Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience

The Supply Risks and Resilience of Biofuels

Biofuels have been evaluated based on their greenhouse gas emissions, costs, and potential scale of production. Here we argue that the resilience against supply risks should be considered in addition to these previously-proposed metrics for evaluating the scalability potential of transportation biofuels1. Biofuels rely on agricultural production as their key input, which is subject to various risks. A risky supply in conjunction with a highly inelastic demand for transportation fuels can cause price fluctuations, profit volatility, and quantitative shortages which imply negative consequences for biofuels firms, the biofuels industry, and consumers. Thus, it is an important issue both at the …

Severe Impact Resilience: Considerations and Recommendations

The North American bulk power system (BPS) is one of the most critical of infrastructures, vital to society in many ways, but it is not immune to severe disruptions that could threaten the health, safety, or economic well‐being of the citizens it serves. The electric power industry has well established planning and operating procedures in place to address “normal” emergency events (e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms) that occur from time to time and disrupt electric reliability. However, the electricity industry has much less experience with planning for and responding to high‐impact events that have a low probability of occurring.

To …

Climate Pragmatism: Innovation, Resilience, and No Regrets

Climate Pragmatism, a new policy report released July 26th by the Hartwell group, details an innovative strategy to restart global climate efforts after the collapse of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. This pragmatic strategy centers on efforts to accelerate energy innovation, build resilience to extreme weather, and pursue no regrets pollution reduction measures — three efforts that each have their own diverse justifications independent of their benefits for climate mitigation and adaptation. As such, Climate Pragmatism offers a framework for renewed American leadership on climate change that’s effectiveness, paradoxically, does not depend on any agreement …

Advanced Dynamic Programming for Optimal Microgrid Energy Management Under RER Intermittency

This article explores energy planning and management in microgrids using Advanced Dynamic Programming (ADP) to address uncertainties in solar and wind power generation. Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) are employed to accurately estimate the fluctuations of renewable resources, ensuring a stable and efficient energy management strategy. The proposed approach focuses on optimizing the logistical management of batteries and distributed generation, enhancing microgrid efficiency in power integration while maintaining economic feasibility. MATLAB-based simulations validate the effectiveness of this method, demonstrating key benefits such as reduced curtailment of renewable generation and improved system reliability. A major advantage of ADP is its rapid implementation, …

Optimal Energy Management in Multi Energy Microgrid with Combined Heat and Power System and Demand Side Response Integration

Renewable energy sources are gaining prominence due to their sustainability, low environmental footprint, and potential to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. However, their intermittent and unpredictable nature presents significant challenges for reliable energy supply. A promising solution lies in integrating multiple energy carriers, such as electricity and gas, to enhance system resilience, efficiency, and sustainability. This study presents a Multi-Energy Microgrid (MEMG) architecture featuring a DC electricity bus and a heat bus. The DC bus integrates photovoltaic (PV) panels, batteries, and a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit, while the heat bus connects to the gas supply network through boilers, …

Resilient by Design

Electric utilities face mounting challenges from electrification, climate resilience, and affordability concerns. U.S. investor-owned utilities’ capital expenditures have increased from $136.6 billion in 2021 to $167.8 billion, projected for 2023, with 36% of those capital expenditures allocated towards adaptation, hardening, and resilience, on average. Despite this, storm-related outages still cost the U.S. $64.8 billion annually, and a projected $500 billion gap remains in capital to fully harden generation, transmission, and distribution systems against climate threats through 2050.

Utilities are evolving their distribution system planning (DSP) processes to include resilience, decarbonization, and affordability due to extreme weather threats to the grid. …

Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2024

Renewables continue to prove themselves as the most cost-competitive source of new electricity generation. On an LCOE basis, 91% of newly commissioned utility-scale renewable capacity delivered power at a lower cost than the cheapest new fossil fuel-based alternative. In 2024, renewables helped avoid USD 467 billion in fossil fuel costs, reinforcing their role in enhancing energy security, economic resilience, and long-term affordability.…

Characteristics and Risks of Emerging Large Loads

Electricity is a key component of the fabric of modern society and the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) Enterprise serves to strengthen that fabric. The vision for the ERO Enterprise, which is comprised of NERC and the six Regional Entities, is a highly reliable, resilient, and secure North American bulk power system (BPS). Our mission is to assure the effective and efficient reduction of risks to the reliability and security of the grid.…

Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2024

Total installed costs for renewable power decreased by more than 10% for all technologies between 2023 and 2024, except for offshore wind, where they remained relatively stable, and bioenergy, where they increased by 16%. Nevertheless, the combination of capacity factors, market share, and financing costs led to a slight increase in the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for some technologies: solar PV by 0.6%, onshore wind by 3%, offshore wind by 4%, and bioenergy by 13%. Meanwhile, costs declined for CSP (-46%), geothermal (-16%), and hydropower (-2%).

Renewables continue to prove themselves as the most cost-competitive source of new electricity …