| | June - July 20186Copyright © 2018 ValleyMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part of any text, photography or illustrations without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the magazine and accordingly, no liability is assumed by the publisher thereof.JUNE - JULY 2018TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SPECIALPhone:510 330 5172 Fax:510-894-8405JUNE - JULY 2018, Vol 01 SE 02 - Published by ValleyMedia, Inc. To subscribe to Utilities Tech OutlookVisit www.utilitiestechoutlook.com Editorial StaffSalesAaron Pierce Chithra VijayakumarPooja RayAva GarciaJoshua ParkerVian IsaacAlison Samuelsalison@utilitiestechoutlook.comVisualizersJohn GouthamManaging EditorOlivia SmithEDITOR'S DESKThe utilities sector is no longer anticipating a revolution--it is embroiled in one today. With the plummeting prices of renewables and energy storage, finalization of carbon regulations, and proliferation of distributed energy resources, the utilities industry is in the middle of an unprecedented evolution.Amidst these transformations, the transmission and distribution (T&D) grid, in particular, is experiencing some of the most notable changes. With new utility-scale solar and distributed renewable capacity for grids, the utilities are witnessing a growing need to upgrade and modernize their transmission and distribution systems. These demands are ushering an era of smart grids that will transform the way power is delivered, consumed, and accounted for, thereby facilitating improved network planning, operations management, and market trading in the utilities industry. But modernizing the grid involves more than just installing new lines; a modernized grid must handle two-way power flows, whereas in the past all the power in the system flowed one-way--from the bulk power level down to customer. This has led to the introduction of advanced metering infrastructure--a communication backbone for low-latency data that is aimed at improving distribution asset utilization failure detection, and facilitating consumer inclusion in the utilities space. Coupled with smart grids, advanced distribution automation, which facilitates more effective utilization and life extension of existing distribution system infrastructure, is also expected to gain popularity this year.Another breakthrough is the introduction of drones or remotely piloted aerial systems (RPAS), which are now becoming mainstream in utilities industry for grid monitoring. Drones can track the health of the transmission and distribution systems, cutting down expenditure on the use of aerial surveys or manual visits--for instance, engineers can use augmented reality to quickly identify problems, or integrate virtual reality tools with the drones to remotely predict catastrophic failures to distribution equipment. These emerging technologies reaffirm the progressive transformation underway in the utilities--particularly the power transmission and distribution arena. Let us know your thoughts.Olivia Smith Managing Editoreditor@utilitiestechooutlook.comThe Era of Smart Grids*Some of the Insights are based on the interviews with respective CIOs and CXOs to our editorial staffOlivia Smith
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