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Apr 26 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Leslie
McCartney The Montana Standard, Butte
For 15 years, Montana Tech professor and electrical engineer Dan Trudnowski has worked on ways to help the nation's overloaded electrical grid. But with the pressing need to help fix the grid, he found others receptive to what he had to say. Trudnowski took his ideas on helping the grid to Sen. Conrad Burns and the result is a nearly $2.2 million grant -- $1.7 million of which is coming from the Department of Energy -- which will be used to investigate how to help high-voltage grids avoid blackouts from being overtaxed by demand for electricity. "I was really pleased. I really appreciate Burns' staff listening to me," Trudnowski said. He will work on the two-year problem with other Tech professors, graduate students and other counterparts at Montana State University, the University of Wyoming, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington and MSE in Butte. "Our hope is to develop new technologies that will be used by the electric utility industry," said Trudnowski, who is also working with NorthWestern Energy and the Bonneville Power Administration. Trudnowski explained that no new transmission lines have been built since the 1950s, because of both cost and environmental concerns. Because of that, the grid has become overworked, causing not only large outages like the ones experienced five years ago, but many more small blackouts. Using sophisticated satellite and communication technologies, companies try to control overloading lines. However, Trudnowski wants to take that exact timing and technology steps further. "We need to get more out of what we have," he said. In fact, the researchers already have a prototype they are testing at Bonneville. In doing so, researchers hope to develop advanced control technologies to improve grid reliability and efficiency, among other goals. The grant has already been received by Tech and was part of the fiscal year 2006 appropriations bill. |