CAA Quebec Shines at the Quebec Electric Vehicle Show

North Seattle Power Outage disrupts 13,000 in Ballard, Northgate, and Lake City as Seattle City Light crews repair equipment failures. Aging infrastructure, smart grid upgrades, microgrids, and emergency preparedness highlight resilience and reliability challenges.

Key Points

A major outage affecting 13,000 in North Seattle from equipment failures and aging grid, prompting repairs and planning.

✅ 13,000 customers in Ballard, Northgate, Lake City affected

✅ Cause: equipment failures and aging infrastructure

✅ Crews, smart grid upgrades, and preparedness improve resilience

On a recent Wednesday morning, a significant power outage struck a large area of North Seattle, affecting approximately 13,000 residents and businesses. This incident not only disrupted daily routines, as seen in a recent London outage, but also raised questions about infrastructure reliability and emergency preparedness in urban settings.

Overview of the Outage

The outage began around 9 a.m., with initial reports indicating that neighborhoods including Ballard, Northgate, and parts of Lake City were impacted. Utility company Seattle City Light quickly dispatched crews to identify the cause of the outage and restore power as soon as possible. By noon, the utility reported that repairs were underway, with crews working diligently to restore service to those affected.

Such outages can occur for various reasons, including severe weather, such as windstorm-related failures, equipment failure, or accidents involving utility poles. In this instance, the utility confirmed that a series of equipment failures contributed to the widespread disruption. The situation was exacerbated by the age of some infrastructure in the area, highlighting ongoing concerns about the need for modernization and upgrades.

Community Impact

The power outage caused significant disruptions for residents and local businesses. Many households faced challenges as their morning routines were interrupted—everything from preparing breakfast to working from home became more complicated without electricity. Schools in the affected areas also faced challenges, as some had to adjust their schedules and operations.

Local businesses, particularly those dependent on refrigeration and electronic payment systems, felt the immediate impact. Restaurants struggled to serve customers without power, while grocery stores dealt with potential food spoilage, leading to concerns about lost inventory and revenue. The outage underscored the vulnerability of businesses to infrastructure failures, as recent Toronto outages have shown, prompting discussions about contingency plans and backup systems.

Emergency Response

Seattle City Light’s swift response was crucial in minimizing the outage's impact. Utility crews worked through the day to restore power, and the company provided regular updates to the community, keeping residents informed about progress and estimated restoration times. This transparent communication was essential in alleviating some of the frustration among those affected, and contrasts with extended outages in Houston that heightened public concern.

Furthermore, the outage served as a reminder of the importance of emergency preparedness for both individuals and local governments, and of utility disaster planning that supports resilience. Many residents were left unprepared for an extended outage, prompting discussions about personal emergency kits, alternative power sources, and community resources available during such incidents. Local officials encouraged residents to stay informed about power outages and to have a plan in place for emergencies.

Broader Implications for Infrastructure

This incident highlights the broader challenges facing urban infrastructure. Many cities, including Seattle, are grappling with aging power grids that struggle to keep up with modern demands, and power failures can disrupt transit systems like the London Underground during peak hours. Experts suggest that regular assessments and updates to infrastructure are critical to ensuring reliability and resilience against both natural and human-made disruptions.

In response to increasing frequency and severity of power outages, including widespread windstorm outages in Quebec, there is a growing call for investment in modern technologies and infrastructure. Smart grid technology, for instance, can enhance monitoring and maintenance, allowing utilities to respond more effectively to outages. Additionally, renewable energy sources and microgrid systems could offer more resilience and reduce reliance on centralized power sources.

The recent power outage in North Seattle was a significant event that affected thousands of residents and businesses. While the immediate response by Seattle City Light was commendable, the incident raised important questions about infrastructure reliability and emergency preparedness. As cities continue to grow and evolve, the need for modernized power systems and improved contingency planning will be crucial to ensuring that communities can withstand future disruptions.

As residents reflect on this experience, it serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of urban living and the critical importance of reliable infrastructure in maintaining daily life. With proactive measures, cities can work towards minimizing the impact of such outages and building a more resilient future for their communities.

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Site C Dam Electricity Demand underscores B.C.'s decarbonization path, enabling electrification of EVs, heat pumps, and industry, aligning with BC Hydro forecasts and 2030/2050 GHG targets to supply dependable, renewable baseload power.

Key Points

Projected clean power tied to Site C, driven by B.C. electrification to meet 2030 and 2050 greenhouse gas targets.

✅ Aligns with 25-30% by 2030 and 55-70% by 2050 GHG cuts

✅ Supports EVs, heat pumps, and industrial electrification

✅ Provides dependable baseload alongside efficiency gains

There are valid reasons not to build the Site C dam. There are also valid reasons to build it. One of the latter is the rapid increase in clean electricity needed to reduce B.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions from burning natural gas, gasoline, diesel and other harmful fossil fuel products.

Although former Premier Christy Clark casually avoided near-term emissions targets, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set Canadian targets for both 2030 and 2050, and cleaning up Canada's electricity is critical to meeting them. Studies by my research group at Simon Fraser University and other independent analysts show that B.C.’s cost-effective contribution to these national targets requires us to reduce our emissions 25 to 30 per cent by 2030 and 55 to 70 per cent by 2050 — an energy evolution involving, among other things, a much greater use of electricity in buildings, vehicles and industry.

Recent submissions to the Site C hearing have offered widely different estimates of B.C.’s electricity demand in the decade after the project’s completion in 2025, some arguing the dam’s output will be completely surplus to domestic need for years and perhaps decades, even though improved B.C.-Alberta grid links could help balance regional demand. Some of this variation in demand forecasts is understandable. Industrial demand is especially difficult to predict, dependent as it is on global economic conditions and shifting trade relations. And there are legitimate uncertainties about B.C. Hydro’s ability to reduce electricity demand by promoting efficient products and behaviour through its Power Smart program. But some of the forecasts appear to be deliberate exaggerations, designed to support fixed positions for or against Site C.

Our university-based research team models the energy system changes required to meet national and provincial emissions targets, and we have been comparing estimates of the electricity demand implications. These estimates are produced by academics, as well as by key institutions like B.C. Hydro, the National Energy Board, and the governments of Canada and B.C.

Most electricity forecasts for B.C., including the most recent by B.C. Hydro, do not assume that B.C. reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 to 30 per cent by 2030 and 55 to 70 per cent by 2050. When we adjust Hydro’s forecast for just the low end of these targets, we find that in its latest, August 30, submission to the Site C hearing, which followed the premier’s over-budget go-ahead on the project, Hydro has underestimated the demand for its electricity by about three terawatt-hours in 2025, four in 2030 and 10 in 2035. Hydro’s forecast indicates that it will need the five terawatt-hours from Site C. Our research shows that even if Hydro’s demand forecast is too high, appropriate climate policy nationally and in B.C. will absorb all the electricity the dam can produce soon after its completion.

B.C. Hydro does not forecast electricity demand to 2050. But, studies by us and others show that B.C. electricity demand will be almost double today’s levels if we are to reduce emissions by 55 to 70 per cent, even amid a documented risk of missing the 2050 target, in just over three decades while our population, economy, buildings and equipment grow significantly. Most mid- and small-sized vehicles will be electric. Most buildings will be well insulated and heated by electric resistance or electric heat-pumps, either individually or via district heating systems. And many low temperature industrial applications will be electric.

Aggressive efforts to promote energy efficiency will make an important contribution, such that energy demand will not grow nearly as fast as the economy. But it is delusional to think that humans will stop using energy. Even climate policy scenarios in which we assume unprecedented success with energy efficiency show dramatic increases in the consumption of electricity, this being the most favoured zero-emission form of energy as a replacement for planet-destroying gasoline and natural gas.

The completion of the Site C dam is a complicated and challenging societal choice, and delay-related cost risks highlighted by the premier underscore the stakes. There is unbiased evidence and argument supporting either completion or cancellation. But let’s stick to the unbiased evidence. In the case of our 2030 and 2050 greenhouse gas reduction targets, such evidence shows that we must substantially increase our generation of dependable electricity. If the Site C dam is built, and if we are true to our climate goals, all its electricity will be used in B.C. soon after completion.

Mark Jaccard is a professor of sustainable energy in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University.

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PG&E property tax payments bolster counties, education, public safety, and infrastructure across Northern and Central California, reflecting semi-annual levies tied to utility assets, capital investments, and economic development that serve 16 million customers.

Key Points

PG&E property tax payments are semi-annual county taxes funding public services and linked to utility infrastructure.

✅ $230M paid for Jul-Dec 2017 across 50 California counties

✅ Estimated $461M for FY 2017-2018, up 12% year over year

✅ Investments: $5.9B in grid, Gas Safety Academy, control center

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) paid property taxes of more than $230 million this fall to the 50 counties where the energy company owns property and operates gas and electric infrastructure that serves 16 million Californians. The tax payments help support essential public services like education and public health and safety actions across the region.

The semi-annual property tax payments made today cover the period from July 1 to December 31, 2017.

Total payments for the full tax year of July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 are estimated to total more than $461 million—an increase of $50 million, or 12 percent, compared with the prior fiscal year, even as customer rates are expected to stabilize in the years ahead.

“Property tax payments provide crucial resources to the many communities where we live and work, supporting everything from education to public safety. By continuing to make local investments in gas and electric infrastructure, we are not only creating one of the safest and most reliable energy systems in the country, including wildfire risk reduction programs and related efforts, we’re investing in the local economy and helping our communities thrive,” said Jason Wells, senior vice president and chief financial officer for PG&E.

PG&E invested more than $5.7 billion last year and expects to invest $5.9 billion this year to enhance and upgrade its gas and electrical infrastructure amid power line fire risks across Northern and Central California.

Some recent investments include the construction of PG&E’s $75 millionGas Safety Academy in Winters in Yolo County, which opened in September. Last year, PG&E opened a $36 million, state-of-the-art electric distribution control center in Rocklin.

PG&E supports the communities it serves in a variety of ways. In 2016, PG&E provided more than $28 million in charitable contributions to enrich local educational opportunities, preserve the environment, and support economic vitality and emergency preparedness and safety, including its Wildfire Assistance Program for impacted residents. PG&E employees provide thousands of hours of volunteer service in their local communities. The company also offers a broad spectrum of economic development services to help local businesses grow.

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EV Charging Infrastructure Incentives are expanding as utilities fund public chargers, Level 2 networks, DC fast charging, grid-managed off-peak programs, and equitable access across Ohio, New Jersey, and Florida to accelerate clean transportation.

Key Points

Utility-backed programs funding Level 2 and DC fast chargers, managing grid demand, and expanding EV equity.

✅ Incentives for Level 2 and DC fast public charging stations.

✅ Grid-friendly off-peak charging to balance demand.

✅ Equity targets place chargers in low-income communities.

Electric providers in Florida, Ohio and New Jersey recently announced plans to expand electric vehicle charging networks and infrastructure through various incentive programs that could add thousands of new public chargers in the next several years.

Elsewhere, utilities are advancing similar efforts, with Michigan EV programs proposing more than $20 million for charging infrastructure to accelerate adoption.

American Electric Power in Ohio will offer nearly $10 million in incentives toward the build out of 375 EV charging stations throughout the company's service territory, which largely includes Columbus.

Meanwhile, the Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), an electric utility provider in New Jersey, has proposed a six-year plan to support the development of nearly 40,000 electric vehicle chargers across a wide range of customers and sectors, said Francis Sullivan, a spokesperson for PSE&G.

And Duke Energy in Florida is installing up to 530 EV charging stations across its service area, as part of its Park and Plug pilot program, which will be making the charging ports available in multifamily housing complexes, workplaces and other high traffic areas.

"We are bringing cleaner energy to Florida through 700 megawatts of new universal solar, and we are helping our customers to bring clean transportation to the state as well," Catherine Stempien, Duke Energy Florida president, said in a statement. "We are committed to providing smarter, cleaner energy alternatives for all our customers."

The project in Ohio is making incentive funding available to government organizations, multifamily housing developments and workplaces, covering from 50 percent to all of the costs. The plan, to be rolled out in the next four years, aims to incentivize the development of 300 level-two chargers and 75 "fast chargers" capable of charging a car's battery in minutes rather than hours.

"I think what's interesting about what we're seeing now in the industry is that electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging are expanding beyond California, and like other Pacific Coast states," said Scott Fisher, vice president of marketing at Greenlots, maker of car chargers and software. Greenlots has been selected as one of the companies to provide the chargers for the AEP project.

California has occupied the lion's share of the electric vehicle market, making up about 5 percent of the cars on the state's highways. The U.S. market sits at about 1.5 percent. However, indications show the EV boom may be set to take off as more models are being rolled out, and prices are making the electric cars more competitive with their gas-powered counterparts. The group Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) announced the one-millionth electric vehicle is on course to be sold in the United States this month.

In a statement, Ben Prochazka, vice president of the Electrification Coalition, an EV advocacy group, called this "a major milestone and brings us one step closer to reducing our transportation system's dependence on oil. This is a direct result of the tireless efforts by communities and advocates throughout the 'EV ecosystem.'"

In New Jersey, PSE&G's efforts -- which are part of the company's proposed Clean Energy Future program -- will not only focus on building out the charging infrastructure, but structure car recharging to control charging and encourage residents to charge their cars during off-peak times.

"For now, with a modest number of charging stations in the market, it's not a huge problem. But over time, as you're putting in many thousands of these stations, what you want to make sure is that those stations are operating in sync with state power grids, where you don't have people all charging at the same time at like 5 p.m. on a hot summer day," said Fisher.

PSE&G also plans to offer incentives to encourage the development of level-two chargers and DC fast-chargers, as well as "provide grants and incentives for 100 electric school buses and EV charging infrastructure at school districts in PSE&G's service territory," said Sullivan.

"PSE&G will also help fund electrification projects at customer locations such as ports, airports and transit facilities," Sullivan added, via email.

Utilities and transportation planners are also keeping the concept of equity in mind -- to ensure EVs are adopted by more than just the Tesla owner -- and will also focus on placing infrastructure in low-income areas.

"Ten percent of the stations will be in low income areas, defined by census blocks," said Scott Blake, a communications consultant at AEP in Columbus.

Duke Energy also announced 10 percent of the chargers it is installing in Florida will be in "income-qualified communities," according to a company press release.

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Crouching Yeti APT targets energy infrastructure with watering-hole attacks, compromising servers to steal credentials and stage intrusions; Kaspersky Lab links the Energetic Bear group to ICS threats across Russia, US, Europe, and Turkey.

Key Points

Crouching Yeti APT, aka Energetic Bear, is a threat group that targets energy firms using watering-hole attacks.

✅ Targets energy infrastructure via watering-hole compromises

✅ Uses open-source tools and backdoored sshd for persistence

✅ Scans global servers to stage intrusions and steal credentials

A hacker collective known for attacking industrial companies around the world have had some of their infrastructure identified by Russian security specialists.

Kaspersky Lab said that it has discovered a number of servers compromised by the group, belonging to different organisations based in Russia, the US, and Turkey, as well as European countries.

The Russian-speaking hackers, known as Crouching Yeti or Energetic Bear, mostly focus on energy facilities, as seen in reports of infiltration of the U.S. power grid targeting critical infrastructure, for the main purpose of stealing valuable data from victim systems.

Hacked servers

Crouching Yeti is described as an advanced persistent threat (APT) group that Kaspersky Lab has been tracking since 2010.

#google#

Kaspersky Lab said that the servers it has compromised are not just limited to industrial companies. The servers were hit in 2016 and 2017 with different intentions. Some were compromised to gain access to other resources or to be used as intermediaries to conduct attacks on other resources.

Others, including those hosting Russian websites, were used as watering holes.

It is a common tactic for Crouching Yeti to utilise watering hole attacks where the attackers inject websites with a link redirecting visitors to a malicious server.

“In the process of analysing infected servers, researchers identified numerous websites and servers used by organisations in Russia, US, Europe, Asia and Latin America that the attackers had scanned with various tools, possibly to find a server that could be used to establish a foothold for hosting the attackers’ tools and to subsequently develop an attack,” said the security specialists in a blog posting.

“The range of websites and servers that captured the attention of the intruders is extensive,” the firm said. “Kaspersky Lab researchers found that the attackers had scanned numerous websites of different types, including online stores and services, public organisations, NGOs, manufacturing, etc.

Kaspersky Lab said that the hackers used publicly available malicious tools, designed for analysing servers, and for seeking out and collecting information. The researchers also found a modified sshd file with a preinstalled backdoor. This was used to replace the original file and could be authorised with a ‘master password’.

“Crouching Yeti is a notorious Russian-speaking group that has been active for many years and is still successfully targeting industrial organisations through watering hole attacks, among other techniques,” explained Vladimir Dashchenko, head of vulnerability research group at Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT.

Russian government?

“Our findings show that the group compromised servers not only for establishing watering holes, but also for further scanning, and they actively used open-sourced tools that made it much harder to identify them afterwards,” he said.

“The group’s activities, such as initial data collection, the theft of authentication data, and the scanning of resources, are used to launch further attacks,” said Dashchenko. “The diversity of infected servers and scanned resources suggests the group may operate in the interests of the third parties.”

This may well tie into a similar conclusion from a rival security vendor.

In 2014 CrowdStrike claimed that the ‘Energetic Bear’ group was also tracked in Symantec's Dragonfly research and had been hacking foreign companies on behalf of the Russian state.

The security vendor had said the group had been carrying out attacks on foreign companies since 2012, with reports of breaches at U.S. power plants that underscored the campaign, and there was evidence that these operations were sanctioned by the Russian government.

Last month the United States for the first time publicly accused Russia in a condemnation of Russian grid hacking of attacks against the American power grid.

Symantec meanwhile warned last year of a resurgence in cyber attacks on European and US energy companies, including reports of access to U.S. utility control rooms that could result in widespread power outages.

And last July the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) acknowledged it was investigating a broad wave of attacks on companies in the British energy and manufacturing sectors.

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Cambodia-CNNC Nuclear Energy MoU advances peaceful nuclear cooperation, human resources development, and Belt and Road ties, targeting energy security and applications in medicine, agriculture, and industry across ASEAN under IAEA-guided frameworks.

Key Points

A pact to expand peaceful nuclear tech and skills, boosting Cambodia's energy, healthcare under ASEAN and Belt and Road.

✅ Human resources development and training pipelines

✅ Peaceful nuclear applications in medicine, agriculture, industry

✅ Aligns with IAEA guidance, ASEAN links, Belt and Road goals

Cambodia has signed a memorandum of understanding with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The agreement calls for cooperation on human resources development.

The agreement was signed yesterday by CNNC chief accountant Li Jize and Tekreth Samrach, Cambodia's secretary of state of the Office of the Council of Ministers and vice chairman of the Cambodian Commission on Sustainable Development. It was signed during the 14th China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, being held in Nanning, the capital of China's Guangxi province.

The signing was witnessed by Cambodia's minister of commerce and other government officials, CNNC said.

"This is another important initiative of China National Nuclear Corporation in implementing the 'One Belt, One Road' strategy as China's nuclear program continues to advance and strengthening cooperation with ASEAN countries in international production capacity, laying a solid foundation for follow-up cooperation between the two countries," CNNC said.

One Belt, One Road is China's project to link trade in about 60 Asian and European countries along a new Silk Road, even as Romania ended talks with a Chinese partner in a separate nuclear project.

CNNC noted that Cambodia's current power supply cannot meet its basic electricity needs, while sectors including medicine, agriculture and industry require a "comprehensive upgrade". It said Cambodia has great market potential for nuclear power and nuclear technology applications.

On 14 August, CNNC vice president Wang Jinfeng met with Tin Ponlok, secretary general of Cambodia's National Council for Sustainable Development, to consult on the draft MOU. Cambodia's Ministry of Environment said these discussions focused on human resources in nuclear power for industrial development and environmental protection.

In late August, CNNC president Qian Zhimin visited Cambodia and met Say Chhum, president of the Senate of Cambodia. Qian noted that CNNC will support Cambodia in applying nuclear technologies in industry, agriculture and medical science, thus developing its economy and improving the welfare of the population. Cambodia can start training workers, promoting new energy exploitation as India's nuclear revival progresses in Asia, and infrastructure construction, and increasing its capabilities in scientific research and industrial manufacturing, he said. This will help the country achieve its long-term goal of the peaceful use of nuclear energy, he added.

In November 2015, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Cambodia, focused on a possible research reactor, but with consideration of nuclear power, while KHNP in Bulgaria illustrates parallel developments in Europe. A further cooperation agreement was signed in March 2016, and in May Rosatom and the National Council for Sustainable Development signed memoranda to establish a nuclear energy information centre in Cambodia and set up a joint working group on the peaceful uses of atomic energy.

In mid-2016, Cambodia's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy held discussions with CNNC on building a nuclear power plant and establishing the regulatory and legal infrastructure for that, in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency, mirroring IAEA assistance in Bangladesh on nuclear development.

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