New technologies and advanced computational methods can help transmission and distribution companies save money, reduce risk, and improve the reliability of their critical assets. Electric utilities face regulatory and public pressure to achieve two opposing goals: making overdue upgrades while holding down costs and rates to customers. Following an investment wave during the 1970s and 1980s, transmission and distribution (T&D) companies put far less money into improving their networks over the next few decades. Now those networks are nearly obsolete and need enhancements to improve grid availability and security and to bring renewable energy, distributed generation, and other advanced technologies online. And as T&D companies look at whether to make certain upgrades, they may be without essential technical knowledge because many of their experienced workers are retiring.
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