The Value of Distributed Electricity Storage in Texas: Proposed Policy for Enabling Grid-Integrated Storage Investments

Due to recent development, electricity storage appears to be on the verge of becoming quite economically attractive. In this context of declining battery costs, Oncor Electric Delivery Company, a Transmission and Distribution Service Provider (TDSP) in Texas, has engaged us to explore the economics of grid-integrated storage deployment in Texas. We evaluate this question first by estimating whether storage could be cost-effectively deployed on the distribution systems in the state from the perspectives of retail customers, wholesale electricity market participants, and the combined system or “society as a whole.” We then evaluate whether new public policies supporting electricity storage in …

2014–2015 Winter Reliability Assessment

The primary objective of this assessment is to identify the reliability concerns of the North American bulk power system (BPS) and make recommendations for action as needed. The assessment process enables BPS users, owners, and operators to systematically document and communicate their operational preparations for the coming season and exchange vital system reliability information.…

2014 Long-Term Reliability Assessment

The 2014 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (2014LTRA) is a report that provides a wide-area perspective on the adequacy of the generation, demand-side resources, and transmission systems necessary to meet system reliability needs over the next decade. This assessment includes NERC’s independent identification of issues that may impact the reliability of the North American Bulk-Power System (BPS) to provide industry, regulators, and policy makers with adequate time to address or otherwise develop plans to mitigate potential reliability impacts caused by these issues. This assessment also documents current industry plans to maintain reliability during the next decade, advising regulators, policy makers, and the …

The Economic and Reliability Benefits of CSP with Thermal Energy Storage: Literature Review and Research Needs

First published in 2012, this revised and expanded technical report incorporates the latest research on the economic and reliability benefits of CSP with thermal energy storage and serves as a comprehensive guide to understanding the design and operational attributes of CSP plants with thermal energy storage. The report is intended for utilities, regulators, grid operators and policy makers, and presents a framework for more informed decision-making in the evaluation of competing resources to achieve better outcomes for energy consumers.…

Transforming the Grid from the Distribution System Out, The potential for dynamic distribution systems to create a new energy marketplace

The centralized system operated by utilities was not designed for the flexible load tracking required by renewables or the control of large numbers of distributed electrical energy resources. An alternative approach that holds promise is a dynamic distribution system that would take over responsibility for tracking loads and smoothing intermittent renewable energy generation from the utilities. While significant new control technologies are needed to manage these energy flows, much of the requisite research, discussed herein, expands on the basic features of current microgrid technology developed through the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS) which enables the autonomous control of …

Quantifying the Operational Benefits of Conventional and Advanced Pumped Storage Hydro on Reliability and Efficiency

Pumped storage hydro (PSH) plants have significant potential in providing reliability and efficiency benefits in future electric power systems. New PSH technologies, like adjustable speed PSH, have also been introduced and can present further benefits. An understanding of these benefits on systems with high penetrations of variable generation (VG) is a primary focus. This paper will demonstrate and quantify some of the reliability and efficiency benefits afforded by pumped storage hydro plants utilizing the Flexible Energy Scheduling Tool for Integrating Variable generation (FESTIV), an integrated power system operations tool which evaluates both reliability and production costs. A description about the …

Physical Security of the U.S. Power Grid: High-Voltage Transformer Substations

In the United States, the electric power grid consists of over 200,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines interspersed with hundreds of large electric power transformers. High voltage (HV) transformer units make up less than 3% of transformers in U.S. power substations, but they carry 60%-70% of the nation’s electricity. Because they serve as vital nodes and carry bulk volumes of electricity, HV transformers are critical elements of the nation’s electric power grid. HV transformers are also the most vulnerable to intentional damage from malicious acts. Recent security exercises, together with a 2013 physical attack on transformers in Metcalf, CA, have …

Reliable & Resilient: The Value of Our Existing Coal Fleet – An Assessment of Measures to Improve Reliability & Efficiency While Reducing Emissions

Large Power Transformers and the U.S. Electric Grid

Grid Security Exercise (GridEx II): After-Action Report