American Electric Research Articles

Principles to Advance Energy Justice for Native Americans

On many Native American reservations, lack of energy access reduces economic, health, and educational opportunities. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported in 2000 that 14% of households on Native American reservations had no access to electricity, compared to 1.4% nationally. Neither the EIA, nor the U.S. Census Bureau have published reliable updates on the status of the Native American Reservation electricity gap. While several projects led by Native American tribes have narrowed the Native American reservation electricity gap, thousands of households and institutions serving tribal members in the United States remain without electric grid access in 2020. The electric grid’s absence fuels lack of access to infrastructure interconnected with electricity including water, water treatment, telephone, and Internet facilities and services. Enabling electricity access will improve fire safety, water and wastewater access and treatment, telecommunications access, health, educational, economic, and civic opportunity. This article proposes six principles to advance energy justice for Native Americans: Principle 1: Respect Tribal Sovereignty; Principle 2: Energy Access is Foundational to Energy Justice; Principle 3: Foster Tribal Energy Ownership and Clean Energy Opportunities; Principle 4: Support Native American Energy Contracting, Employment, and Entrepreneurial Opportunities; Principle 5: Promote Access to Energy Efficiency and Energy Affordability Programs; Principle 6: Assess and Address the Impact of Climate Change on Native American Reservations, Tribal Lands, and Native American Tribal Members. This article concludes that fostering energy justice for Native Americans will improve prospects for all Americans, advance our economy, protect the environment, and promote equity.

Industrial path analysis for CO2 transfers induced by final consumption: A comparison of the United States and China

Abstract The final consumption of the United States and China strongly affects global greenhouse gas emission. We analyzed the amount of CO2 transfers by the two countries caused by final consumption and its structural distribution from 1993 to 2013. We identified the key domestic and foreign sectors and transfer paths among the sectors that contributed most to final consumption. The total consumption-based transfer quantity increased to 1.2 and 3.6 times the 1993 value for the United States and China, respectively, whose domestic production and consumption were around 75 and 90% of the total, respectively. The key domestic sectors in both countries were the Electricity, Gas, and Water sector, the Transportation sector, and the Petroleum, Chemical, and Non-Metallic Mineral Products sector, which each accounted for 20–30% of the total. Among the domestic transfer paths, the American Electricity, Gas, and Water sector and Transportation sector, and China’s Construction sector, had the most connections to other sectors. We identified frequent contributions of foreign sectors to final consumption in both countries. Their dominant transfers were to the American Public Administration sector and Education, Health, and Other Services sector, and to China’s Construction sector. Understanding these key sectors and the paths among them can provide the scientific basis for improved national emission mitigation plans.

We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants—Pioneers of Statistics in Industry

Industrial statistics has a rich and proud heritage. The field was initiated in the 1920s and picked up steam in the 1950s with the establishment of industrial statistics groups in several companies including American Cyanamid, DuPont, General Electric, Kodak, Western Electric, Procter and Gamble, General Foods, and 3M. It can be argued that we are in the third generation of the development of the profession. Indeed we are standing on the shoulders of giants. Several pioneering industrial statistics organizations are profiled in this article. The focus is on the roots of the organizations, the people involved and their contributions to their employers, advancements in the field and the development of the profession. Synthesis of this information provides some unique insights into who we are, what we have accomplished, and the needs and opportunities of the future.

The problem with the “portfolio approach” in American energy policy

One predominant theme in American energy and electricity policy is the idea of a “portfolio approach,” or that society must embrace an assortment of different energy technologies simultaneously. This article argues that such a strategy, in practice, is (a) biased, since fossil fuel and nuclear technologies have been heavily favored; (b) opaque, obscuring the different full social costs of energy systems; (c) inequitable, promoting technologies that contribute to climate change; and (d) unsophisticated, ignoring important qualitative differences among technologies. The article estimates the full social costs of electricity generation, concluding that the five cheapest forms of electricity generation are all renewable resources; that intermittency is not a reason to reject renewable energy technologies; that nuclear power has significant technical and environmental problems, especially from a greenhouse gas emissions and climate change perspective; and that “clean coal” and carbon capture and sequestration technologies face significant challenges to deployment.

Living with the U.S. Financial System: The Experiences of General Electric and Westinghouse Electric in the Last Century

Scholars have recommended taking a closer look at firms that raise funds from the financial system as a way of understanding the relation between finance and growth. This article explores the role of the U.S. financial system in providing funds to two prominent American firms, General Electric and Westinghouse Electric, over the course of the last century. The financial system's support was important for both companies, but there were important differences, as well as changes over time, in their patterns of financial dependence and autonomy. Two factors—investments in working capital and dividend policies—are important for explaining the financing patterns of both firms, suggesting clear hypotheses about the determinants of demand for corporate finance that can be tested in further financial histories. The findings also highlight the importance of looking at working, as well as fixed, capital in studies of enterprises' relations with the financial system, and of examining the money that flows out of companies as well as the funds that flow into them.

American Electrical: Managing an Environmental Crisis

American Electrical: Managing an Environmental Crisis

Technical aspects of providing service to single-phase 60-cycle railroad loads

IN EARLY 1956, representatives of Gibbs & Hill, Inc., approached the American Gas and Electric Service Corporation regarding participation in a study to investigate the feasibility of electrification of the Norfolk and Western Railway between Roanoke, Virginia, and Williamson, West Virginia, (approximately 200 route miles of double track), with particular emphasis on the phase unbalance problem. This problem is the particular concern of Subcommittee No. 5 of Committee No. 13 of the Association of American Railroads. Committee No. 13 has as its objectives 1. to recommend one or more standards for future electrification of railroads in the United States and, 2. to resolve the effect of single-phase unbalance imposed on 3-phase utility systems by single-phase loads from 60-cycle electrified railroads.

Distribution System Primary-Feeder Voltage Control III-Computer Program Application

Two companion papers1,2 discuss the engineering problems associated with distribution-system voltage control and describe a digital computer program for engineering investigations of alternative methods. The present paper 1. describes and evaluates the distribution-system voltage-control practices and method of primary-feeder analysis followed on the American Gas and Electric Company (AGE) System, 2. illustrates how the computer program was applied to a specific system problem, and 3. discusses possible modifications and extensions of the technique. It is concluded that the computer program may find application on the AGE System but that additional experience must be gained in its use to fully evaluate its potentialities.

A quarter century of experience in insulation co-ordination

Basic philosophy and principles underlying the rationalization of system insulation strength are presented. The development of a program of insulation co-ordination, its application and operating experience, with the American Gas & Electric Company system is described.

Corona Loss Measurements on Bundle Conductors -500-Kv Test Project of Tke American Gas and Electric Company

Corona Loss Measurements on Bundle Conductors -500-Kv Test Project of Tke American Gas and Electric Company

Economics of System Conversion from 27.6- to 33-Kv Operation

The South Bend division of the Indiana & Michigan Electric Company (I&ME) is served by a 27.6-kv subtransmission system and is the only area in the entire American Gas and Electric Company (AGE) system operating at this voltage. Realizing that future conversion of this area to 33-kv operation, standard throughout the remainder of I&ME, would be desirable, all new transformers have been purchased in the past 10 years with taps suitable for both 27.6 and 33 kv. In this way gradual replacement of transformers would result eventually in a system which, with only minor equipment modifications and changes, could be converted readily to the higher voltage. A review of this approach recently was undertaken in an attempt to determine if immediate conversion could not be justified. As part of this investigation, an economic study was made. Monetary benefits anticipated from operation at the higher voltage were compared, by a present-worth evaluation, with the investment necessary for conversion, and the project was found to be economically sound. On the basis of this over-all review, it was decided to proceed immediately with complete conversion.

Operating Experience on AG&E 132-Kv System with Transformer Insulation Reduced Two Classes

This paper discusses briefly the historic background and reasoning behind the application of an insulation level reduced two steps in transformers used on the American Gas and Electric Company (AG&E) 132-kv system and the operating experience obtained on seven transformers banks using this insulation level. It also indicates advantages that may be obtained by using this low level of insulation.

The Radio-Influence Characteristics of Bundle and Single Conductors - 500-Kv Test Project of the American Gas and Electric Company

The Radio-Influence Characteristics of Bundle and Single Conductors - 500-Kv Test Project of the American Gas and Electric Company

First Commercial Supercritical-Pressure Steam Generator for Philo Plant

Abstract From experience with the pioneer 2500-psi steam power plant of the Twin Branch Plant of the Indiana and Michigan Electric Company on the American Gas and Electric System, installed in the early 1940’s, and subsequent knowledge accumulated in the field, another significant advance into pressures above the critical is now being made at the Philo Plant of the Ohio Power Company. This is the 4500-psi, 1150 F two-stage reheat unit developing approximately 125 megawatts—a joint effort of the American Gas and Electric Service Corporation, the General Electric Company, and The Babcock & Wilcox Company.

Sleet Melting on 330-Kv Lines of American Gas and Electric Company and Ohio Valley Electric Corporation Systems [includes discussion

Sleet Melting on 330-Kv Lines of American Gas and Electric Company and Ohio Valley Electric Corporation Systems [includes discussion

Lightning and Corona Performance of 330-Kv Lines on the American Gas and Electric and Ohio Valley Electric Corporation Systems [includes discussion

Lightning and Corona Performance of 330-Kv Lines on the American Gas and Electric and Ohio Valley Electric Corporation Systems [includes discussion

Line-Dropping Tests on a 330-Kv Oil Circuit Breaker [includes discussion

The development of the 330-kv transmission system of the American Gas and Electric Company (AG&E) and of the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) involved the installation of a great number of circuit breakers. The AG&E 330-kv system is superimposed on existing 138-kv transmission facilities. The OVEC 330-kv system was built to supply power from two new generating plants to the Atomic Energy Commission's diffusion plant at Portsmouth, Ohio. The OVEC system is owned by 15 private utilities and is interconnected with the AG&E 330-kv system. Particularly in the case of OVEC, it is of the greatest importance to prevent, or limit in duration, unscheduled interruptions which could result in costly damage at the processing plant. To attain and maintain this high degree of service reliability, AG&E has made it a standard practice to field test new equipment whenever possible and, if required to apply the results to the betterment of the equipment and the service. The line-dropping investigation described in this paper is one of several carried out or planned in pursuance of these objectives. The particular circuit breaker described herein was completely restrikefree in its performance.

Tests on 138-kv high-speed oil circuit breaker

WHAT is believed to be the heaviest fault interruption ever made at 138 kv was attained during field tests on July 3, 1954, at the 600-megawatt Philip Sporn Power Plant of American Gas and Electric Company when a 138-kv 1,200-ampere (amp) 5,000-megavolt-ampere (mva) 3-cycle oil circuit breaker of standard design (Fig. 1) interrupted 6,900 mva under normal tripping conditions; that is, pretripping was not resorted to for obtaining a large numerical value of power. Asymmetry for this interruption was 49.5 per cent. The breaker interrupted all power available at the site, including that received from distant stations as shown in Fig. 2. A comparison of the 6,900-mva value with the 3,500 mva interrupted 10 years ago at Philo Station points to the rapid growth of the system.1

Field Tests on a 138-Kv High-Speed Oil Circuit Breaker at Philip Sporn Power Plant [includes discussion

The continuing and rapid expansion of the 138-kv transmission system of the American Gas and Electric (AG&E) Company and of its superimposed 330-kv system in terms of installed capacity and interconnections has created a demand for 138-kv circuit breakers rated considerably in excess of 5,000 megavolt-amperes (mva). At key points of the system 10,000-mva breakers are being installed in large numbers, and existing breakers are relocated to positions remote from large concentrations of power. The new breakers were purchased on the strength of single-pole factory tests made at full voltage and reduced interrupting current, and at full current and reduced voltage up to the limit of available testing facilities. Though this kind of 2-part test is never a complete substitute for full-capacity tests, it was felt that satisfactory performance under field conditions could reasonably be predicted on the basis of such tests. Some of the 5,000-mva breakers recently installed are from a manufacturer who lacks facilities for factory testing. The field tests described in this paper were made to prove this breaker up to its full rating, and then to increase the short-circuit duty until the limit of either the breaker or the system was reached. The limitation proved to be the available system short-circuit capacity, which resulted in a maximum breaker duty of 6,900 mva. It is believed that this is the heaviest fault interruption ever made at the 138-kv breaker rating.

Results of Service Test Program on Transition Welds Between Austenitic and Ferritic Steels at the Philip Sporn and Twin Branch Plants

Abstract A test program was set up to give advance operating information on the dissimilar-metal welds installed on the American Gas and Electric Company (AG&E) System in the units of the Philip Sporn Plant of Appalachian Electric Power Company, The Ohio Power Company, and in unit No. 5 of the Twin Branch Plant of the Indiana & Michigan Electric Company. After cycling weld-test vessels, small surface notches and subsurface cracks have formed at the fusion line between the austenitic weld metal and the ferritic pipe. The program and findings to date are described in this paper.