The Eversource Energy Center at the University of Connecticut and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) hosted a two-day workshop in January 2017 with 40 participants from seven utilities across the United States and scientists from two Department of Energy national labs. New technologies, real-time assessment of weather events, proactive utility actions to minimize storm damage, and cost/benefit analyses were among the priority discussion topics. Participants saw demonstrations of 3-D imaging of electric grid infrastructure and surrounding vegetation, storm outage modeling and how pre-staging crews and resources expedites outage restorations reflecting Eversource’s current practices. Customer benefits, including shortened or avoided outages, resulting from electric grid investments and operational best practices were a key focus. EPRI intends to use the outcomes of this workshop to direct future research efforts that will be led by the Eversource Energy Center. For an in-depth look at the discussion, please visit the Eversource Energy Center newsroom.
For more information, contact: Dave Wanik, Center Manager at dave.wanik@uconn.edu