Tag: TIME
Power Line Management in the Time of Coronavirus
The post Power Line Management in the Time of Coronavirus appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has put communities on lockdown and created a need for social distancing. Many are staying at home, but that’s not an option for the frontline workers running critical power transmission infrastructure and keeping the lights on.
How can utilities keep up with their operational and safety obligations with a reduced onsite workforce? Specifically, how can utilities maintain power line inspection and maintenance regimes, and what are the additional challenges for those in areas such as California, where COVID-19 collides with other threats, such as wildfire season?
Making Hard Work of Field Work
By definition, power transmission and distribution networks deal with long distances. At the best of times power line inspection entails despatching crews into the most remote pockets of a country or state, far from major population centres.
In many ways that can be a blessing: deep in the forests and mountains you may be more likely to run into a cougar or bear than another human being carrying COVID-19.…
SCANA, Santee Cooper Buy More Time for V.C. Summer Decision
SCANA Corp. subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCG&E) and Santee Cooper—owners of the two-unit expansion of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant—have extended an interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse to allow the project’s owners to “continue to make progress on the site.”
The companies on June 26 extended the agreement to August 10, but it is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
“The agreement extension allows the co-owners additional time to maintain all of their options by continuing construction on the project, while examining all of the relevant information for a thorough and careful assessment to determine the most prudent path forward,” the project owners said.
“The goal is to reach a decision in the third quarter.”
A Hard Decision to Make
SCE&G and Santee Cooper have worked with Westinghouse to reach agreement on the project even before the Toshiba company filed for bankruptcy protection in late March. Westinghouse cited liquidity crisis stemming from losses at the V.C. Summer and Vogtle AP1000 projects for its financial collapse.…