Southwire
Paper: Using Artificial Intelligence to Improve System Resiliency & Sustainability
As electrification, extreme weather, and AI-driven demand reshape the grid, utilities face unprecedented pressure to modernize. This white paper from Southwire explores how artificial intelligence can transform planning, operations, and investment decisions to build safer, more reliable, and sustainable T&D systems.
Download now to learn how AI is already helping utilities optimize capital budgets, extend asset life, and improve resilience against disruptive events—while meeting sustainability goals for the future.
Above It All: How Modern Overhead Conductors Are Shaping the Grid’s Future
Our increased dependence on safe, reliable and affordable electricity comes at a time when massive electrification and the needs of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are driving dynamic growth of the electric transmission and distribution (T&D) grid. Concurrently, our industry is challenged by increasing natural and man-made events that impact the resilience of the grid and the ever present need to be more sustainable in everything we do.
During this pivotal time in our industry, Southwire is actively partnering with utilities to develop products and services to build the grid. Always focused on safety, value and performance, Southwire’s engineers continue to develop “best in class” conductors for a wide variety of applications.
“In a time of massive transmission and distribution growth, at Southwire, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our utility partners to bring safe, reliable and high-performance solutions to the marketplace.” Charles Holcombe, Director, Solutions Engineering.
Southwire is one of the largest producers of transmission and distribution conductors in the country and the world. Always striving to maintain quality and value by listening to their customers, Southwire has implemented an impressive cradle to grave sustainability program for overhead conductors. Sustainability is broadly defined to include the entire life cycle of the cable product from the “raw material” cradle to recycle or up cycle at the grave. Customers get the day to day value and resilient performance of outstanding conductors and the knowledge that it is sustainably produced.
This August 19th join me and Southwire during an Energy Central PowerSession as we discuss how overhead conductors can be a fundamental part of a resilient T&D system. Learn about how Southwire’s planning and testing practices contribute to sustainability and system resilience by prioritizing the best locations for new conductor, cables and equipment based on actual field data.
If you’re not testing, you’re guessing” is a favorite Southwire quote. Join us to learn more.
Beneath the Surface: Why Underground Cables Are Powering Tomorrow’s Grid
The demand for cleaner electric energy grows each year with electrification of transportation, space conditioning, vertical agriculture, industrial processes and hyperscalers. Some say that America will double or triple its current peak demand requirements by 2050.
In addition, the need to replace aging assets, the integration of Distributed Energy Resources (DER’s) and the demand for resilience against high impact storms and wildfires will have a compounded impact on the current planning, design, operations and maintenance of the electric transmission and distribution (T&D) grid that delivers energy to load.
This growth will require a huge, prudent investment in safe, reliable and resilient T&D lines that deliver measurable value over the life of the asset. Much of that investment will include sustainable underground cables like those produced by Southwire.
Southwire is one of the largest producers of transmission and distribution cables in the country and the world. Always striving to maintain quality and value by listening to their customers, Southwire has implemented an impressive cradle to grave sustainability program for underground cables. Sustainability is broadly defined to include the entire life cycle of the cable product from the “raw material” cradle to recycle or up cycle at the grave. Customers get the the day to day value and resilient performance of outstanding cable and the knowledge that it is sustainably produced.
In addition, Yuhsin Hawig, Ph.D. and Southwire VP has an engineering whitepaper which details the Top 12 attributes to design a reinforced, resilient, and reliable medium voltage primary cable. See it here.
Then….this August 19th join me and Southwire during an Energy Central PowerSession when we discuss how underground cable can be a fundamental part of a resilient T&D system.
Learn about how Southwire’s planning and testing practices contribute to sustainability and system resilience by prioritizing the best locations for new conductor, cables and equipment based on actual field data.
“If you’re not testing, you’re guessing” is a favorite Southwire quote. Join us to learn more.
Data-Driven Decisions for Reliability & Resilience
High impact natural and man-made disasters increasingly threaten the safety, reliability and availability of electric transmission and distribution systems. As a result, utilities are accelerating investments in short and long-term grid hardening strategies. The evolving role of advanced cable technologies and covered conductors, and the proactive use of digital grid services that inform strategic deployment and asset renewal are important for success.
Learn real-world practices that utilities use to prioritize risk, harden infrastructure, and optimize grid modernization efforts as part of a drive for better system sustainability, affordability and resilience.
Are You Ready? The Ultimate Guide to Storm Preparedness for Utilities, Presented by Southwire
We probably aren’t the first to tell you, but it bears repeating: Weather patterns are changing—big time. Things are getting more extreme more quickly. In fact, nine of the top 10 years for extreme one-day precipitation events have occurred since 1995 in the U.S. and tropical storm activity in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico has been on the increase throughout the last several decades.
So today—right in the middle of a hurricane season that’s already caused at least 359 fatalities and more than $110 billion in damage—it’s time to talk about extreme weather preparedness. After all, the best time to get ready for extreme weather is before it hits.
With the experts at Southwire, we’ve pulled together 5 of the top strategies for utilities to defend against extreme weather and keep the lights on…both literally and figuratively. Let’s jump in →
1. Delay corrosion in hurricane-prone areas by switching to copper.
Copper is more corrosion-resistant than aluminum and steel (two go-tos for overhead lines). In coastal areas where weight isn’t a major concern, utilities should consider utilizing hard-drawn copper wire as an overhead distribution conductor.Â
What else can you do? There are methods to delay corrosion (both above and underground) like…
- Replacing corrosive native soil with an engineered backfill
- Improving local drainage to divert water around exposed wires and lower concentration of any contaminated water
2. To mitigate wildfires, convert overhead lines to below grade systems.Â
In high risk areas, there have recently been more intense wildfires due to climate change that are difficult to prevent. If undergrounding is not possible due to time, budget, or right-of-way, then bare overhead lines can be upgraded with tree wires to minimize arcing in drought regions.Â
The 3-phase bare conductors can potentially collide with one another during windy conditions, which trigger sparks. Replacing bare wires with Southwire’s CAMV™ cable or covered conductors not only lessens the burden of vegetation management but also reduces the fire risk. Win-win.
3. Know what you’re working with by assessing grid stability digitally.
Southwire offers Digital Grid Resiliency Assessments to ID areas for improvement by leveraging outage and GIS data. This program—which scores assets on overall health and network criticality—locates problematic circuits at the device level and prioritizes maintenance action. And as a bonus? It also provides recommendations with expected benefits and cost justifications.
4. Sidestep short circuits by using more neutrals.Â
The outer insulation shielding for many primary MV cables contain “one-third” neutrals relative to phase conductor size when used for a 3-phase supply, or “full-size” neutrals for a single-phase system.Â
With modern rapid switching equipment at substations, though, available short circuit current and duration can be cut down significantly. Using a reduced neutral rating ranging from 1/4, 1/6, to 1/12 saves material cost upfront but can pose significant risk due to an insufficient short circuit capacity.
FYI: Southwire offers calculations to custom design cables with a reduced neutral to match any system requirements.
5. Know what it takes to effectively water-block.
Water intrusion is one of the primary causes of cable system failures. And water intrusion becomes more likely when extreme precipitation happens.
Corrosion-resistant designs such as solid conductors over stranded wires and copper tinning over uncoated counterparts have proven to be effective solutions to the water-blocking problem. Some examples?
- A strand fill compound to water-block the conductor is frequently specified for underground MV cables.
- Water-swellable powder can be applied over shielding wires, under the jacket, to absorb and retain moisture, which hinders the water penetration between the layers of jacketing and shielding wires along the installed cable.
And that? It keeps your cable system up and running when customers need it most. Learn more about Southwire’s water blocking know-how here.
Bottom line: Storm preparedness starts before the storm—utilities that are ready before the forecast shows a threat to stability can better serve their customers and protect their teams.
Want to know how else utilities can defend against extreme weather and modernize the grid? Southwire has 24 more tips you don’t want to miss, right here.
And because you can’t always plan ahead for extreme weather events, Southwire also has you covered with 10 of the most impactful activities to accelerate post-storm recovery, from jacket repair to field testing and strategic decision making to insurance navigation. Check out Southwire’s invaluable resources for post-storm recovery here.
Want to learn more about how Southwire is helping utilities avoid the costly damage caused by increasingly frequent weather events? They’ve got the full rundown on digital grid resiliency, field assessment, and the products you need to keep your electrical system standing against the storm here.
FYI: Southwire offers calculations to custom design cables with a reduced neutral to match any system requirements.
I think there's also a case for using predictive AI to forecast where the weakest points in the system are and upgrading those areas, so the resources that can be deployed are used in the best possible way.Â
Southwire is one of the world’s leading developers, manufacturers and suppliers of building wire and utility cable, as well as the tools used in their installation. As such, we are continually improving our products, studying how they’re used in the field, and assessing the needs of our customers to find new and better ways to solve the problems facing the industry. We strive to ensure that every product we develop helps increase safety, improve productivity, reduce manpower, save time and save money — both on and off the jobsite. After all, we don’t just want to produce the most wire products. We want to produce the best wire products.