Power Coalition Formed

On the anniversary of last year's East Coast blackout, representatives of the critical power industry announced the formation of the Critical Power Coalition (CPC), an organization dedicated to developing public policy and establishing a unified voice to ensure the quality, reliability and continuity of power within critical industries, businesses and public services.

The CPC brings together industry leaders to focus on urgent policy, technology and regulatory issues at the forefront of today's electrical society. Members include American Power Conversion, Caterpillar, Cummins, Digital Power Group, Eaton Corp. and its Powerware Division, Emcor, EnerSys, EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Liebert/Emerson, MGE UPS Systems, Siemens, SquareD and Tishman Technologies.

"Nearly every significant facet of the nation's banking, communications, safety and vital infrastructures relies on electric power to operate. Meanwhile, increasing power demand is compromising the power grid's ability to supply clean, uninterrupted power," said Mark A. Ascolese, CPC co-chairman. "While government and public utility companies continue to work on strengthening and improving the grid, companies and government organizations are tasked with designing and managing critical power in their own operations ... and will ultimately need to develop systems and plans to sustain critical operations when the grid is unable."

For more information on CPC, their planned initiatives and a white paper, visit www.criticalpowercoalition.org.