This past year presented its share of challenges. While the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, many are feeling the after-effects. Some businesses did not survive the shutdowns, a lot of companies that laid off employees are still struggling to fill the roles that were vacated, and disruptions to the supply chain continue to make it difficult for even the most successful companies to operate.

Additionally, we continue to face challenges that have been around since before the pandemic, including the ongoing impacts of climate change and the frequency and the intensity of extreme weather events. In the past, EET&D published articles about topics like vegetation management, storm preparedness and wildfire risk mitigation at specific times of the year. Today, as we see wildfires occurring more frequently, and with a prolonged hurricane season, these articles no longer tie to one season or quarter – which is why you will see more coverage of these topics in this issue and future editions of the magazine throughout the year.

In addition to articles in this issue that take on natural and man-made disasters, several subject matter experts talk about what’s next for the electric energy sector. For example, Sean McEvoy with Veritone makes the point that with the emergence of EVs, and the forecast for increased EV use, there will be millions of EV batteries manufactured. McEvoy provides suggestions for how to repurpose these batteries, once they are no longer being used to charge EVs.

ABB’s Luis Duran talks about future-proofing the Distributed Control System, and Phil Beecher with WI-SUN Alliance broadens the focus on smart technology, exploring how cities across the globe can use IoT to improve their sustainability and pave the way for a carbon-free future.

For this quarter’s Grid Transformation Forum column, Laurent Schmitt with Dcbel Energy addresses the European grid’s push for renewables and the EU’s role in the digital transformation. In his article, “The Top Three Trends Driving Canada’s Adoption of Smart Home Technology,” Schneider Electric’s Lorne Hedges looks at Canada’s adoption of smart home technology and how it benefits those utilities homeowners who invest in it.

For our final Powherful Forces column of 2022, we feature VP, Utilities for Capgemini Claire Gotham. Gotham talks about how, when she first started working in the electric energy space, the industry had not experienced much innovation in about 100 years. Since then, that has changed, and in her position as an executive in the industry, Gotham sees more utilities and energy consumers embrace innovation. Today’s technology requires manufacturers, software developers and energy providers to innovate and adapt quickly or get left behind.

A final reflection on 2022 is how, after a three-year hiatus, many of us were able to meet with our industry partners in person. Whether catching up with clients at a user conference or meeting with industry colleagues at a trade show, it is so nice to communicate without a computer screen or mobile phone between us. Those in-person connections also indicate that we really are getting back to some semblance of normal.

I mentioned in our Q3 issue that this past spring, EET&D Publisher Steven Desrochers and I attended both IEEE PES T&D in New Orleans and DistribuTECH in Dallas. In August, Steven participated in CIGRE Paris 2022. CIGRE, or the International Council on Large Electric Systems, brings together organizations and industry leaders from around the world to address existing and future electrical power systems. This year, attendance at CIGRE Paris was at a record-level high, with about 9,000 individuals, representing more than 90 countries.

I recently returned from London, where I attended Bentley Systems’ Year in Infrastructure (YII) conference. Like other organizations, Bentley held its conference virtually in 2020 and 2021, so it had been three years since the staff and attendees gathered in the same location. Being able to go to the event was the perfect way for me to wrap up 2022.

Reconnecting with our advertisers, readers and other industry partners in the same space at the same time truly was one of the highlights of this past year. I look forward to seeing even more of our colleagues in 2023.

If you would like to contribute an article or if you have an idea about interesting technology, solutions, or suggestions, please email me at: Elisabeth@ElectricEnergyOnline.com

Elisabeth