Decarbonization is a hot topic and can be considered the new “moon shot” of the 21st century. In a recently contributed article to Power Engineering magazine, power industry professionals Leslie Ponder and Kevin Cornish explore the future of decarbonization, and what it will take to get us to a future of net-zero carbon emissions or carbon-free energy goals in a rapidly decentralizing marketplace.
American Water Works Association honors distinguished service, innovation
Press Release
OVERLAND PARK, Kansas, February 11, 2020 /3BL Media/ – For much of his four decades at Black & Veatch, Brent Reuss has delivered on water solutions for the global infrastructure company. Less than two years into his Black & Veatch job as a process engineer, Gil Hurwitz has burnished his reputation for membrane technology. Now, both are being honored by a leading water industry trade group.
A Letter From Our CEO: Accelerating Sustainability
Article
The beginning of a new year is always a great time for reflection, even more so when it’s the beginning of a new decade. At Black & Veatch, we design and build projects to operate for decades, so the long view comes naturally. It was with this spirit that in 2019 we undertook a series of initiatives to embrace the world we see today and prepare for the world we want in the years ahead.
Company’s diversity and inclusion efforts are critical to creating a connected, successful workforce
Press Release
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., January 22, 2020 /3BL Media/ – Black & Veatch’s commitment to workplace diversity puts it among the world’s engineering and construction leaders who understand the social and financial importance of enabling a diverse and inclusive workforce. Now, Forbes has honored Black & Veatch by placing the company on its annual list of Best Employers for Diversity.
APM solutions deliver efficiency, resilience and sustainability
Press Release
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., January 16, 2020 /3BL Media/ - With utilities, industrial manufacturers and commercial businesses all seeking improved bottom-line performance and greater resource efficiency, the new year marks a turning point for Asset Performance Management (APM) solutions, according to Atonix Digital.
Utilities need to be forward-thinking while also offering shareholders value
Article
When it comes to grid modernization, where utilities want to spend money — and where they have approval to spend money — are not the same thing. Under today’s regulatory models, utilities typically do not have a way to recapture all the fixed costs required for critical upgrades. This can mean the choice between keeping the lights on today and preparing the grid for the challenges of the future.
These factors and many more are driving risk for utilities
Article
With great power comes great responsibility, meaning it falls to utilities to ensure that their transmission and distribution (T&D) assets can — and will — perform at the appropriate reliability and safety levels while continuing to meet regulatory and environmental standards.
Facing increased risk by hackers, utilities are ramping up cybersecurity
Article
For power suppliers wanting to be vigilant about the threat that hackers pose to the grid, a March 2019 intrusion may have been a benign warning about vulnerability. When hackers disabled a Utah-based renewable energy developer’s control system for about a dozen solar and wind farms in the West, the grid’s operators were left blinded for more than 10 hours to those 500 megawatts of generation sites. Thankfully, no outages resulted.
With greater technological dependency comes greater responsibiilty
Article
As climate change continues to flex its catastrophic muscle, a storm is brewing for U.S. utilities. The scourge of extreme weather events — prolonged droughts, pounding hurricanes and deluges blamed for unprecedented flooding — are joining wildfires as challenges that have utilities scrambling to harden their assets to provide the resilience that consumers and regulators demand. Unrelenting threats of cyberattacks and the rising number of technologies that increase the load and strain on infrastructure assets add to the complexity.
