All Articles
From Server Racks to Radiators: The Nordic “Hack” Turning AI Data Centers into City Heat
Finland and Sweden are treating waste heat like a civic resource — and it’s quietly rewriting the AI energy story. The part of AI’s power demand most people never think about: heat When people argue about AI and the grid, the conversation usually stops at megawatts: How much load? How fast? Who pays for upgrades? Important questions, but incomplete. Here’s the missing piece: the electricity that goes into a data center doesn’t disappear. It ends up as heat. That’s why the “d
9 hours ago
Google’s Grid Warning: Why Transmission Is the Real Threat to U.S. Grid Reliability
AI data centers are exposing the quiet bottleneck utilities can’t outrun: the wires, the queues, and the legacy systems behind them. Transmission Explained: The Grid’s Highways Most people talk about the grid like it’s one thing. It isn’t. It’s three big layers that do three different jobs. Generation is where electricity is made (power plants, wind, solar, batteries). Transmission is how that electricity moves long distances (the high-voltage “backbone”). And lastly, distrib
10 hours ago
A Modular Data Center Strategy Built for Tornado Alley
How Rural Electric Co-ops Deployed 59+ “Mini Data Centers” in 6 Months SUMMARY Between 2010 and 2017, Tamazari personnel helped KAMO Power and its member cooperatives stand up a practical answer to a very modern problem: “How do we run a smarter, more resilient grid without building traditional data centers everywhere?” The team deployed 59+ modular computing facilities across rural Oklahoma and Missouri using a mix of containerized data centers, GFRC prefabricated buildings,
5 days ago
From Data Chaos to Grid Clarity: GIS Load Forecasting for Distribution System Planning at Scale
How 9+ Utilities Used LoadSEER to Pinpoint Load Hotspots and Plan Upgrades Ahead of Electrification SUMMARY Utilities can’t modernize what they can’t see. Tamazari led project management for a multi-utility implementation program of LoadSEER, a spatial load forecasting platform from Integral Analytics. This tool helps planners predict where electric demand will grow and by how much. Across 9+ major utilities, we converted complex data environments into actionable, map-based f
Jan 23
Why “Just Build More Fiber” Is The AI-Era Myth
How a utility-grade Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) backbone delivered 99.9995% reliability without waiting on new fiber builds SUMMARY When your communications network hiccups, the grid doesn’t just “slow down”—operators lose visibility, automation gets compromised, and storm response becomes harder right when the public needs utilities most. To increase bandwidth and resilience without the cost and lead time of building new fiber, KAMO Power and Tacoma Public Utilit
Jan 21
From Help Desk to Enterprise ITSM: A Utility Transformation Story
How a Cherwell (Ivanti) Rollout at Tacoma Public Utilities Turned Skeptics into Advocates Across 100+ Users SUMMARY Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) needed an IT service management (ITSM) system that could keep pace with the reality of running three essential services—power, water, and rail—on shared technology. Tamazari led a phased rollout of Cherwell ITSM (Ivanti) for 100+ users, establishing practical Change, Asset, and Problem Management in addition to connecting SolarWinds
Jan 21
AI Is Quietly Rewriting Grid Reliability—and Texas Is the Warning Shot
Some Data Centers Now Demand as Much Power as Entire Cities A Number That Changes Everything If you want to understand where grid reliability is headed over the next decade, forget abstract forecasts and glossy net-zero scenarios for a moment. Look instead at a single number coming out of Texas: 226 gigawatts. That’s not a long-term projection or a speculative scenario. It’s the approximate volume of large-load interconnection requests currently sitting in the ERCOT queue , m
Jan 9
Clean Energy Programs Are Stress-Testing Utility Billing Systems
How Time-of-Use Rates, EV Tariffs, and Net Billing are Exposing CIS Limitations The Silent Operational Risk Utilities Didn’t Plan For Clean energy is working—at least on the surface. Time-of-use rates are expanding. EV tariffs are filling up faster than forecasts predicted. Net billing has replaced simpler net metering in many regions. Not to mention, community solar subscriptions are scaling at record speed. From the outside, it looks like momentum. But behind the scenes, ma
Jan 9
Reliable Utilities Run on Reliable Records.
How one PNW utility eliminated document chaos and strengthened regulatory confidence. SUMMARY Tamazari partnered with a major PNW electric and natural gas utility to modernize how its Engineering Department managed critical infrastructure documentation. Leveraging deep experience in regulated utilities, we led the deployment of a centralized document imaging solution that replaced fragmented file storage with a single, trusted system of record. The initiative improved enginee
Jan 8
When Customer Billing Can’t Keep Up, Clean Energy Can’t Scale
Turning Complex Billing Into a Foundation for Energy Transition SUMMARY As utilities navigate the energy transition, billing systems have become a critical—but often underestimated—lever for change. A major PNW utility partnered with Tamazari to modernize its complex billing capabilities, enabling time-varying rates, distributed energy resources (DERs), EV programs, and community solar initiatives. What began as a technical necessity evolved into a transformation of how the u
Jan 8
Fiber Optic GIS Database Development for Electric Utilities
Documenting 6,000+ Miles of Utility Fiber to Improve Reliability and Operations SUMMARY When fiber construction moves faster than documentation, utilities feel it everywhere—from provisioning delays to longer outages and frustrated crews. That’s exactly where KAMO Power and Tacoma Public Utilities found themselves until Tamazari came aboard. We led the development and long-term maintenance of comprehensive fiber optic GIS databases for both utilities. Together, these efforts
Dec 23, 2025
Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Isn’t Legacy—It’s Mission-Critical
Why LMR remains essential in a modern operations stack SUMMARY When everything else fails—cell towers, fiber, power—voice radio is often the last system standing. For nearly two decades, Tamazari has helped utilities and public agencies make sure that system works when people’s safety, livelihoods, and communities depend on it. Across Alaska, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Washington, Tamazari has designed, deployed, and managed land mobile radio (LMR) systems that connect first res
Dec 23, 2025
Modern SCADA and Telemetry for Water Utilities
Building reliable communications for real-time operations and AMI integration SUMMARY Most people never think about the systems that keep clean water flowing—or what happens if operators lose visibility into them. Tacoma Water does. Tamazari partnered with the utility to modernize the microwave communications backbone that supports SCADA across its water system. The work strengthened reliability across 15+ remote sites, delivered four-nines availability, and ensured operators
Dec 18, 2025
Inside a $40M+ Utility Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Transformation
How a Major PNW Utility Rebuilt Its Financial Backbone OVERVIEW A major PNW utility took on a massive challenge: modernize a 20-year-old SAP ERP financial system while keeping the business running—and do it in time to meet FERC reporting requirements. That meant reworking core SAP Financial and Controlling modules, rolling out an enterprise-wide budgeting, planning, and consolidation platform (SAP BPC), and updating key integrations with PowerPlan and Trintech. Over four year
Dec 10, 2025
Building Fleet Safety Through Trust, Not Tracking
Turning skepticism into safety outcomes at scale. SUMMARY A major Pacific Northwest utility improved fleet safety by combining advanced vehicle telematics with a people-first change management strategy. Rather than rushing deployment, we helped the client focus on trust, fairness, and transparency—starting with leadership testing, thorough system calibration, and early union engagement. Additionally, we helped the utility reduce manual work and keep driver data accurate throu
Dec 10, 2025
Engineering Reliability in Polar Bear Country
How Operators Kept Essential Services Running Amid Ice, Isolation, and Wildlife Risks SUMMARY Tamazari supported AT&T Alascom in keeping communications running for more than 300 remote Alaskan villages. Despite extreme weather, limited access, wildlife risks, and tight budgets, the team maintained stable analog satellite service backed by a centralized hub: Eagle River Earth Station. These systems delivered dependable phone lines, basic internet, and emergency communication
Dec 9, 2025