The Rise of Clean Energy Microgrids & Why They Make Sense

Interest is rising in clean energy microgrids, especially within healthcare, higher education, government and business.

What’s the attraction? All microgrids offer greater electric reliability. But the clean energy microgrid does more. It also reduces carbon emissions and helps organizations reach sustainability goals – an achievement increasingly valued by the healthcare community, business customers, government constituents, and college students, parents and donors.…

Discussion Summary: A Reliable Grid Relies on Coal

U.S. Representative Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN-8) hosted a Discussion at OurEnergyPolicy.org (OEP) on his bill, the Electricity Reliability and Fuel Security Act (H.R. 5270). Below is a summary of the perspectives offered by OEP’s diverse community of energy professionals.

“The national and economic security of the nation depends on the availability of reliable and affordable electricity. This legislation will continue to ensure that Americans will have secure electricity when they need it most.”

– Representative Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN-8)…

Microgrids: A review of technologies, key drivers, and outstanding issues

Microgrids are now emerging from lab benches and pilot demonstration sites into commercial markets, driven by technological improvements, falling costs, a proven track record, and growing recognition of their benefits. They are being used to improve reliability and resilience of electrical grids, to manage the addition of distributed clean energy resources like wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) generation to reduce fossil fuel emissions, and to provide electricity in areas not served by centralized electrical infrastructure. This review article (1) explains what a microgrid is, and (2) provides a multi-disciplinary portrait of today’s microgrid drivers, real-world applications, challenges, and future prospects.…

Issue Brief: FERC’s Decision on the DOE’s Proposed Grid Resilience Rule

This issue brief provides a summary of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)’s decision
on the Department of Energy (DOE)’s Proposed Rule on Grid Reliability and Resilience Pricing. The
proposed rule provided cost recovery to coal and nuclear power under the guise of promoting grid
resilience with preference for a 90-day supply of on-site fuel. On Jan. 8, 2018, FERC issued an order
to terminate the rulemaking proceeding and established a new proceeding to gather additional
information on resilience. FERC’s decision was a 5-0 unanimous agreement, with concurring
opinions by Commissioners Cheryl LaFleur, Neil Chatterjee and Richard Glick. The independent…

Digitizing the Grid: Next Steps on Policy

Digitization means applying recent advances in digital technology such as electronic devices or data and information systems, to improve the technical and economic performance of real activities, systems, businesses, and organizations. The Bipartisan Policy Center launched the Digitizing the Power Sector initiative to better understand the challenges and opportunities of digitization as applied to one of our nation’s most complex and vital infrastructure systems: the electricity grid.

The electric power sector is changing rapidly, enabled by digitization. Government officials at all levels are grappling with how to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs. The goal of this paper is …

Final Report to the National Energy Technology Laboratory on FY14- FY15 Cooperative Research with the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions

The Power System Engineering Research Center (PSERC) engages in technological, market, and policy research for an efficient, secure, resilient, adaptable, and economic U.S. electric power system. PSERC, as a founding partner of the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS), conducted a multi-year program of research for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) to develop new methods, tools, and technologies to protect and enhance the reliability and efficiency of the U.S. electric power system as competitive electricity market structures evolve, and as the grid moves toward wide-scale use of decentralized generation (such as …

North American Supergrid: Transforming Electricity Transmission

The North American Supergrid is a proposed nodal high voltage direct current (HVDC), largely underground transmission network that would extend across the lower 48 states, thus creating a national electricity market. The Supergrid would create a resilient backbone to the existing system and make clean renewable energy competitive with fossil fuel-generated energy in open markets. Adding the Supergrid atop the existing regional alternating current distribution system would provide the flexibility and reliability that would enable expanded use of electricity across the economy, without altering how electricity is currently
used in homes or businesses. This would also afford electromagnetic pulse (EMP) …

Integrating reliability-must-run practices into wholesale electricity markets

In grid-integrated wholesale power markets operated by independent system operators and regional transmission organizations (simply referred to here as ISOs), the reliability of the bulk power system is a necessary foundation for the market’s efficient operation. However, at times, reliability practices can inadvertently work to undermine market efficiency. One such practice is the use of reliability-must-run (RMR) agreements to keep a retiring generator in service to meet reliability standards. The effect of such rules is often to bias investment toward the cost-of-service regulated transmission grid and away from the market-driven generator and competitive retail sectors. The result is a less …

Evaluation of the DOE’s Proposed Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule

Brattle Principals Metin Celebi, Judy Chang, Marc Chupka, Sam Newell, and Ira Shavel authored a report that supported comments a diverse coalition of energy companies submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in response to Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (DOE NOPR). The NOPR would place eligible coal and nuclear units under cost-of-service tariffs within regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) with energy and capacity markets.

The report which was filed with the comment on October 23, 2017, noted that:

There is no evidence demonstrating that RTOs/ISOs need to subsidize resources with

Department of Energy. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking – Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule

Pursuant to section 403 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (DOE Act), the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) is proposing a rule for final action by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC). The Secretary is proposing the Commission exercise its authority under sections 205 and 206 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), to establish just and reasonable rates on Commission-approved independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission organizations (RTOs) to ensure that certain reliability and resilience attributes of electric generation resources are fully valued. The Secretary is directing the Commission to take final action on this proposal within …