John Hennessy III,
P.E.
The energy ecosystem is changing, driven by the advent of distributed clean energy, increased competition from new technologies and service providers, the evolving expectations of customers, and new opportunities for serving those customers.
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Electricity is incredibly difficult to store, so grid operators have to generate it at the exact moment it is demanded. In order to do this, they create incredibly accurate models of the total electric loads, that is how much energy will be consumed on a given day. But as utilities started to produce more energy from renewable sources like solar, the models started to shift as well.
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The potential benefits of a smarter, more distributed grid are well-established, including a reduced carbon footprint, increased efficiency, and reliability and resiliency improvements. But creating multidirectional flow on a grid that was designed primarily to deliver power in one direction, while also improving the system’s capability to integrate increased amounts of distributed resources, is a costly and complex challenge. Without well-planned grid infrastructure improvements that provide increased visibility and management, these and other challenges could negatively impact system reliability and resilience, and put additional stress on existing infrastructure, e.g., power lines, transformers, substations, control systems, etc. Finally, the increased interconnectedness and complexity of the emerging grid model may create new cyber vulnerabilities.
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NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Mathematical modeling and control of the electric grid has been an active area of research for decades. However, in 1996 a major outage that affected 11 Western states and 2 Canadian provinces—coupled with emerging concerns that computers would malfunction after December 31, 1999—increased awareness of a lack of complete understanding of the overall system and its frailties. For several decades the Electric Power Research Institute funded a program of research to develop tools for recognizing early signs of instability and means to counter them. That research was largely of a mathematical nature.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Infrastructure is the physical framework upon which the U.S. economy operates and the nation’s standard of living depends. Everything depends on this framework, including transporting goods, powering factories, heating and cooling office buildings, and enjoying a glass of clean water.
THE NORTHBRIDGE GROUP by Frank Huntowski, Aaron Patterson, and Michael Schnitzer Executive Summary As a matter of both economics and public policy, no government production tax subsidy should ever be so large that it creates an incentive for a business to actually pay customers to take its product. Yet, the federal Production Tax Credit (“PTC”) […]
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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
This report illustrates the importance of electric power generation, transmission and distribution systems to the national economy. The analysis performed focuses on a trend scenario that presumes the mix of electricity generation technologies (e.g. electricity generation from oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, wind, solar) continues to evolve as reflected in recent trends, including a long-term evolution towards smart grid technologies.
GOOD.IS View full infographic (GOOD.is): How Much Fuel Does it Take to Power a Lightbulb for a Year? About GOOD.is www.good.is “We are people, businesses, moms, kids, artists, organizations, policymakers, students, teachers, and engineers. All united in one simple idea, each elevated by being connected. Let’s do what works and never default to what doesn’t. […]
View this complete post...NEW YORK BUILDING CONGRESS
“A critical threshold looms for the years 2010-2015, when projected electric capacity requirements for New York City and Long Island could fall “substantially below” the Statewide criteria…”
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