News Highlights from the Electric Power Industry.
April is national lineman appreciation month
Begun as an Act of Congress in April of 2013, National Lineman Appreciation Day is the time to #ThankALineman, as the hashtag states, for the contributions that these men and women make to protect public safety and keep power flowing to homes and businesses across the United States.
According to LinemanAppreciationDay.com, a website run by the Northwest Lineman Collage, the day is usually celebrated April 18 but many utilities are designating the entire month of April as Lineman Appreciation Month. >> Read more
Utility distribution systems ‘increasingly at risk’ for cyberattacks, GAO report concludes
The increasing use of ICS to manage the electric grid has been recognized as a threat to the transmission and generation sectors, but GAO’s report concludes federal security rules overlook increasing risks to distribution systems.
“Distribution systems are growing more vulnerable, in part because their industrial control systems increasingly allow remote access and connect to business networks,” the report found. “As a result, threat actors can use multiple techniques to access those systems and potentially disrupt operations.” >> Read more
Putting people to work in the energy industry will reap more benefits for the U.S. economy than putting people to work in almost any other sector. That’s just one of a multitude of findings in a new report released this week from the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), the Energy Futures Initiative, and BW Research. >> Read more
U.S. coal-fired electricity generated totaled 774 million megawatt hours (MWh) in 2020, which is less than both natural gas-fired (1.6 billion MWh) and nuclear-powered generation (790 million MWh), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Electric Power Monthly.
Last year marked the first time that coal was not the largest or second-largest source of annual electricity generation in the United States since at least 1949. However, EIA expects U.S. coal-fired electricity generation to increase and for nuclear-powered electricity generation to decrease in both 2021 and 2022. >> Read more
Southern Co. exceeds 2030 GHG reduction goals 10 years early
Atlanta-based utility holding company Southern Co., which is building the nation’s only nuclear power plant under construction and adding renewable capacity through its subsidiaries, has already met its 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent.
Southern Co. announced that its system reduced greenhouse GHG emissions 52 percent last year over 2007 benchmark levels. The company’s ultimate goal is net zero emissions by 2050. >> Read more
Be Prepared. Think Safety.
