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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There are many new demands being placed on the electric grid, the nation’s network of power plants, long-distance high-voltage transmission lines, and local low-voltage distribution wires. The grid is increasingly being used differently than before. We now have distributed generation (numerous scattered small-scale producers of electricity); smart grids (digital monitoring of electrical flows); microgrids (small-scale electrical networks able to be isolated from the grid); demand response (payments or credits to customers who cut their electricity use at critical times); energy efficiency (using less electricity) and energy storage (holding electricity for release at later critical times). In addition, we have competition …
View Full ResourceEarlier this year, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) issued an “initial reliability review” in which it identified elements of EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan that could lead to reliability concerns. One of the issues identified by NERC was the challenge of integrating variable renewable resources, such as wind and solar, into the power system at the levels contemplated by the CPP.
The Advanced Energy Economy Institute commissioned The Brattle Group, a leading consulting firm to utilities and grid operators, to provide an overview of how utilities and grid operators were integrating variable renewable resources while maintaining reliable electric …
View Full ResourceCalifornia leads the nation in the transition to clean, safe, and renewable forms of electricity. The state is well on its way to supplying 33 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and is now considering a policy to get to 50 percent by 2030 — the most ambitious clean energy effort in the nation.
Ramping up renewable energy to this level is not only visionary, it’s realistic and achievable. To accomplish it, grid operators must effectively integrate an increasing amount of renewable electricity while maintaining cost-effective and reliable electricity to ratepayers.
The solutions are at hand. As …
View Full ResourceCalifornia leads the nation in the transition to clean, safe, and renewable forms of electricity. The state is well on its way to supplying 33 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 and is now considering a policy to get to 50 percent by 2030—the most ambitious clean energy effort in the nation.
Satisfying half of California’s electricity needs with renewable energy is not only visionary, but also necessary to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and air pollution. Fortunately, this goal is also achievable. As the state plans for this clean electricity …
View Full ResourceReliable, affordable electricity is critical to our well-being and essential to modern life. But today, threats to the reliability of the power grid are numerous: cyber-attacks, weather, and accidents. Fortunately, the most significant threat is also the most avoidable—bad policy. Federal and state policies are already increasing electricity bills around the country, and the worst effects are yet to come. The federal government, and particularly the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is promulgating regulations that will reduce the reliability of the power grid with little thought of the consequences. In fact, these policies threaten to take offline 130 gigawatts of reliable …
View Full ResourceAcross the US, efforts to accelerate the modernization of the nation’s electric grid are progressing, with more than 300 Recovery Act funded projects supporting a wide range of initiatives to improve the reliability, resiliency and security of the grid, help consumers become more energy efficient, and enable the growth of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power currently underway.
The projects, which received $4.167 billion in funding and are managed by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, address a wide range of grid modernization needs, including demonstrating the use and benefits of advanced …
View Full ResourceThe power sector is in the midst a profound transition. Myriad climate policies at nearly all levels of government, including the landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), have incentivized the accelerated adoption of low-and zero-emission energy resources. These policies have sped along sectoral shifts already underway due to changing market conditions, plummeting renewables prices, and the replacement of aging coal-fired power plants with cheaper, more efficient resources. Meanwhile, the electric grid faces increasing vulnerability from climate change impacts that have become unavoidable, in addition to projected future increases in electricity demand. Both the structure and operation of our electric grid …
View Full ResourceTraditionally, mini grids have been viewed as “off-grid” systems that are built and operated solely for communities without electricity. The reality, however, is that millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and India who are connected to the main grid suffer from poor grid reliability (“weak grid”), sometimes with a power supply of less than 4 to 8 hours daily and with frequent disputes over the accuracy of billing. As a backstop, these poorly served customers often find themselves forced to rely on small fossil fuel–powered generators that are noisy, polluting, and expensive to operate.
“Mini Grid Solutions for Underserved Customers: …
View Full ResourceThe Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed “111 rules” restricting greenhouse gas emissions have sparked debate about whether they will create consequences that threaten grid reliability. However, rather than raising new concerns, these objections principally raise issues already facing the power sector. The Inflation Reduction Act has made low-carbon resources including wind, solar, and storage the cheapest new resources in the U.S., but system planners worry we cannot add them fast enough to make up for fossil retirements. New Energy Innovation research details the potential impacts of the EPA rules, investigates their effects on the electricity system, and evaluates potential changes …
View Full ResourceThis year’s State of Reliability (SOR) is comprised of two publications: the 2023 State of Reliability Overview, which is a high-level summary of the important findings, and this 2023 State of Reliability Technical Assessment, which provides NERC’s detailed comprehensive and annual technical review of BPS reliability for the 2022 operating (calendar) year.
The 2023 State of Reliability Overview replaces the executive summary normally found in NERC reports. This 2023 State of Reliability Technical Assessment provides detailed descriptions of key findings and key occurrences for 2022 along with in-depth analysis of risks and resilience, grid transformation, grid performance, and the status …
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