The show floor at DTECH features hundreds of exhibitors showcasing thousands of products, but one of the true standouts at the 2026 event was the G&W Electric booth. With lighting and visuals that literally pulled you into the space, their booth offered an up-close look at a portfolio designed to bridge the gap between the energy industry’s analog legacy and the digital grid of the future.
Through a comprehensive display of switchgear, reclosers, sensors, and cable accessories, G&W Electric enabled attendees to get a real sense of the kinds of solutions that can power an entire ecosystem, ranging from data centers that require “five nines” of reliability to utilities managing the integration of DERs. However, the baseline for these innovations isn’t about a single piece of hardware or software, but is instead connected to the many ways that utility teams are thinking about adopting these types of solutions in order to truly transform their operations.
Essential connection and reliability for data centers
G&W Electric offers a wide selection of load break and fault interrupting SF6 insulated switches that feature integrated safety mechanisms built-in grounding and visible open features. These are the types of features that allow technicians to work downstream with confidence. While they’re products that the company has been making for decades, this legacy is creating opportunities connected to data center needs and requirements in the present.
“The particular design we have on display at DTECH is one that’s been perfected for the data center market,” said John Gounaris, Vice President Global Marketing at G&W Electric. “We’ve been making this technology for over 50 years, but these connections have made us a strong player in medium voltage switchgear market.”
The switchgear can be pre-programmed for loss of voltage applications, meaning it can automatically detect, isolate, and separate a fault from the medium-voltage grid. This capability allows stakeholders to keep the rest of the facility operational in the event of an outage, which is a top priority for data centers that often require 99.999% reliability, which is two nines higher than the typical utility application.
Enabling the evolution of a decentralized grid
Moving to the broader utility market, the Viper recloser stands as a testament to adaptive engineering that has defined multiple products from G&W Electric. While reclosers have been a staple of grid protection for decades, the rise of DERs has changed the requirements of the grid. Today’s grid faces disturbances that are as unique as they are complex, which is why G&W Electric has added advanced sensing capabilities to the Viper recloser.
“Utilities today want more than traditional protection and control,” Gounaris told Factor This. “The grid is facing challenges that weren’t ever envisioned when much of the infrastructure we’re dealing with was first installed. It’s why we’ve added sensing capabilities so the recloser can measure and communicate these disturbances to other parts of the grid.”
By acting as a diagnostic tool, the Viper recloser gives utilities real-time awareness. It provides the visibility needed to identify and mitigate power quality issues before they result in a negative grid-wide events, transitioning the device from a reactive switch to a proactive intelligence hub. They allow utilities to see and resolve minor issues before they become major problems.
“Grid modernization in a box”
G&W Electric also highlighted its 72.5kV Viper-HV recloser, which remains the only solid-dielectric, pole-mounted solution in its voltage class. It extends substation-level protection and control out onto sub-transmission lines.
For underground distribution, G&W Electric offers a single device that can connect up to four different circuits, communicating voltage and current data to a centralized system.
“You really could call this ‘grid modernization in a box,’” Gounaris said. “This is a single device that can remotely communicate voltage current. It makes modernization easier for utilities that are ready to receive this technology today, but we do think these sorts of innovations will be commonplace five years from now. So what does it look to make them a reality today? That’s what we’re here to explore and enable.”
By showcasing the full potential of pad-mounted medium voltage switchgear, G&W Electric is working to reinforce the deep-seated relationships they’ve formed with utility partners. These connections are designed to solve the challenges of today’s grid while also creating opportunities for tomorrow in ways that tie into the company’s core approach to working with utility clients.
Connecting the present to the future
At 120 years old as a company, G&W Electric attributes its longevity to a balance between market pull and technology push. Gounaris explained that his role involves striking a similar balance in order to sort out how to prioritize what individual customers need today with what the industry knows it will need many years from now.
“Every single utility customer is on their own journey of grid transformation, so manufacturers have to meet those customers where they are,” Gounaris said. “That means listening to understand what problems we should be solving right now, and then creating pilot installations that allow them to kick the tires and figure out what really makes sense.”
It’s not a new message, but it’s one that needs to be fully embraced by utilities in order to absorb hardware innovations and software updates at a pace that makes sense for a given team and organization. This collaborative approach ensures that such advancements will not only permeate a utility’s culture but also opens up opportunities that can be leveraged by others.
“I have a story for every single one of these products about how they were developed,” Gounaris said while looking across the booth. “We build products to meet where our customers are today but also want to prepare them for bigger shifts and transitions that will be embraced by this entire sector. It’s a fun game of building what people need today while preparing them for what they’ll need ten years from now and beyond.”
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Renewableenergyworld.com
