Panel session on: aging T&D infrastructures and customer service reliability

In many areas of the United States and Europe, there are portions of the local power delivery system where the average equipment age exceeds its design lifetime by a significant amount. Some utility systems have average power transformer service ages of 45 years, with some units in service more than 65 years. Generally, equipment in service more than 35 years begins to exhibit significantly higher rates of failure than newer equipment. Generally, areas or the system composed of aged equipment experience a higher than average incidence of both unexpected clear-weather failures, and storm-related outages. This panel reviews the problems aging infrastructures create, and addresses ways that electric distribution utilities can manage their need to improve reliability in these areas, in a de-regulated environment where capital budgets and engineering staffs are greatly downsized, and regulatory and customer expectations are higher than ever.