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Business Wire
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
From Pilot to Proof: New Report Details 12 Months of America's Largest DLR Deployment
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Great River Energy and Heimdall Power today released the 12-month results of the nation's largest dynamic line rating (DLR) deployment in Grid Optimization Gets Real: One Year Inside America's Largest DLR Deployment, a new report featuring real data, proven strategies, and field-tested best practices for scaling high-value DLR. 'One year later, we've gained real, operational value—not just theoretical gains—and a solid foundation for extending that value across more of our grid.' The project, which spans 10 transmission lines and 175 miles of monitored grid, highlights the real-world benefits of DLR; benefits that are especially critical in an era of rising demand, aging infrastructure, and increasingly extreme weather. In the first year, Great River Energy unlocked up to 63% more transmission capacity during peak demand. 'DLR has promised more capacity for decades, but we needed to know if it could actually deliver for our system, under real conditions,' said Michael Craig, Manager of Energy and Distribution Management Systems at Great River Energy. 'One year later, we've gained real, operational value—not just theoretical gains—and a solid foundation for extending that value across more of our grid.' The report outlines how Great River Energy scaled Heimdall Power's end-to-end DLR solution—using 50 physical and 37 virtual line-based sensor units called Neurons ™ and a cloud-based analytics platform—to deliver measurable value to its 26 member-owner cooperatives and 1.7 million customers. Highlights include: Expert analysis of 12 months of field-validated data, including: Estimated savings of $30,000 during one avoided congestion event in July 2024. Project-wide savings estimated at $3.175 million. A self-assessment tool to evaluate DLR readiness. Replicable insights into building a business case for DLR. A real-world comparison of DLR vs. ambient adjusted ratings (AAR). A five-point checklist for avoiding 'death by pilot.' A practical introduction to line studies, including the unique factors that shaped Great River Energy's sensor deployment strategy. Clear guidance on accounting for limiting elements, defining realistic ROI, and aligning with regulatory expectations and security protocols. The report also addresses a key barrier to DLR adoption: Oversimplified metrics that risk misrepresenting the technology's value. 'We've all heard '40% average capacity gains,' but DLR's real impact is more nuanced,' said Tom Cleaver, Vice President, Heimdall Power. 'It's not just about averages: It's about delivering capacity when and where it's needed most.' Download the full report now at Great River Energy, Maple Grove, Minnesota, is a not-for-profit wholesale electric power cooperative that provides electricity to member-owner distribution cooperatives, serving more than 1.7 million member-consumers. Great River Energy owns and operates more than 4,800 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. The organization is on track to meet Minnesota's goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 80% from 2005 levels more than 25 years before the 2050 target. Learn more at Founded in 2016, Heimdall Power is the world's most-deployed grid intelligence solution, trusted by 50+ utilities in 20 countries to help them manage capacity, mitigate outages, protect their infrastructure, and streamline compliance. Our solution combines a plug-and-play software platform with the Neuron ™, a powerline-based sensor that features award-winning hardware design, bleeding-edge communication technology, and proprietary installation-by-drone capabilities. From dynamic line rating (DLR) and ambient line rating (AAR) to asset health, our solution is proven to help utilities optimize the power grid and fuel better lives. Learn more at
NZ Herald
25-07-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
Auckland Museum's extraordinary origin story emerges from the archives
Next week marks the centenary of a public ceremony held at the museum's construction site on August 1, 1925, to mark the laying of its foundation stone. The polished block of blue pearl granite sits on the northeast corner of the building, with flecks of crystal that still sparkle when they catch the sun. A time capsule is sealed inside the Auckland Museum's glittering foundation stone, at the northwest corner of the building. Photo / Michael Craig It would be a further four years before the doors opened, but for Pia Gahagan, collection manager for the museum archives (documentary heritage), marking that early milestone was the equivalent of throwing a roof shout. 'When my partner and I built our house, the builders were like, 'You have to put on a roof shout'. I didn't know what that was,' she says. 'Then I thought, 'Yeah, I get it. You know, the roof's up and we're rocking now.' I see the laying of the foundation stone as kind of similar to that. It's really happening, so let's get this thing done.' For the past two years, Gahagan has been trawling through the archives, gathering material in preparation for the museum's official centenary in 1929. Items she's uncovered include the original design drawings by Auckland architectural firm Grierson, Aimer and Draffin, and a working set of plans – dirt-stained and scuffed from being handled on the building site. An Auckland War Memorial and Museum Competition drawing from 1922 by architectural firm Grierson, Aimer and Draffin. Their concept was chosen from the 74 entries, although changes were made to the final design. Photo / Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira Minutes from meetings held by the Auckland Provincial War Memorial Fund Committee also provided a rich source of information – the citizens of Auckland provided much of the project's financial backing – and a scrapbook was kept of newspaper articles from the time. Recognising the significance of the foundation stone, Gahagan dug a little deeper into that side of the story, which began to take on a life of its own. 'Piecing it together, I realised this was quite a significant moment in the museum's history, acknowledging the masses of work that had gone into getting to this point.' Founded in 1852 in a local farmhouse, the Auckland Museum had rapidly expanded and was bursting at the seams. Thomas Cheeseman, its first professional curator, lobbied for the construction of a new building to 'serve for the recreation, instruction and intellectual advancement of the people of Auckland'. It was eventually decided to erect a combined museum and war memorial, commemorating those who had lost their lives in World War I. An international design competition was held, attracting 74 entries from as far afield as the United States, Japan and India. The proposals, responding to a detailed brief, were put on public display in a shed down at the wharf. Construction work began on Auckland's new museum in 1924 and was completed five years later. Photos / Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira Construction of the neoclassical monument that stands on the hilltop today, with its towering Greek Doric columns, began in mid-1924. By then, a public fundraising campaign had reached its target of £200,000, after an initial Government investment of £25,000. It's almost impossible to imagine what the Auckland Domain (Pukekawa) would have looked like back then. Before construction began on Observatory Hill, the bare grassy slopes were carpeted in daisies, with a clear view across to the University of Auckland, which is now obscured by mature trees. By 1925, the flattened hilltop was a working construction site with a service road, a huge stoneyard and a collection of workers' sheds. Excavation work required the removal of more than 13,000 cubic tonnes of earth, and 8000 tonnes of concrete were used in the foundations. A provision of the contract required all the stonework to be done on site, a deliberate strategy to generate employment opportunities for Aucklanders as the post-war boom began to stutter. 'They wanted to make sure it was safeguarded for local people to do that work,' says Gahagan. 'There are some descriptions in the papers about different machinery they had on site, including a machine with diamond teeth that cut the stone. I think a lot of it was quite new and hadn't really been seen or used in New Zealand before.' From the base of the structure itself, reinforced steel girders rose from a slab of Coromandel granite – 'sufficiently advanced to enable one to realise what a very noble building it would be', according to a newspaper report of the foundation stone ceremony that Gahagan found in the digital archive Papers Past. The superstructure was later constructed from Portland stone, imported from England after problems with the initial supplier in Australia caused delays. A pictorial record of the Foundation Stone Ceremony, published in the New Zealand Sporting and Dramatic Review. Photo / Auckland Libraries A report on the ceremony published in the Auckland Star. Photo / Michael Craig Black and white photographs taken on the day of the ceremony show Prime Minister Gordon Coates, resplendent in a dress suit and top hat, inspecting a guard of honour formed by cadets. A dais overlooking the Waitematā Harbour had been erected for the dignitaries, decorated with bunting that ran all the way down to the Robbie Burns statue so the gathering crowds could see where to go. Among the ephemera Gahagan has collated is a formal invitation to the museum's director, Gilbert Archey, tickets to the ceremony and copies of the official programme. A wooden gavel and silver trowel, presented to Coates in an ornately carved box, were later gifted to the museum by the Prime Minister's family and are kept on display. This presentation set, made by A Kohn Ltd, was gifted to Prime Minister Gordon Coates at the foundation stone ceremony and is on display at the museum. Photo / Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira Intriguingly, a time capsule was placed into a cavity cut into the foundation stone, sealed inside a bronze casket. Its contents, however, are disappointingly dour: a copy of the Archdeacon's prayer, a list of subscribers to the museum's building fund, a history of Auckland and the daily newspapers. Auckland Museum's chief executive, David Reeves, has been fascinated by the stories that have emerged from the archives. He sees the foundation stone ceremony as a symbolic moment when the city came of age. 'The fervour around it was part of Auckland's civic pride, that we could build something of this stature. So it was an expression of confidence in ourselves,' he says. 'Thinking back to that era and the enormous grief in the community after World War I, there wouldn't have been a family that wasn't affected in some way, having either lost somebody or having a damaged soldier come back to them. 'The laying of the foundation stone would have been that moment of saying, yes, we're acknowledging that. We're getting on with our lives, but we're not going to forget. So it was literally a concrete way to make a permanent mark that the Great War, as it was then known, would not be forgotten.' The Anzac Day dawn service at the Cenotaph each year marks the dual role performed by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Photo / Hayden Woodward The museum faces a challenging four years before marking its official centenary in 2029. The recent detection of asbestos at the site of previous remediation work in the 80s – and the wider spread of asbestos dust – has led to the indefinite closure of the Te Marae Atea Māori Court and the Pacific galleries. Two-thirds of the original 1929 building is now open and operating safely, while the northern galleries will need a further eight to 10 weeks of work. Reopening the Māori and Pacific galleries will take 'much, much longer', says Reeves, because of the complicated process required to dismantle parts of the building and properly address the source of the asbestos. The closure of the museum's most popular drawcard has also led to a significant loss of income after a downturn in tourists. 'Aside from the asbestos, we've got some urgent building upgrade needs in that 1929 part of the building. The air conditioning system is on its last legs. We're redoing the lighting so it's energy efficient and in the right place, and trunking fibre optics through. 'Our curatorial team are also looking at what we will do to refresh all of those narratives and displays. The interpretation and the overall thread of it is getting up to 30 years old.' A budget shortfall means fundraising will be required for the upgrade, an issue the trust board will consider when it meets in December. However, Reeves says the museum's programme of touring exhibitions is intact through to 2028. Diva, its current blockbuster from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, opened this month and runs through to October. Joanna Wane is an award-winning senior lifestyle writer with a special interest in social issues and the arts.
NZ Herald
24-07-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Major electoral law overhaul includes ending same-day enrolment, clarity on treats for voters
Closing enrolment 13 days before election day to reduce pressure on post-election timeframes. Requiring 12 days of advance voting at each election. Introducing automatic enrolment updates so the Electoral Commission can update people's enrolment details using data from other government agencies. Enabling greater use of digital communication by removing postal requirements for enrolment. Creating a new offence that prohibits the provision of free food, drink or entertainment within 100m of a voting place while voting is taking place. It will be punishable by a fine of up to $10,000. Reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting. 'The donation threshold for reporting the names of party donors is also being adjusted from $5000 to $6000, to account for inflation.' Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says the changes are "significant, but necessary". Photo / Michael Craig Goldsmith said late enrolments had 'placed too much strain on the system'. 'The final vote count used to take two weeks, last election it took three,' he said. 'If we leave things as they are, it could well take even longer in future elections. The 20-day timeframe for a final result will likely already be challenging to achieve at the next election without changes. 'Therefore, the Government has agreed to close enrolment before advance voting begins. People will need to make sure they enrol or update their enrolment details by midnight on the Sunday, before advance voting opens on Monday morning. 'This is a significant, but necessary change. The Electoral Commission will have plenty of time to run an education campaign to ensure people understand the new requirements. For Australia's federal election earlier this year, the enrolment deadline was 26 days before election day. I have every confidence New Zealand can manage within the 13-day deadline.' Act justice spokesman Todd Stephenson welcomed the reforms, saying it was 'outrageous' that someone 'completely disengaged and lazy can rock up to the voting booth, get registered there and then, and then vote to tax other people's money away'. 'People who want to pull the levers of democracy ought to get organised, look at the policies, and register well in advance,' he said. The Herald reported last year that the Government was looking to overturn the 2020 decision to allow same-day enrolment after a report from the Auditor-General exposed a series of problems with counting votes at the most recent election. The report noted that none of the problems found with the most recent election would have changed the national result or the result in any individual electorate. The report did not recommend changing the Electoral Act to prohibit election-day enrolments, but it found that the 2020 change had put immense pressure on the Electoral Commission because same-day enrolments must be counted as special votes, meaning they take 10 times longer to process than ordinary votes. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said at the time that the changes should be kept, given that 100,000 people took up the opportunity to enrol on election day. 'I think in a fiscally constrained time, and particularly where there are so many issues that are being hotly contested, it's important that we ensure that everybody has the right to vote and that everybody's vote gets counted. The Government's simply saying, 'Hey, we're going to cancel 100,000 people's votes.' That's not democratic,' Hipkins said. Other changes being made, according to Goldsmith, include allowing special vote processing earlier, increasing the number of members on the Electoral Commission board, and setting a single deadline for candidate nominations. 'The Government is progressing a separate bill to amend the Constitution Act 1986 to ensure the continuity of executive government in the post-election period,' a statement said. This will address an issue where ministers may remain in office after an election for 28 days while the final count is completed. However, if there is a delay to the election results (for example, due to a recount), then the 28 days can expire before new MPs are appointed. This happened at the 2023 election. The bill will allow for ministers to remain in office until all successful electorate and list MPs have been declared. Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.
NZ Herald
14-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Median house price steady year-on-year, increases in regions, Reinz Property Report says
'We're seeing a market that is steady on the surface but with some movement underneath at a regional level,' Ryley said. 'The unchanged national median price suggests stability, yet this reflects contrasting regional dynamics, with some areas experiencing renewed growth year-on-year,' she said. Ryley said sales volumes were lower than expected. The number of properties sold in June rose by 20.3% since last year, from 4877 to 5865. Excluding Auckland, the number of sales rose 21.4% from 3371 to 4091. The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand has released its June Property Report. Photo / Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Sales volumes increased by 70% in Gisborne year-on-year, rising from 20 sales to 34; Southland saw a 34.9% jump, the Bay of Plenty a 44.4% increase, and Marlborough 32.7% more sales. 'June is typically a quieter month for real estate, and while the seasonal slowdown was expected, sales came in slightly below typical early winter levels,' Ryley said. 'Nationally, seasonally adjusted sales fell by around 5%, suggesting some caution in the market, but compared to this time last year, sales remain significantly stronger overall.' The median number of days to sell property has increased across the country. The number of properties coming to market, meanwhile, was down. June saw a 2.5% drop in listings compared to last year, with 7612 listings. Excluding Auckland, listings were down 3.3% to 4700. Inventory levels rose by 2% with 32,384 properties available for sale. The median house price in Auckland has fallen 3.4% in a year, dropping to $990,000 - but price growth in the regions is keeping the market stable on the surface. Photo / Michael Craig Auctions made for 11.5% of all sales through June, with 676 auction sales in the month. Excluding Auckland, there were 315 auction sales, 7.7% of total sales. The median number of days to sell increased by three days to 50. Excluding Auckland, the number of days rose by four to also reach 50. 'While properties are still selling, the increase in median days to sell indicates that buyers are taking a more considered approach,' Ryley said. 'This shift probably reflects a broader sense of caution, with many buyers feeling they have the time to explore their options, especially with the amount of choice they have. 'Most vendors are entering the market with realistic price expectations and a willingness to adapt to current conditions, especially those motivated to sell. However, many are receiving offers below their anticipated value, prompting some to delay listing, or relisting, until spring or summer, when market activity may show signs of improvement.' Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
05-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Air NZ New York-bound flight diversion leaves Kiwi teen in ‘dead' airport at 2am - and no word on where to stay
An Air New Zealand Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed at Washington Dulles International Airport this week after stormy conditions forced the New York-bound flight from Auckland to divert. File photo / Michael Craig A Kiwi teen travelling overseas alone for the first time found herself at a 'dead' airport at 2am after stormy conditions forced her Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to New York to land just outside Washington DC. And despite Air New Zealand saying it was trying to sort accommodation
