Highlights from the World of Linemen News
Here are some industry news and information articles from around the web, just for you.
NASCAR Event Honors and Celebrates Linemen
Line work is one of the top 10 most dangerous occupations, yet many Americans do not know what it takes to keep the lights on. To create awareness of the line trade, Chad and Amy Dubea, founders of the Fallen Linemen Organization, sponsor the annual NASCAR race called Drivin’ for Linemen 200.
Through the event, Dubea says he wanted to bring linemen together to celebrate the trade, honor those who have passed on, and recognize those linemen still working in the field. Read More
Droves of Linemen Lend a Helping Hand in Irma’s Wake
One of the largest restoration workforces in America’s history is meeting in Florida this week to restore power following Hurricane Irma. Crews from across North America are traveling in bucket truck convoys to the Sunshine State to restore power including Hydro One, Xcel Energy, Entergy, and many others from more than 30 states.
LED Leads the Way in Bridge Lighting
From Quincy, Illinois, the Bayview Bridge carries westbound U.S. Highway 24 traffic over the Mississippi River, connecting to West Quincy, Missouri. The 4,507-foot bridge runs parallel to the Quincy Soldier’s Memorial Bridge, which takes eastbound U.S. 24 traffic over the river into Quincy. Built in 1986, the Bayview Bridge is an early cable-stay bridge made with a reinforced concrete super structure and pylons.
Area residents on both sides of the river count on the two bridges to get them to work and home on a daily basis. But the bridges are more than just their function; they are viewed as icons to the communities on both sides of the river.
In 2007, local civic leaders received a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation to illuminate the Bayview Bridge. Subsequently, the City of Quincy hired Klingner & Associates and Brown Electric Company to combine their expertise and provide a conceptual lighting plan, constructability review and cost estimates for lighting the bridge structure.
Originally envisioned as a system of monotone white metal halide lights with optional colored filters for special occasions, the project evolved into a cinematic light show with the advent of high-lumen LED light fixtures.
Baker Electric Installs Rooftop Solar System on Calif. Synagogue
Baker Electric Commercial Solar recently installed a 76.16 kilowatts (kW) rooftop solar power system at Temple Adat Shalom in Poway, Calif. The 3,124-panel system is 1.15 megawatts.
The rooftop solar power system is projected to save over 70 percent of the synagogue’s demand charges and energy costs, according to an August press release. Projected electricity cost savings for the synagogue in the first year are $10,000.
Temple Adat Shalom’s solar system will save the equivalent of annual greenhouse gas emissions from 213,564 miles driven by a passenger vehicle. It also offsets carbon dioxide emissions from 10,027 gallons of gasoline consumed or 95,088 pounds of coal burned per year, according to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. Read More
Customer grid defections are a utility branding issue
For decades, customers regarded electricity as a commodity, and electric utilities as its regional monopoly providers. Fast forward to today, and the landscape is undergoing a tectonic shift.
Companies such as Apple, IKEA and MGM Resorts have made it publicly known that they are now adopting new energy strategies as a core component of their business operations. Others, such as 3M, Dow Chemical and General Motors, have signed renewable PPAs to attain sustainability and/or cost-efficiency goals. Each company’s approach to energy may be unique, but the underlying trend is that the largest and most influential companies are signaling to the marketplace that the days of electricity as an undifferentiated commodity are over.
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