Utilities' Need for Advanced Telecommunications. (8th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Khalid, Saba; Hotovec, Spencer; Clancy, John
• Is Part Of: Climate and Energy. Volume 39:issue 6(2023)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 10
• Publication Date: 2022-12-08
• Subjects: Energy industries -- Periodicals; Energy industries -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; 333.79
• DOI: 10.1002/gas.22323
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2692-3831

Abstract

Abstract : There have been an increasing number of extreme weather events worldwide over the past decade. Events previously referred to as occurring "once every 50 years" now occur more frequently and have resulted in significant loss of life and property and infrastructure damage. As these climate events become even more frequent, utilities—due to their role underpinning all economic activity—must find new ways to upgrade their infrastructure to avoid extended recovery times and delays in restoring power to customers. An important investment to speed recovery and support management of assets during severe weather events is a resilient, reliable, and secure communications network. This is the backbone of utility infrastructure. During extreme weather events, utility telecommunications infrastructure is put to the test as commercial cellular providers become unable to provide service due to electric grid outages. If utilities are using legacy technologies in conjunction with reliance on commercial communications providers, they could be without a telecommunications network when they need it most.