Update on the powering strategy of LHC

Over the last two years the powering strategy of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has undergone a considerable evolution. This was not only motivated by new requirements but more importantly by a quest to reduce costs and improve operational reliability and flexibility. In order to achieve this, despite an increase in complexity, novel modifications to the strategy and hardware have been proposed both on the warm and cold sides of the machine. During this process the requirements of the accelerator physics have been clarified and met while working within the boundary conditions imposed by the utilisation of the existing CERN infrastructure. After a brief review of the present powering strategy which needs to produce and supply 2MA dc in 1800 circuits, more detailed descriptions will be given of the changes implemented in order to achieve a more rational overall system. Some performance issues of the powering system will also be discussed.