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A Good Day in D.C. – The 2009 Annual Energy Conference

For two days (April 7 and 8) this week, The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration held sway at the Washington DC Convention Center. This year’s 2009 Annual Energy Conference included ten panel sessions on various current energy hot topics. These sessions began following an early morning plenary session with a keynote address given by Dr. Steven Chu, the newly appointed Secretary of Energy for the United States. Several hundred people filled the meeting room to capacity to hear Dr. Chu. The next speaker, Yale University Professor William Nordhaus, discussed energy and the macro economy and then EXELON’s Chairman and CEO, Mr. John Rowe spoke on energy in a carbon-constrained world.

The first day session of most interest to me was the session entitled: Electric Power Infrastructure: Status and Challenges for the Future. The EIA’s Scott Sitzer moderated a lively and informative panel comprised of the FERC’s P. Kumar Agarwal, Dr. Tim Brennan from UMBC, and NERC’s Mark Lauby. The three panel members came at the infrastructure issues from different backgrounds, perspectives and approaches, but each hit home on at least a few of the key electric power issues confronting the nation, and indeed, the entire world.

Continue reading A Good Day in D.C. – The 2009 Annual Energy Conference

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Market Trends Digest

The first quarter 2009 issue of Market Trends Digest is now available. This issue includes a look back at our study of substation automation completed last year, as well as a look ahead at some interim findings from our study of protective relays which is now currently underway (scheduled for completion in May). Also included in this issue is an article by CEO Charles Newton and a brief look at Smart Grid expenditures and IT spending for Adminstrative and Operational activities in 2009 and 2013.

Click image to open .pdf in a new window.

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Where T&D Automation Is Headed: 2009 and Beyond

by Charles Newton

The financial environment and economic outlook
darken many segments of the national and global economies. Will the electric power industry significantly scale back planned capital expenditures and operations and maintenance spending on transmission and distribution automation? To find the answer, we conducted a global study of capital-expense budgets.

This article is featured in the March/April edition of EnergyBiz magazine, which you can download as a .pdf from their website: http://energycentral.fileburst.com/EnergyBizOnline/2009-2-mar-apr/Tech_Front_TandD_Headed.pdf

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Transmission Summit 2009

The newest edition of  the Transmission Summit Conference, was held in Washington, D.C. this past week.  A rousing panel discussion on the role of the Smart Grid in the world of electric power transmission included panel members John McDonald (GE Energy T&D), Robert Moisan (The Glarus Group), Charles Newton (Newton-Evans Research Company), and Michael Oster (Grid Storage Technologies) .   After introductory remarks from each panel member, the panelists at the March 12  session titled Implications of Smart Grid Technology for Transmission replied to questions submitted by the audience for another 60 minutes.  The session was moderated by Jim Murray, a partner with Scott Madden Inc.

For the complete agenda visit the Infocast website: www.infocastinc.com.

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Leveraging SCADA for the Smart Grid

An article by Chuck Newton titled Better Leverage SCADA: Systems Expand to Support New Challenges and Needs was featured in the first issue of Energy Central’s newest serial, Intelligent Utility magazine. This new publication focuses on Smart Grid topics. From the website:

“The magazine addresses core smart grid components, including distribution automation, substation automation, smart meters, demand response, home area networks, intelligent consumer devices, distributed generation, SCADA, GIS, outage management systems, mobile workforce technologies, work management and asset management.”

Visit their website to get a free subscription.

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Protective Relay Marketplace – Our 7th Worldwide Study Now Underway

Newton Evans Research Company is embarking upon its 7th worldwide study of the protective relay marketplace. The 2009 survey has been co-designed by Newton-Evans’ staff, major electric utilities and leading suppliers and has been extensively reviewed and pre-tested.  Global fieldwork is now underway with participation from the world’s leading protection and control community within the electric power delivery industry expected to exceed 100 major participants.  The 4 volume report series is currently anticipated to be available in April 2009.

Please see our new brochure on this topic (.pdf) here:
relay_brochure2009.pdf

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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.

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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.)