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Global CAPEX and O&M Expenditure Outlook for Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Investments: 2009-2010

This recently completed study of Electric Utility T&D budget plans for Capital Expenditures, Operations and Maintenance includes survey responses from over 100 utilities worldwide. This study looks at general reasons for or against increasing, decreasing or maintaining budget levels through 2010. This bold new report has captured 2008 year-end information from leading utilities concerning all aspects of operational planning for smart grid initiatives including control systems, substation automation, AMR/AMI, distribution automation and protection and control.  The outlook for transmission and distribution infrastructure spending is also included.

Purchase the study online by visiting our reports page to order.

Please see our news release on this topic (.pdf) here:
news_release-CAPEXstudyjan09.pdf

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Substation Related A & I Program Spending Plans Remain Cautiously Optimistic

December 8, 2008. . . . Ellicott City, Maryland. The Newton-Evans Research Company has released research findings from its third quarter 2008 study of international electric power utility substation officials. About 50 large and mid-size electric utility organizations from more than 30 countries participated in the 2008 study.

International utilities accounting for nearly one-third of all utility owned transmission and distribution substations indicated plans to spend about $300-350 million this year on substation A&I program management activities, and more than one billion dollars for smart substation devices.

Many of the large International utilities participating in this year’s study continue to buy on a turnkey basis from a single supplier, which remains in stark contrast from findings reported in this year’s North American study. North American officials reported that they continue to purchase various substation products, equipment and systems from suppliers that they believe to be best in class, (whether these are global corporations, or smaller substation A&I market specialists).

Read the full article online here. (link opens as .pdf)

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World Market for Substation Automation and Integration Programs in Electric Utilities: 2008-2010 Volume 2 – International Market Now Available

December 1, 2008. . . . Ellicott City, Maryland. The Newton-Evans Research Company has released research findings from its mid-year study of International utility substation officials. Forty-nine large and mid-size electric utility organizations participated in this new mid-year study.

See our services and reports page for ordering details.

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Remote 2008 Conference & Expo – SCADA, Device Networking, M2M, Wireless Technology, Onsite Power and Security for Remote Sites

The Remote 2008 Conference and Expo will be held November 5-6, 2008 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel, Atlanta, GA. This technology-driven and solution oriented event brings together innovators and users from multiple industries, including utilities, power, oil & gas, telecom, industrial, water & public utilities, agriculture and facilities management.

The conference will focus on the leading advancements for the monitoring and management of distributed equipment and facilities, remote assets, automated process & system controls and device networks. Industry experts will speak on SCADA, security (cyber and physical), control, automation, onsite and back-up power, M2M, networking, emerging wireless technology, telemetry, environmental monitoring, grounding and remote smart services.

Newton-Evans CEO Charles Newton will be Keynote Speaker on Thursday morning, and he will speak on Trends in Substation Automation, Control Center Operations and Field Automation for the World’s Utilities. Mr. Newton will provide a synopsis of findings from Newton Evans Research Company’s 2008 global study of substation automation and control center SCADA operations. These research studies encompassed current issues, including cyber security for NERC CIPS compliance, communication protocol usage and overall smart grid investment focus for utilities located in more than 50 countries. Coverage of additional remote monitoring and control functions such as FDIR (fault detection, isolation and service restoration) being performed by electric utilities will be included in the presentation.

Additional information available from the Remote Site and Equipment Management website.

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World Market for Substation Automation and Integration Programs in Electric Utilities: 2008-2010 Volume 1 – North American Market Now Available

October 22, 2008. . . . Ellicott City, Maryland. The Newton-Evans Research Company has released research findings from its mid-year study of North American utility substation officials. More than 100 large and mid-size electric utility organizations, accounting for more than one-third of substations, customers and revenues, participated in this new mid-year study.

Read the rest of this news release

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Post CIGRE 2008

Post CIGRE 2008 Report, by Gerry George, Newton-Evans Correspondant and International Editor for T&D World
CIGRE’s 42nd General Session is an International Conference on Large High Voltage Electric Systems that provides a unique forum for delegates and Exhibitors from around the world which is always held in the beautiful city of Paris. It this is probably one of the world’s largest Conferences which together with an Exhibition is a “must attend” event for the transmission and distribution industry professionals. This year the Conference was attended by some 3,000 delegates from 82 countries, a new attendance record and the ever increasing popularity of this event resulted in the Technical Programme being supported by the largest ever Exhibition…

Read more: postCIGRE2008_report.pdf (opens in new window)

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News Release: International Control Systems Operations and International Study of Electric Power SCADA and Energy Management Systems

Ellicott City, MD——-March 21, 2008. Newton-Evans Research Company today released preliminary findings and observations from its multi-month study of transmission and distribution monitoring and control systems used in international electric power utilities.

Click here to read the rest of the article (.pdf opens in a new window.)

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Energy Conference Report from Washington: 2008 National Electricity Delivery Forum

The National Electricity Delivery Forum was held in Washington D.C. on the 20th and 21st of February, 2008. The conference was co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability) and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The author attended the full first day session.

Click here to read the rest of the article (.PDF opens in a new window.)

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Upcoming Conferences: Clemson Power Systems Conference 2008

The Clemson PSC has grown over the past several years to become one of the country’s most important university sponsored electric power conferences. With active participation from electrical equipment suppliers such as Areva, Elster, GE, Itron, Quanta, SEL and Siemens, and with a nice mix of speakers from utilities, industry and academia, the conference fills the need for improved person-to-person communications among all participants in looking ahead and planning for the power industry of the future.

Chuck Newton will be participating in the upcoming Clemson Power System Conference being held at South Carolina’s Clemson University from March 11 to March 14 this year, serving as a panelist and presenter on the March 12 afternoon discussion entitled, “Integrating Advanced Metering with Distribution Systems Operations.”

Other topical discussions include Integrating Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles with Distribution Systems; Renewable Energy Challenges: Present and Future Directions; Renewable Energy in Power Systems; Syncrophasors: Principles, Application and Implementation; Utility of the Future; Advances in Digital Protection.

Keynote speakers during the week will include: Larry Sollecito, GM of General Electric Digital Systems; Dr. Ed Schweitzer, CEO of Schweitzer Engineering Labs; Jim Hicks, CEO of Shaw Engineering Services; and Matt Smith of Duke Energy.

Additional information on the Clemson PSC program can be found in the link listed on the trade events page on our website.

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Interim Study Findings from 2008 SCADA study

As of February 26, Newton-Evans Research has provided its report clients with an interim 22 page report summary on the North American portion of the new EMS, SCADA and DMS study well underway here at Newton-Evans Research. If any of our readers have an interest in ordering the reports prior to March 15, we will continue to provide the 10% discount that had been limited to early-bird subscribers. Click here for an order form.

The interim summary is based on tabulations of the first 95 North American utilities participating in our new study. These 95 utilities represent about 28% of North American T&D assets. We anticipate participation from many additional North American sites during March. The information being gathered from a control center perspective will certainly be useful for our clients’ mid-range product and market planning activities. We will be preparing another interim report for report clients in March, based on tabulated international survey findings. Delivery of the final reports will be underway by mid-April.

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Sustainable Energy Security and Energy Independence

We have all seen the headlines that appeared recently with the signing into legislation of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. While many of us are still confronting the realities of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, this new legislation has an even more important impact on the electric power community.

The headlines that emerged from the enactment of the new legislation revolved around mandates for improvements in automobile mileage, more use of ethanol, efficient light bulbs and efficient buildings. That is all well and good and represents meaningful progress toward at least a measure of energy independence. However, little attention was given to Title Nine, hidden in the latter sections of the 300-plus page bill, signed into law in December, 2007. This new legislation includes some notable and progressive items including a statement of purposes for the Energy Independence Act as set forth in the preamble:

To move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to
increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase
the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, to promote research on and
deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy
performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.

Click here to read the rest of the article (.PDF opens in a new window.)

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The Washington Energy Track – Looking in from the Outside

Over the past few weeks, Newton-Evans Research in the person of the author has been represented at two Washington D.C. energy-related conferences dealing with energy policy issues. The U.S. Energy Association (USEA) was the sponsor of the Fourth Annual State of the Energy Industry conference held at the National Press Club on January 16th (link to video opens in a new window). USEA was also a co-sponsor for the February 5th Powering Our Low Carbon Future conference along with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Three more upcoming Washington conferences also appear to merit our attention and we will be reporting on each of these conferences.

Next week, I will report to our readers following the 2008 National Electricity Delivery Conference sponsored by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissions (NARUC). Early in March, Newton-Evans will report from the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference. In early April, the Department of Energy�s Energy Information Administration (EIA) will sponsor its Annual Energy Conference and Newton-Evans will be represented as well at this important DoE analyst conference.

Click here to read the rest of the article (.PDF opens in a new window.)

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Interim Findings from SCADA Study

Some of the interim findings of Newton-Evans’ North American EMS/SCADA/DMA study have been cited in an article published by www.metering.com. The article, titled, Significant activities underway to develop smart grid components, highlights the Automated Metering Infrastructure and Outage Management System portions of our study. Click here to read the article (Article opens in a new window.)

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Significant Activities Underway to Develop Smart Grid Components

Early Findings from 2008 Newton-Evans Study of Electric Power Control Center Officials Indicate Significant Activities Underway to Develop Smart Grid Components and Strengthen Security Measures. System Reliability Issues Leading to Increased Spending on Energy Management and SCADA Systems Upgrades. Click here to read the full news release (Adobe .pdf opens in a new window.)