Public Power Current

At Truckee Donner Public Utility District’s June board of directors meeting, the board adopted the California public power utility’s annual Wildfire Mitigation Plan.

Ronald DeCurzio, Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, the Commonwealth’s designated joint action agency for municipal utilities, has been named to the state’s new Energy Transformation Advisory Board.

The Energy Authority announced that the Grand River Dam Authority will join TEA as its newest member, effective July 1, 2024.

​​​​​​​Consumption of electricity in the U.S. commercial sector has recovered from pandemic levels, with annual U.S. sales of electricity to commercial customers in 2023 totaling 14 billion kilowatt hours, or 1%, more than in 2019, the Energy Information Administration said on June 28.

Total U.S. electricity demand has remained relatively stable at around 4,000 terawatt-hours since 2010, but as electrification accelerates, that’s about to change, consulting group Rystad Energy said on June 24.

The House Natural Resources Committee on June 26 approved H.R. 8790, the Fix Our Forests Act.

As operational challenges multiply, some utilities have found drones to be an effective tool to optimize limited resources and maintain safe and reliable service. Many utilities have either hired drone service providers that use professional pilots or started dedicated aviation units with their utility. In contrast, Skydio uses artificial intelligence to interpret the visual data coming from the fisheye cameras that serve as a drone’s “eyes.”

The U.S. Department of Energy has updated Form DOE-417, Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report.