Two California Utilities Install 3M's Breakthrough High-Capacity Conductor; California Energy Commission and EPRI Take Interest as Metal Matrix Composite in Use Elsewhere in the U.S. Is Introduced in the State.ST. PAUL St. Paul as a missionary he fearlessly confronts the “perils of waters, of robbers, in the city, in the wilderness.” [N.T.: II Cor. 11:26] See : Bravery , Minn. -- A breakthrough high-temperature, low-sag overhead conductor from 3M, designed to help eliminate transmission bottlenecks that increasingly have plagued electricity grids in recent years, causing brownouts and blackouts, is getting its first use in California. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and a second utility in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, have installed 3M's Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced (ACCR ACCR Accrue ACCR Aluminum Conductor Composite-Reinforced (3M) ACCR Association des Centres Culturels de Rencontre ACCR Association Canadienne pour la Conservation et la Restauration (Ottawa, ON, Canada) ) on short line segments near substations in Santa Clara Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. and Oceanside (just north of San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. ), respectively. The Oceanside installation was funded, in part, by the California Energy Commission The California Energy Commission is California’s primary energy policy and planning agency. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission has responsibility for activities that include forecasting future energy needs, promoting energy efficiency through . The Electric Power Research Institute will monitor the line's performance. PG&E funded its own installation and is performing its own monitoring. Three other major U.S. utilities have installed, or announced plans to install, the new conductor on transmission lines in the West, Midwest and South. "Parts of California have experienced record demand for electricity this summer which puts stress on the power grid," says Tracy Anderson, business development manager, 3M Composite Conductor program. "3M's ACCR provides a quick and reliable solution to increase the capacity of existing transmission lines by as much as 100 percent without requiring new towers or new rights-of-way." Anderson notes that Xcel Energy, a major utility, is already using the ACCR to relieve congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. on a 10-mile line in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. In addition, the Western Area Power Administration recently said it will install the ACCR on a key 80-mile line in Arizona, and Alabama Power Company Alabama Power Company is a company in the southern United States that provides electricity service to 1.3 million homes, businesses, and industries in the southern two-thirds of Alabama. It is one of four U.S. plans to install the new conductor on a critical 10-mile line in the eastern part of the state. The ACCR is a new type of metal overhead line that contains a multi-strand core of heat-resistant, aluminum-matrix composite wires. The conductor retains its strength at high temperatures and is not adversely affected by environmental conditions. Its lightweight and reduced thermal expansion thermal expansion Increase in volume of a material as its temperature is increased, usually expressed as a fractional change in dimensions per unit temperature change. properties are what enable installation on existing towers, with no requirement for visual changes to a line or additional rights-of-way. Prior to being commercialized, the ACCR underwent four years of rugged, extensive field testing by several utilities, partially funded by the Department of Energy, and met all expectations. Anderson points out that the first two purchases of the ACCR were made by utilities that participated in field testing, for installation in areas subject to extreme weather conditions. "I think that's a powerful endorsement of ACCR's performance," he says. In addition to the Department of Energy and the utilities that field-tested the ACCR, 3M retained the National Electric Energy Testing, Research and Applications Center, Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, Ga.; coeducational; state supported; chartered 1885, opened 1888. It is a member school in the university system of Georgia. Significant among its facilities and programs are the Frank H. , to test the conductor during development. The ACCR's technology has been recognized by R&D Magazine with an R&D 100 award as one of the most technologically-significant products introduced into the marketplace and by the Minnesota High Tech Association with a Tekne Award for innovative development. More information about the 3M Composite Conductor is available at www.3m.com/accr. About 3M - A Global, Diversified Technology Company Every day, 3M people find new ways to make amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. things happen. Wherever they are, whatever they do, the company's customers know they can rely on 3M to help make their lives better. 3M's brands include Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti. Serving customers in more than 200 countries around the world, the company's 67,000 people use their expertise, technologies and global strength to lead in major markets including consumer and office; display and graphics; electronics and telecommunications; safety, security and protection services; health care; industrial and transportation. For more information, including the latest product and technology news, visit www.3M.com. Scotch, Post-it, Scotchgard, Thinsulate, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete, Command and Vikuiti are trademarks of 3M. |
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