Tag: Robotics Engineering

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Minnesota governor accelerates state’s carbon-free power target 10 years, to 2040

Minnesota-Carbon-Free-Electricity

UtilityDive – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, D, on Thursday proposed a series of policies that would bring the state to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, a decade earlier than the goal he proposed in 2019.

His proposed policy goals follow a report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued earlier this month, finding the state is not on track to meet its previous goals of reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 30% below 2005 levels by 2025, and 80% by 2050. Overall, greenhouse gas emissions have declined 8% since 2005, according to the agency’s latest data, which measures emissions through 2018.

Minnesota’s largest investor-owned utilities (IOUs) — Xcel Energy and Minnesota Power — are pursuing 100% carbon-free energy by 2050 targets, and said their plans are more realistic.

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Chattanooga EPB’s Gigabit Generated $2.7 Billion in Economic Benefits

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Telecompetitor – EPB of Chattanooga’s gigabit broadband infrastructure has generated $2.69 billion in economic benefits to the community during its first decade of operation, according to a gigabit economic benefits report from the Rollins College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The study, which was conducted by Bento Lobo, Ph.D., head of the Department of Finance and Economics, identified five ways in which EBP of Chattanooga has benefited the community:

The infrastructure created and retained 9,516 jobs, which is about 40% of jobs created in Hamilton County during the study period.

The project kept unemployment down. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic. The network enabled businesses to transition quickly to remote work. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the county’s unemployment rate in November 2020 was 4.7%. That’s a lower rate than the state of Tennessee overall and also lower than in the U.S. overall (5.3% and 6.7%, respectively).

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Biden vows to replace U.S. government fleet with electric vehicles

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Monday vowed to replace the U.S. government’s fleet of roughly 650,000 vehicles with electric models as the new administration shifts its focus toward clean-energy.

“The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we’re going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America made by American workers,” Biden said Monday

Biden criticized existing rules that allow vehicles to be considered U.S. made when purchased by the U.S. government even if they have significant non-American made components.

Biden said he would close “loopholes” that allow key parts like engines, steel and glass to be manufactured abroad for vehicles considered U.S. made.

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Santee Cooper approves $2M settlement in final VC Summer nuclear project lawsuit

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The State – Santee Cooper’s board approved a $2 million settlement Monday in the final lawsuit stemming from the failed V.C. Summer nuclear plant project.

Between 2014 and 2016, South Carolina’s public utility issued mini-bonds to individual investors in an effort to raise money for infrastructure projects, mainly the nuclear plant project in Fairfield County. The mini-bond sales would typically bring in $20 million to $25 million from investors into the state-owned utility, said Santee Cooper spokesperson Mollie Gore.

But in 2019, investors sued Santee Cooper, alleging the utility did not disclose issues surrounding the $9 billion nuclear project, leading to low interest rates.

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Five Reasons Remote Technology Makes Sense

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PowerMag – The case for advanced analytics and remote diagnostics: During the last 25 years significant advancements have been made in remote monitoring capabilities for power plants. A number of operations and maintenance (O&M) functions can routinely be managed remotely, and it is also becoming more common for peaking and renewable energy plants to be remotely operated reliably and safely.

Operating and maintaining a full-scale power plant remotely presents challenges that require sophisticated systems, reliable sensor and diagnostic equipment, stable high-bandwidth communication, and advanced security protocols. Even with progress made in each of these areas, some plant managers don’t foresee a scenario where remote operations will become the norm. But even in cases where there are no plans to run a generating station from a remote location, there is still a solid case for adopting remote technology.

Here are five reasons why the case for remote technology is stronger today than ever before.

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Importance of Electrical Construction Permit Inspections

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THE PERMIT AND INSPECTION PROCESS IS ESSENTIAL TO ENSURE THAT CODES, REGULATIONS, AND SAFETY ARE ENFORCED TO HELP PREVENT FAULTY OR POOR INSTALLATIONS THAT COULD JEOPARDIZE HUMAN LIFE. IN MOST CASES, ENGINEERING BLUEPRINT DRAWINGS ARE REQUIRED TO BE SUBMITTED ALONG WITH THE PERMIT REQUEST WHICH MUST BE SEALED BY A REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER (PE). OTHER PERMITS WITH SEALED DRAWING PLANS ARE REQUIRED FOR EACH DISCIPLINE, SUCH AS, ARCHITECTURAL, CIVIL, ELECTRICAL, FIRE PROTECTION, MECHANICAL, PLUMBING, STRUCTURAL, ETC.

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