has ever occurred on a baseball diamond in my career!” The feeling of satisfaction that your team won is somehow drowned out by the disappointment that you missed the critical moment. All because of that darned crackling radio static. Radio frequency interference (RFI) has struck again.
RFI is “the effect of unwanted energy
due to one or a combination of emissions, radiations or inductions upon reception in a radiocommunication system, manifested by any performance degradation, misinterpretation or loss of information which could be extracted in the absence of such unwanted energy,” according to Radio Interference. In other words, something in the atmosphere caused by an energy source interferes with clear radio transmission.
Many different things can contribute to RFI, but perhaps the most common occurrence is found on overhead power lines. As power line workers, many of us may remember a sentence or two from our apprenticeship that reminded us about the importance of bending over the tails of our tie-wires to prevent leaving an air gap and eliminate RFI or TVI.
Beyond that information, most lineworkers don’t get much education about or exposure to RFI. However, power companies do have a legal responsibility to respond to RFI issues caused by their system, investigate and find a solution, as directed by the FCC eCFR 47 CFR 15.5 -- General conditions of operation. If these RFI investigations are done improperly, the results can be wasted time and money and ultimately, an unresolved issue that could escalate.
Connected to an antenna in a vehicle, the Radar Engineers Model 243 RFI locator allows a trained operator to efficiently drive out an area around an RFI complaint to narrow the search down to only a few poles or structures.
Jon Backman uses the Radar Engineers Parabolic Pinpointer to identify the RFI location on a pole.
Identifying Sources of RFI
The sources of RFI on and around power lines are often not what lineworkers would expect. Power line RFI is a very specific occurrence. Simply put, it is created when two conductive surfaces or objects of a different potential become close enough (but not touching) for an arc to jump across that gap. Sometimes these conductive surfaces may even appear to be touching but are actually separated by only corrosion. Because of the nature of an AC sine wave, and the constantly oscillating voltage 60 times per second, this arcing usually occurs at a very rapid pace, when the voltage required is high enough during each cycle. The spark then extinguishes and reignites repeatedly. This constant, but predictable pattern, creates a signature sound that the trained ear can often identify as RFI on the radio.
Because of what they learned during their apprenticeship, lineworkers tend to look at tie wires for RFI. Beyond that, it is natural to look for loose hot taps, failing secondary connections, transformers or cracked or dirty insulators. Though these can be RFI sources, they are rarely the culprits.
Instead, guy wires, loose hardware, ground wires and dead ends are often repeat offenders. Without proper training and locating tools designed specifically for power line RFI, it is almost impossible to accurately identify the precise cause of the radio interference. An RFI investigator might get lucky and narrow a search down to the offending pole, but if the exact point of the arcing isn’t known, it’s possible that too much line work will be done in attempt at resolution. Although this may end up temporarily solving the customer’s complaint, it leads to poor work practices by setting a standard for unnecessarily replacing too much equipment, which results in wasted time, money and effort. This approach may also expose lineworkers to more hazards than necessary, by working on or around energized equipment when it isn’t needed.
Getting Trained on RFI Troubleshooting
As a first response troubleman for my employer, I respond to all types of power outages, electrical emergencies, public safety concerns, customer needs and more. At one point, I was offered the opportunity to add the task of RFI responder for my area, and I accepted. I was given a few foreign-looking tools, some old paperwork and a brief lesson from a senior co-worker who previously had this duty.
I trudged along, responding to the occasional RFI complaint with limited success. At one point, I looked through the old paperwork I was given and found
the contact information for Mike Martin from RFI Services. He has been working on RFI locating and troubleshooting for more than 40 years, and he has found that the need for his services have continued to grow every year. He was also the RFI training and locating expert on the IEEE committee that spent five years writing the IEEE’s RFI Power Line Interference Standard for Power Companies.
Seven Steps to Investigating RFI Location
When approaching RFI investigation, it is imperative to follow some specific steps.
1. Get trained. Since RFI location is a specialized task, specialized training is a must.
2. Always contact the complainant first. If possible, meet them onsite to observe their interference.
3. Invest in proper RFI locating tools and equipment. For example, one resource is a company called Radar Engineers.
4. Follow the same process every time. Make sure you don’t skip steps.
5. Perform RFI field investigations on a dry day. Rain or atmospheric moisture will extinguish the RFI spark, making outdoor location nearly impossible.
6. Follow all safety and procedural standards as required by the employer.
7. Document each experience. RFI location and mitigation is a cumulative experience. You will find value in the notes you keep as you progress.
Look closely and you can see the white arc between the high voltage jumper wire and the steel cutout bracket. This was discovered during an RFI investigation, and it resulted in a quick and easy repair.
A Radar Engineers hot stick line sniffer tool is used to test for RFI in a porcelain cutout bracket.
ELECTRIC UTILITY OPERATIONS
After visiting Mike’s website, I discovered he was offering an RFI training and troubleshooting workshop later that year. Gaining approval from my supervisor, I made arrangements to attend the workshop, which was a game changer in my RFI learning process.
Mike is a pioneer in the field of power line specific RFI investigation and has worked for decades on this specific issue. His two-day workshop provides a combination of classroom information and hands-on field work. After completing the training, I was eager to get back and put the lessons to work.
Leveraging Best Practices
As the years have progressed, I’ve continued responding to customers’ RFI complaints. Some have been more difficult than others, but with time and dedication, I’ve been able to find the source of the interference in most cases.
I’ve learned the importance of initially having a conversation with the customer to find out the specific details of their complaint and observe the specific characteristics of the interference. After that, I follow a specific troubleshooting process to eliminate any possible RFI sources within the customer’s own home (which I have found to be the case on multiple occasions).
If the investigation moves outside the building and onto the overhead lines, I then use a set of RFI specific tools in the troubleshooting process. The search begins broadly, by driving
out the nearby area, while observing and listening to the feedback from a receiver attached to a truck-mounted antenna. That allows me to narrow the search to one or two poles or structures.
Once there, I continue on foot with another device that allows me to scan each pole from top to bottom, quickly analyzing every tie wire, insulator, nut, bolt, connector, etc., until I find a smoking gun. The final step in the process is to go up in the bucket with one last RFI tool to get an absolute up-close verification of the source of the RFI.
STATE OF THE ART LABS
One great advantage I have in my current position is that I am a journeyman lineworker and a trained RFI field investigator. This enables me to not only identify the source of the interference, but also to mitigate that noise source in many cases. If the scope of work requires multiple lineworkers or a full crew for safety or operational purposes, then I have direct access to initiating that process. There have been many times that I have responded to a customer’s RFI complaint, met with them onsite, tracked down the noise source and eliminated the RFI all in one trip. This is as efficient as it gets, and as lineworkers we all strive for safety and efficiency.
As a lineworker, RFI investigation has been an interesting experience in my career. I believe we all continue to learn, grow and improve as electrical workers, and this nuanced branch of line work has given me a constant opportunity to evolve. Finding the right resources and people is a key factor in successfully building our skills as lineworkers.
Editor’s Note: To learn more about Jon Backman and his passion for training others in the line trade, listen to a new episode of the Line Life Podcast at linelife.podbean.com.
JON BACKMAN (jonbackman@hotmail.com) is a journeyman lineworker with more than 20 years in the line trade. He is also the founder of Making Connections LLC, which focuses on consultation, training and subject matter expertise about line work.
Guy wires are a common RFI source. After a past attempt to insulate the downguy from the neutral failed, the resulting contact led to degradation of the neutral conductor, arcing and RFI. This was found during an RFI investigation.
UTILITY ANALYTICS
PARTING SHOT
Irby Construction lineworkers perform storm restoration work in Georgia following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The line crews took pride in serving their communities, restoring power as quickly as possible and remaining committed to their work until full restoration was achieved.
FOCUS: A LINEWORKER’S
David Hernandez
The journeyworker for Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc. works as the overhead line supervisor on an overhead crew in Texas.
Learning About the Trade
When I was in high school, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I was always interested in the electric field. My agriculture teacher introduced me to a local electric cooperative, Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative (GVEC). A week after I graduated from high school and turned 18 years old, I joined the apprenticeship program at GVEC. I worked there for about 22 years and then left there to come to Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) in 2020.
Early Years
When I first started out in the line trade, I worked with a line crew on a digger truck or a boom truck. At that point, I really didn’t know anything about the electric utility industry, so it was all new to me. I had some, some good teachers coming up, and I was kind of the kid that kept my mouth shut and did what I was told. During my apprenticeship, we would go out and build single-phase jobs. I primarily started off just doing overhead work, and then as I progressed, we did underground troubleshooting. I was raised in the country, and all our jobs were in a rural area, so I enjoyed that aspect of it. It was close to my hometown, and I knew a lot of people, so it worked out really well for me.
Day in the Life
Today, I’m a regional operations supervisor on an overhead crew at PEC, but we also do underground work. For the residential jobs, we build the new services to the new homes and do maintenance work, like changing out poles. We also do bigger jobs, like reconducts. I don’t do it anymore, but we are also on call every few weeks. Now that I’m a supervisor, I can come in and help out with storms when our line crews need to respond to outages. We service one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, so we stay very busy, but always keep safety top of mind throughout our work.
Serving as a Leader in the Line Trade
The hardest part for me about being a leader is learning people’s personalities and preferences, because everyone learns a different way and wants to be taught differently. I was told a long time ago that everybody wants to be a boss until they have to slide into the driver’s seat and be the boss. You don’t know how you’re going to handle certain situations until you’re there. I’ve just been fortunate that I was trained how to be a leader and had the opportunity to take a lot of different training classes
To learn more about David Hernandez and his career in the line trade, listen to the Line Life Podcast at linelife.podbean.com.
• Born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in a small town called La Vernia.
• Married for 19 years to his wife Gynna. They have four children: Lane, 13; Jacob, 11; Kaylen, 9; and Kase, 5.
• Enjoys fishing, watching his sons play sports and coaching.
• His journeyman team won both the internal Lineman’s Rodeo and the Texas Lineman’s Rodeo before competing at the International Lineman’s Rodeo in October 2024. He enjoys the camaraderie with the vast amount of people around the world who come to Lineman’s Rodeo Week.
• As a supervisor, his goal is to make sure his crews do everything as safely as possible and get the work done in a timely manner.
through PEC. We have a training center at PEC where we can continue to practice our skills and grow our craft.
Safety Lesson
The biggest thing for me is just making sure my guys go home safely. Early on in my career, one of my good friends didn’t get to go home. It’s stuck in the back of my head and I think about it every day. It’s hard because you build relationships with these guys, and you learn their personal lives. It’s a brotherhood, and these guys are like family.
Competing at the Rodeo
After working as an apprentice for two to three years, I was introduced to the Lineman’s Rodeo. An older journeyman asked me if I wanted to be a groundman for the team. I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I did it, and I was hooked. I’ve been involved with the International Lineman’s Rodeo since 2000, and in 2005, we won the cooperative division. In 2021, my kids got to watch our team get second place, and my youngest child was able to go up on stage with me. We have a culture here that values safety and puts it above everything we do. My favorite part is competing in the actual Rodeo. I’m always nervous before it starts, but once you put your first foot on the pole, it all goes away.
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Entergy Louisiana @EntergyLA
Mar 28
Take a look at our dedicated lineworkers and other employees who showed off their talents in the 2025 Entergy Louisiana Lineworker Rodeo.
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To our amazing neighbors—thank you for your patience, support, and kindness as we worked to restore power after those wild storms. You inspire us every day.
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We’re making sure students at Grove Early Childhood Center play it safe around electricity! #PSOklahoma #PSOcommunity
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CONGRATS to our CPS Energy team for an outstanding showing of skill and expertise at the Public Power Lineworkers Rodeo! They competed
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We recently had the privilege of joining the RETI Center’s latest cohort of clean energy trainees for an insightful day of learning and collaboration. Members of our eMobility / hashtag#EVolveNY, Environmental Justice, and NYC Government & Community Affairs teams came together to showcase NYPA’s work in the world of electric vehicles (EVs) and EV charging technology. During the workshop, we not only discussed the crucial role EVs play in advancing sustainable transportation, but also rolled up our sleeves and took the trainees through the ins and outs of an EV—giving them firsthand experience of what goes into powering the future of clean energy.
against some of the best journeymen and apprentices from across the nation, impressively landing perfect scores in several events. Please join us in giving them a big round of applause for making our city look great out there!
Minnesota Power
Not participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition? Does not compute. (Besides, we wouldn’t want to get “rusty.”) We’re happy to help sponsor this STEM event and about 10 teams but LOVE volunteering with these amazing students even more.
Aspen Inc.
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Hughes Brothers Inc. 13 hughesbros.com
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The electric utility industry makes bold claims about being transformative. One recent call for action dramatically declared a “new paradigm of thinking” with this statement:
Electric companies are revolutionizing the future of energy for their customers and communities. Enhancing resilience, driving sustainability, and enabling advanced energy solutions are at the heart of the profound transformation that the industry is leading, and innovative technologies are critical for them to achieve their full potential. Is this our charge? What happened to delivering safe, reliable, resilient and affordable clean power to our customers? Isn’t that challenging enough?
Do customers really want us to be revolutionary? Certainly, regulators and cooperative members would have an opinion. Are electric utilities truly at the heart of a profound energy transformation that is “critical” for customers and communities to achieve their “fullest potential” or does our industry more realistically “respond” to customer and stakeholder demands? Who initiates the “new paradigm of thinking?”
Energy is the foundation of our capitalistic economy. Business and industry need energy and the basic critical infrastructure (water, sewer, communication, transportation, etc) to function at the most elementary levels.
While businesses and industries expect their energy companies to provide better resilience, cleaner or carbon free power, higher power factor or lower prices some industry megatrends have emerged. Megatrends are driven by technological and demographic changes. They are immutable. Identifying and understanding the megatrends in the booming electric transmission and distribution (T&D) industry offer insight into strategies and subsequent opportunities in the future.
In 2012, I proposed five megatrends in a popular white paper entitled “Identifying Megatrends Shaping the T&D Industry.” I accurately predicted that grid modernization, energy storage, maximizing the use of transmission rights-of-way, the application of distributed energy resources, and operational efficiency would be hallmarks of the next generation electric utility…and, today, they are.
Was this “revolutionary” or “profound” or just good business?
Certainly, some electric (and gas) utilities across North America are more innovative and progressive than others. Most investorowned utilities (IOU’s) understand their fundamental business model and regulatory compact. Public power and member-owned cooperatives have different access to capital and a different accountability model. However, all these companies understand that their customers need safe, reliable, resilient and affordable clean power to be competitive in a world marketplace and, yes, help their customers achieve their “full potential.”
The impacts and opportunities of emerging technologies on changing business models are impressive. The wants and demands of customers, regulators and other stakeholders continue
to increase and change. Those utilities that understand megatrends and anticipate the opportunities, impacts and demands will remain relevant, succeed and grow.
There are some good examples of North American electric (and gas) utilities that meet their customer demands with good value, operational excellence, and increasing access to sustainable sources of clean energy. They embrace entrepreneurial creativity, employ intellectual genius and adopt the very best from other industries. These leading electric utilities apply a “new paradigm of thinking” that sets a “high bar” for their contemporaries to strive for and achieve.
Some examples of excellence include:
MN Power - Going private and serving massive industrial loads with clean, low-cost reliable power. According to Daniel Gunderson, vice president, “Minnesota Power delivers most of its energy to large, energy-intensive industrial customers. In alignment with Minnesota’s energy policies, the company has achieved a remarkable transition from carbon-intensive energy since 2005, when more than 95% of our energy was produced by coal-fired generation. Today, more than 50% of our energy comes from renewable sources.”
Southern California Edison - Re-imagining the grid and using the digital twin of its T&D system to plan, design and operate it. “SCE is currently leveraging digital twins to identify and predict vegetation encroachment on their overhead lines, and they are currently undertaking projects to deploy digital twins to enable holistic planning that combines insights extracted with ML/ AI from big data with physics-based simulation,” said Abder Elandaloussi, T&D innovation manager.
Other utilities in this group include:
PG&E - Rebuilding the company “from the underground up” with major innovations in underground design and construction.
Oncor Electric Delivery - Oncor has had massive load growth in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro for over two decades. Now, data centers, crypto miners, EV fleets and new industrial plants are demanding higher levels of clean power with a 24-hour per day load factor.
NextEra - Embarking on $1B per year, 20-year plan to underground overhead laterals improving safety, reliability, resiliency and affordability (by driving down O&M costs).
Dominion Energy - Installed four Static Synchronous Compensators (STATCOMs) at existing substations in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach to help offset the loss of coal fired generation. Utilities are responding to real-world demands with practical innovation and long-term thinking. The bar is high — and the opportunity is even higher.
MIKE BEEHLER is the national spokesperson for the Power Delivery Intelligence Initiative and the chief opportunity officer for Mike Beehler & Associates LLC.
