The United
A Jamaican man, working in the United States energy industry, has won a prestigious award for his work on a safety project that makes it possible for utility workers to detect stray voltage with a smart phone or tablet.
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RICHARDSON… this award is gratifying because it recognises our commitment to public safety |
Paul Richardson was named a winner of the Technology Transfer Award from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a national energy research organization. Richardson is a district operator in system and transmission operations at New York power company Con Edison, where he has worked since 2004. He grew up in Portmore, St Catherine and attended Excelsior High School before migrating to the US as a teenager.
Richardson worked with two fellow Con Edison employees on research into using smart phone and tablet personal computer technology to detect contact voltage on streets. The technology could make it possible for a utility worker with a smart phone or tablet to detect contact voltage, also known as stray voltage, the company said, noting that the faster contact voltage is detected, the faster crews can make repairs, ensuring public safety.
“We live in a world that is power dependent and as technology advances the demand for that power increases. At Con Edison, nothing is more important than the safety of the New Yorkers who rely our service and the safety of our own employees,” Richardson told Caribbean Business Report yesterday.
“This award is gratifying because it recognizes our commitment to public safety,” he added.
At Con Edison, Richardson is responsible for switching electric transmission and distribution equipment in and out of service for routine work and emergency conditions.
“My primary objectives are the safety of our personnel, the reliability of our service and protecting our equipment and our customers’ equipment from damage,” he said.
He said the project came about as the company constantly explores new technologies and methods to make its service safer.
“This project was a part of that process. The technology could make it possible for a utility worker to use a portable device to detect objects that are inadvertently energized so that repairs can be made,” he said.
Richardson said his interest in engineering has its genesis from a summer internship he had at the Caribbean Cement Company.
“There I had the opportunity to observe industrial manufacturing and the technical aspects of maintaining a manufacturing plant,” he told Caribbean Business Report.
Now living in White Plains, New York, Richardson is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University with a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
Richardson was one of eight Con Edison employees who won Technology Transfer Awards for projects to make the delivery of electricity safer and more reliable.
Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately US$12 billion in annual revenues and US$41 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than three million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York.
“We are in a constant and relentless search for technology and methods that can improve our service,” said Craig Ivey, the president of Con Edison. “The men and women of Con Edison are proud to see eight members of our team recognized for research that will benefit the New Yorkers we feel privileged to serve.”
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When Hurricane Sandy tore through Jamaica on October 24, many expected that the Category One winds would have immobilised the country’s infrastructure and severely interrupt commerce.
Refreshingly, many businesses were up and running the very next day. Vital to the safety and economic well-being of any country post-disaster is the restoration of electricity and other essential services.
The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), in concert with other agencies such as the National Water Commission and the National Works Agency, accelerated the process of recovery admirably so that the country’s commercial life was not crippled.
Many Jamaicans grew impatient, but the majority recognised that these crews were working for many continuous hours.
The Sunday Gleaner’s tribute to the JPS team, calling them ‘Unsung heroes’, was well deserved. Work crews certainly went beyond the call of duty, often without regard for personal circumstances. We offer sincere condolences to the family of the worker who was killed in St Ann.
Reliability is one aspect of utilities that few appreciate until they are not there. The country should show its gratitude to these dedicated men and women in a fitting manner.
When the performance of JPS is pitted against the better-resourced United States (US), it is interesting to note that approximately 1.4 million homes and businesses in New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut remain in the dark, without heating, a week after the storm strengthened and roared ashore.
Jamaicans accustomed to being battered by hurricanes appear to have learnt the hard lessons of disaster recovery. Perhaps the US will also learn the hard way.
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Jamaica is hoping to establish a floating LNG barge like this one found on the website of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, posted courtesy of www.lngoneworld.com.
A plunge in the price of natural gas has made it cheaper for utilities to produce electricity. But the savings aren’t translating to lower rates for customers. Instead, United States electricity prices are going up.
Electricity prices are forecast to rise slightly this summer. But any increase is noteworthy because natural gas, which is used to produce nearly a third of the country’s power, is 43 per cent cheaper than a year ago. A long-term downward trend in power prices could be starting to reverse, analysts say.
“It’s caused us to scratch our heads,” says Tyler Hodge, an analyst at the Energy Department who studies electricity prices.
The recent heat wave that gripped much of the country increased demand for power as families cranked up their air conditioners. And that may boost some June utility bills. But the nationwide rise in electricity prices is attributable to other factors, analysts say:
In many states, retail electricity rates are set by regulators every few years. As a result, lower power costs haven’t yet made their way to customers.
Utilities often lock in their costs for natural gas and other fuels years in advance. That helps protect customers when fuel prices spike, but it prevents customers from reaping the benefits of a price drop.
The cost of actually delivering electricity, which accounts for 40 per cent of a customer’s bill on average, has been rising fast. That has eaten up any potential savings from the production of electricity.
Utilities are building transmission lines, installing new equipment and fixing up power plants after what analysts say has been years of underinvestment.
This may reverse what has been a gradual decline in retail electricity prices. Adjusted for inflation, the average retail electricity price has been drifting mostly lower since 1984, when it was 16.7 cents per kilowatt-hour.
“The ratepayer is going to have to foot the bill,” says David Wright, vice-chairman of the South Carolina Public Service Commission and president of the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners.
PRICE INCREASE EXPECTED
The average US residential electricity price is expected to be 12.4 cents per kilowatt hour for the June-to-August period, up 2.4 per cent from the same time last year. For the full year, electricity prices are expected to rise two per cent.
In a typical summer month, that would mean an extra $3 on a residential bill, which includes the cost of generating the power and delivering it to a home, plus local taxes and fees.
Electricity pricing is complicated, and it differs from state to state. In states where power providers are allowed to compete, such as Texas, Pennsylvania and New York, customers can shop around for cheaper electricity, although delivery charges are still set by regulators.
Natural gas has plummeted in price because of a dramatic increase in US gas production over the past few years and a warm winter that allowed supplies to build up.
Even though coal accounts for 38 per cent of all power produced in the US, natural gas plays an outsized role in determining the price of electricity.
The price paid for electricity from the last power plant fired up to meet demand at any given moment is what sets the wholesale price for a given region. And since gas-fired power plants are usually the most expensive, they tend to be fired up last.
– AP
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