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Award Winners
EPA Recognizes Arizona Public Service and Consolidated Edison of New York for Global Climate Protection Efforts
EPA has recognized two partners for success in achieving effective strategies for reductions of SF6 and for sharing information on the environmental and economic benefits. Arizona Public Power Service and Consolidated Edison of New York received the awards at the biennial Workshop on SF6 Emission Reduction Strategies, held February 4 and 5, 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Arizona Public Service of Phoenix, Arizona, has adopted improved handling and maintenance practices and increased SF6 recycling which prevented more than 100,000 pounds of SF6 from entering the atmosphere during the period from 2001 to 2007. These reductions are the equivalent of annual emissions from over 200,000 cars. In recent years, APS has achieved substantial emissions reductions through an emissions reduction strategy focused on properly utilizing an SF6 recycling gas cart to reclaim, purify, and reuse their SF6 gas during equipment service or repair. These recycling efforts have significantly reduced the amount of SF6 gas purchases required and have reduced SF6 leakage associated with maintenance activities. Other important components of APS's emission reduction strategy include repairing 14 high-priority breakers during the 2006 and 2007 reporting years and using a laser imaging camera to identify the exact location of leaks. Lastly, APS has played an extremely valuable role in sharing knowledge about SF6 emission reduction strategies by hosting site visits for a previous Partnership conference as well as this year's workshop. APS's active commitment to facilitating the exchange of information has been vital to the success of these events and has contributed to the achievement of SF6 emission reductions across the Partnership.
Consolidated Edison Company of New York, by replacing equipment and improving leak detection, has prevented over 670,000 pounds from entering the atmosphere from 1999 to 2007, equivalent to the annual emissions from 1.3 million cars. Consolidated Edison is a Charter Partner to the program, which was launched in 1999. In recent years, Con Edison has embarked on an aggressive equipment repair and replacement strategy that resulted in the replacement of over 20 circuit breakers during the 2006 and 2007 reporting years. Furthermore, Con Edison has been a leader in using innovative technologies to reduce SF6 emissions, including a laser imaging camera developed in conjunction with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to identify leaky equipment and a new sealing method to seal leaks on flanges under pressure. The lessons that Con Edison has learned from implementing new technologies were used to provide guidance for the EPRI's SF6 Gas Handling Tutorial and to provide technical assistance to the EPRI's SF6 task force. The company has also developed an on-the-job training course for handling SF6 gas, which is distributed to all field employees who handle SF6. Con Edison's transmission infrastructure presents a challenging scenario for limiting SF6 gas emissions. But with a consistent focus on utilizing the best and newest emission reduction strategies, Con Edison has achieved large SF6 emission reductions and has made significant contributions to our knowledge of practical mitigation options.
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