Assessing Changes in the Reliability of the U.S. Electric Power System

Recent catastrophic weather events, existing and prospective federal and state policies, and growing investments in smart grid technologies have drawn renewed attention to the reliability of the U.S. electric power system. Whether electricity reliability is getting better or worse as a result of these or other factors has become a material issue for public and private decisions affecting the U.S. electric power system.

This study examines the statistical relationship between annual changes in electricity reliability reported by a large cross‐section of U.S. electricity distribution utilities over a period of 13 years, and a broad set of potential explanatory variables including …

On the Grid’s Bleeding Edge: The California, Hawaii, and New York Power Market Revolution

California, Hawaii, and New York are in the midst of radically reforming their state regulatory processes and eventually markets to accelerate the integration of distributed energy resources (DER) into the grid. Each state process fundamentally envisions the future regulated utility as an enabler of customer choice to manage energy costs through advanced distribution planning, modern integrated grids, and opportunities for DER to provide market-based grid services. Increasingly, ICF International sees the three state reform initiatives converging toward a common set of
goals, mechanisms, and shared elements. In this white paper, we take an initial look at two of these shared …

Electric System Reliability and EPA’s Clean Power Plan: The Case of MISO

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (“MISO”) has responsibility for reliable electric system operations in all or parts of a 15-state area in the middle of the U.S. The large geographic region covered by its footprint (shown below) makes MISO the largest grid operator in the U.S. in terms of area served. MISO is the second-largest Regional Transmission Organization (“RTO”) in the U.S. in terms of electrical load.

In this report, we analyze reliability considerations in the MISO region as the stakeholders there anticipate compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) Clean Power Plan. As we concluded in our prior …

Renewable Energy on the Grid: Redefining What’s Possible

Environmental regulations, state-level portfolio standards, new methods for accessing natural gas reserves and aging power plants are opening opportunities for new electricity generation from renewable resources and natural gas. Advances in efficiency and smart grid technologies also have the potential to change historical demand curves. New renewable generation technology costs, including solar and wind, continue to fall, and installations are increasing. NREL works within these currents of change, and helps shape them to enhance our energy and environmental security. We help utilities, policymakers, investors, regulators, and industrial leaders around the world understand and navigate these currents. Our analysis, data sets, …

The Case for Smart Grid: Funding a New Infrastructure in an Age of Uncertainty

We are witnessing today the birth of a new mega-infrastructure. It will emerge from the convergence of energy with telecommunications, transportation, Internet, and electronic commerce. Starting with the electric grid, which underpins all of these interdependent systems, new ways are being sought to improve network efficiency and eliminate congestion problems without seriously diminishing reliability and security. But with these efforts come uncertainty – plus a general disruption to industry and commerce that may well prove greater than any transition yet seen.

Of course, the job of controlling a heterogeneous, widely dispersed, yet globally interconnected system like the electric grid poses …

EPA’s Clean Power Plan and Reliability Assessing NERC’s Initial Reliability Review

In November 2014, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued an “initial reliability review” in which it identified elements of the CPP that could lead to reliability concerns. Echoed by some grid operators and cited in comments to EPA submitted by states, utilities, and industry groups, the NERC study has made reliability a critical issue in finalizing, and then implementing, the Clean Power Plan.

In order to gain insight on the issue, the Advanced Energy Economy Institute commissioned The Brattle Group, a leading consulting firm to utilities and grid operators, to conduct a critical review of the NERC study. …

Updated Value of Service Reliability Estimates for Electric Utility Customers in the United States

This report updates the 2009 meta-analysis that provides estimates of the value of service reliability for electricity customers in the United States (U.S.). The meta-dataset now includes 34 different datasets from surveys fielded by 10 different utility companies between 1989 and 2012. Because these studies used nearly identical interruption cost estimation or willingness-topay/accept methods, it was possible to integrate their results into a single meta-dataset describing the value of electric service reliability observed in all of them. Once the datasets from the various studies were combined, a two-part regression model was used to estimate customer damage functions that can be …

Maryland Resiliency Through Microgrids Task Force Report

Recognizing the value that microgrids can offer to energy surety and resiliency, on February 25, 2014, Governor Martin O’Malley directed his Energy Advisor to lead a Resiliency Through Microgrids Task Force (“Task Force”) to study the statutory, regulatory, financial, and technical barriers to the deployment of microgrids in Maryland. The Governor’s charge required the Task Force to develop a “roadmap for action” to pave the way for private sector deployment of microgrids across the State.

As defined by the Task Force, a “microgrid” is a collection of interconnected loads, generation assets, and advanced control equipment installed across a defined geographic …

Potential Reliability Impacts of EPA’s Proposed Clean Power Plan

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has prepared the following assessment in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005, in which the United States Congress directed NERC to conduct periodic assessments of the reliability and adequacy of the bulk power system (BPS) in North America. NERC operates under similar obligations in many Canadian provinces, as well as a portion of Baja California Norte, Mexico.…

Potential Reliability Impacts of EPA’s Proposed Clean Power Plan

This assessment – Potential Reliability Impacts of EPA’s Proposed Clean Power Plan – examines the potential reliability aspects resulting from its anticipated implementation. In order to continue operating the bulk power system safely and reliably, more detailed and thorough analysis is needed to determine whether the assumptions are feasible and consistent with the requirements of bulk power system reliability.…