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Edison Electric Institute

Podcast

Restoring electricity in Puerto Rico-an inside look

September 14, 2018

Hurricane Maria was one of the most devastating storms to ever hit the United States, leaving a path of death and destruction across Puerto Rico last September. The electric grid faced extensive damage that put virtually the entire population without power for weeks and months. On this edition of the Columbia Energy Exchange podcast, host Bill Loveless talks to Carlos Torres, a former official with Consolidated Edison in New York, and the man assigned by the Governor of Puerto Rico with the difficult task of coordinating the restoration of electricity for the island. Carlos spent more than 30 years at Con Ed managing emergency management and storm restoration efforts, including overseeing the utility’s response to major storms like Super Storm Sandy and Hurricane Irene, and emergencies like the September 11 attack at the World Trade Center and the 2003 Northeast…

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Energy, Utilities and Providers, Weather

Improvements help utilities respond quicker to hurricane storm damage

October 17, 2016

Hurricane Sandy dealt a devastating blow to the U.S. in 2012, leaving about $70 billion in damages, 147 people dead and millions without electricity, mostly in New York and New Jersey. The impact on the electric grid from Sandy’s storm surge and high winds on the Atlantic coast prompted utility executives and government officials to work more closely than ever to find new ways of coordinating their resources and strengthening infrastructure in response to storms. Four years later, those efforts are paying off. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Energy, Government and Politics, Policy, Technology, Utilities and Providers

Utilities’ drone plans cleared for takeoff

August 30, 2016

Electric utilities across the U.S. are wasting no time taking advantage of new FAA rules authorizing use of drones for commercial purposes. “We’ve certainly heard from our members that they’re excited about this technology,” said Chris Hickling, the director of government relations for the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the trade group for investor-owned utilities in the U.S. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Defense, Energy, Government and Politics, International, Technology, Utilities and Providers

An attack on the grid? Power execs push back on Koppel claims

June 5, 2016

Eight months after veteran broadcast journalist Ted Koppel published a book predicting a devastating cyberattack on the U.S. power grid, leaders of the utility industry are sounding off over what they say is an exaggerated claim. “We’re speaking out on it now because we think there is an important story to tell,” Scott Aaronson, the managing director for cyber and infrastructure security at the Edison Electric Institute, said last week at a briefing for reporters. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Defense, Energy, Technology

Avoiding a big blackout: There’s a drone for that

May 4, 2016

The biggest blackout ever in North America happened 13 years ago when high-voltage power lines brushed against overgrown trees in northern Ohio, triggering breakdowns on the grid that turned out lights in New York City and across eight states as well as Ontario, Canada. The incident in August 2003 demonstrated the importance of trimming trees adjacent to electricity transmission and distribution lines, and the difficulties of doing so when millions of trees dot hundreds of thousands of miles of lines. But now a Palo Alto, Calif., company is teaming up with the U.S. electric-power industry to test the effectiveness of using unmanned aerial vehicles – commonly known as drones – to help utilities scan power lines faster, cheaper and smarter. In the process, the collaboration between Sharper Shape and the Edison Electric Institute could help enable greater commercial use of…

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by Bill Loveless