The OurEnergyLibrary aggregates and indexes publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics. It is updated every week to include the most recent energy resources from academia, government, industry, non-profits, think tanks, and trade associations. Suggest a resource by emailing us at info@ourenergypolicy.org.
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The U.S. electric power sector faces a significant transition over the next decade, with implications for the cost, reliability, and environmental impacts of the electricity supply. Specifically, economic trends and state and federal energy and environmental policies will continue to increase the share of natural gas and renewable energy in the generation mix. This ongoing shift provides an important opportunity to consider policies and institutional structures that help the electric grid adapt to changes in market conditions, policy, and technology in ways that enhance system reliability and maintain affordability. Low natural gas prices in the near- to medium-term will be …
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Rapid evolution of the national power grid and the bulk power system in size, scope, technology, and structural complexity has been accompanied by a substantial increase in sensitivity to electromagnetic disturbances, both natural and malicious. This increasing sensitivity will be further exacerbated by extensive grid renovation in the next ten to twenty years. When combined with new evidence of infrequent but Severe Space Weather events and with rising concerns from international political instabilities and proliferation trends, this expanding sensitivity has introduced a new dimension of risk to power grid reliability and security. This article, following a technical and historical summary, …
View Full ResourceUnder section 215 of the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) proposes to direct the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization, to submit for approval Reliability Standards that address the impact of geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) on the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System. The Commission proposes to do this in two stages. In the first stage, the Commission proposes to direct NERC to file, within 90 days of the effective date of a final rule in this proceeding, one or more Reliability Standards that require owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System… View Full Resource
Although it has slowed considerably, consumption of electricity continues to grow in developed economies. Further, there are some unknowns which might accelerate this growth, such as electrification of vehicle fleets and geothermal heat pump space and water heating. Most analysts anticipate that distributed energy resources (DER) will provide a large share of the expanded generation capacity required to meet this seemingly inexorably increasing electricity demand. Further, given the urgency of tackling the climate change problem, most of the added assets must be carbon-free renewables or nuclear, end-use efficiency improvements, or highly efficient fossil-fired technologies. In developed economies worldwide, the current …
View Full ResourceThe current state-of-the-art wind power forecasting in the 0- to 6-h time frame has levels of uncertainty that are adding increased costs and risks to the U.S. electric grid. It is widely recognized within the electric grid community that improvements to these forecasts could greatly reduce the costs and risks associated with integrating higher penetrations of wind energy. The U.S. Department of Energy has sponsored a research campaign in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and private industry to foster improvements in wind power forecasting. The research campaign involves a three-pronged approach: (1) a one-year field measurement …
View Full ResourceOn July 25, 2012, Governor Martin O’Malley signed Executive Order 01.01.2012.15 directing his Energy Advisor, in collaboration with identified agencies, to solicit input and recommendations from experts on how to improve the resiliency and reliability of the Maryland electric distribution system. Referencing the potential impact of climate change on regional weather patterns and the prolonged power outages brought by recent hurricanes, blizzards, and the Derecho, the Executive Order specifically charged the Task Force with evaluating:
The effectiveness and feasibility of undergrounding supply and distribution lines; Other options for infrastructure investments to improve resiliency of the grid; and Options for financing… View Full Resource
The transformation occurring across the world’s electrical systems represents one of the greatest technological challenges industrialized societies have undertaken. Reconfiguring a grid designed to carry power one way from reliable generation sources managed by few agents to a system increasingly laden with unreliable wind and solar energy while involving millions more participants using advanced technologies will introduce a high degree of uncertainty and variability into the future grid. These changes potentially threaten reliability of electrical supply and must be carefully choreographed to avoid widespread perturbations in cost, reliability and efficiency. Yet policy mandates for more and more renewable and distributed …
View Full ResourceElectricity production from wind and other renewables technology has increased significantly to meet the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) targets imposed by 31 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Energy storage is attracting greater interest as an enabling technology for integrating variable renewable power into the electric grid, addressing grid reliability challenges, and increasing overall infrastructure utilization. The integration of renewable energy technology into the U.S. grid is one of the key drivers for the growing interest in stationary energy storage systems. Other countries are also interested in advanced energy storage systems for accommodating the variable nature of renewable resources …
View Full ResourceThe Smart Grid: An Introduction. How a smarter grid works as an enabling engine for our economy, our environment and our future.
The DOE has been charged with orchestrating the wholesale modernization of our nation’s electrical grid. Heading this effort is the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. In concert with its cutting edge research and energy policy programs, the office’s newly formed, multi-agency Smart Grid Task Force is responsible for coordinating standards development, guiding research and development projects, and reconciling the agendas of a wide range of stakeholders.
Equally critical to the success of this effort is the …
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