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Prioritizing the upgrading and hardening of electrical systems has never been more important, as weather patterns and conditions continually grow more costly and impactful to our communities.

Replacing wooden feeders and lateral poles with concrete reduces storm-related outages and shortens outage restoration times, bringing reliability and resiliency to our grid. ���ϸ����� partnered with the city of Homestead, Florida, to do just that, and you can read more about our partnership and work .

While the rest of the lower 48 states are on either the Eastern or Western Connection Power grids, Texas’ ERCOT grid stands alone. For decades, Texas has operated its own power grid outside of the authority of the federal government. This has allowed Texas’ “…Public Utility Commission to decide how power prices are set in Texas to…theoretically optimize the Texas economy.” Though, recently faced with winter ice storms and relentless heat spells, the Texas grid has become a cause for reliability concerns.

According to a recent story from Texas Standard, Federal regulators have been considering a rule that would force Texas to connect to the nationwide grid allowing for an easier exchange of power.

The ever-growing importance of upgrading and maintaining power infrastructure is evident through recent extreme heat events and devastating fires. It is not just about hurricanes, tornadoes, and winter storms anymore, as made clear this summer through the catastrophic Maui wildfires.

It has never been more important to harden the electric systems that are at the mercy of these extreme events every day, as the safety of our natural world and our people depends on it. Currently, American utilities face billions in wildfire liability with these aging power lines, so assessing these systems and implementing solutions is crucial. ���ϸ����� is actively working across the South to harden these unruly systems into safer, more reliable power for all.

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A preliminary design of the Coastal Spine Barrier – a $30 billion project – has been approved. This hurricane barrier and storm suppression system would run along the Texas coast from Galveston to Corpus Christi, and could ultimately impact all of the United States. Aiding in protecting infrastructure along the Gulf Coast as well as improving supply chain delays during harsh storms, this would be the largest civil works project ever taken on by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

Dr. Kelly Burkes-Copes with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers remarks that “The idea and intent is to combine a series of gated structures – kind of what we consider gray infrastructure, you may think of it as concrete and water – with natural and nature-based solutions like beaches and dunes and wetlands, to basically improve the resilience of the entire Texas coast.”

Long-time Irby customer Florida Power & Light (FPL) was recognized recently for offering the most reliable electric service in 2022 by the Florida Public Service Commission. 

Per annual report filings, FPL customers have realized a 41% improvement in reliability since 2006. This reliability is a result of the company’s ongoing commitment to making its energy grid stronger, smarter and more storm resilient. 

Irby is a key partner and one of the largest on-system contractors for FPL. Through our efficient execution in updating, optimizing and hardening FPL’s system, we are helping keep the power on for their customers and continuing to grow our relationship with FPL.

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in 2022 alone, the United States power grid experienced more than 100 physical attacks. These outages and the damage that followed affected tens of thousands of Americans. It is important to note that these attacks are only expected to increase with time. 

Utility Dive interviewed Jason Christopher, director of cyber risk at Dragos Cybersecurity, who said, “Unfortunately, with 55,000 substations nationally, there are obvious risk-based limitations on addressing physical threats that need to be managed. The industry should expect further regulatory inquiries and potential actions from the federal government in response.”

���ϸ����� Company’s Executive Vice President, Rick Shouse, also weighed in for the Irby Insider by saying: “These physical attacks on substations are a relatively new threat and challenge that can be very serious and expensive for our clients. As with any power infrastructure issue, Irby stands ready to help our clients however we can with the security and integrity of the grid.”

You can read more about this important topic in the articles linked below: