Articles
ADMS – Isn’t AMI Enough?
What is ADMS and why are utilities implementing or considering ADMS? Gartner describes ADMS as: The software platform that automates outage restoration and optimizes the performance of the distribution grid. ADMS functions being developed for electric utilities include: Fault location, isolation, a…
A closer look at the disruption in the Utility Industry
I was recently asked how utilities are being disrupted by Digitization, distributed energy resources, and technologies such as the Tesla power wall, the Nest thermostat, etc. First is digitization, which is a broad term referring to the growing ability to have processes, devices, and systems impleme…
A Recap of Digital Energy at Cisco Live
Cisco Live is always an incredible event. It was an amazing experience from the sessions, to the speakers and the after hour events! There was just an incredible amount of energy and discussion across many different industries. We discussed business outcomes, digitization, and how cybersecurity is a…
Webinar Recap: Integrating Distributed Energy Resources
The impact of Distributed Energy Resources (such as solar photovoltaics, Electric Vehicles, Energy Management Systems) is still generally discussed in the future tense but for many utilities, especially those with substantial amounts of distributed solar, the impact is happening today. They are chan…
Big Themes from UTC2016: #CiscoChat Recap
At UTC 2016, utility companies and thought leaders discussed how to tackle many issues impacting IT and telecom initiatives in the water, electric, and gas utility industries. To continue the conversation from the event, I hosted a #CiscoChat on Twitter with Bob Lockhart (@BobLockhartUTC), Eric Ehle…
Power Grid Security: Separating Reality from Hype
We’ve all seen the news reports on power grid vulnerabilities and the possibility of an impending terror attack. Recently, Ted Koppel’s book, “Lights Out,” caused a wave of press around the issue. Similar spikes in press occurred in the year after the PG&E Metcalf substation sabotage and around…
5 Themes We Heard at DistribuTECH 2016
I just got back from the 26th year of DistribuTECH, the largest annual Electric Utility Industry conference. The theme was “Focused on the Future” and the industry met to participate in sessions on working through the challenges of increasing the amount of power from renewable resources, managing th…
Tesla Powerwall May Be a Game Changer for PV Energy Production, but Distribution Networking is Vital
During Elon Musk’s presentation of Tesla Powerwall, a battery system that lets you store energy to power your home, he shared a slide showing a small area of the Texas panhandle – with a small blue square representing the land area necessary to produce enough solar power to meet the entire electric…
Event Recap: Cisco at the EEI Annual Convention
I had a great time recently at the EEI Annual Convention on June 7-10 in New Orleans, LA. EEI is the Edison Electric Institute, the industry association of the Investor Owned Utilities in the U.S. with international utility membership from all over the world. The Annual meeting is a unique event tha…
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