GRID MODERNIZATION –

DOE ACTIVITIES Jay Caspary, Senior Policy Advisor

U.S. DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability

“We have a power grid that wastes

too much energy.” – President Obama 1/24/12

Outline

Rapid Response Team for Transmission

Interconnection-wide Transmission Planning

Grid Tech Team (GTT) Initiative

Concluding Remarks about Transmission

Rapid Response Team for Transmission

The federal Rapid Response Team for Transmission (RRTT) continues its dual mission:

1) Near Term: to work with 7 pilot projects to capture lessons learned and best practices regarding transmission permitting and siting processes

2) Long Term: to implement institutional changes to transform the way transmission is sited and permitted

The purpose is to improve efficiencies and communication among federal agencies, as well as with state, local, and tribal governments on current and future transmission projects.

RRTT Projects

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RRTT Status Update

The RRTT’s functions now fall under a larger umbrella set up through the President’s Executive Order on Infrastructure Permitting (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/22/executive-order-improving-performance-federal-permitting-and-review-infr) and have recently included the following:

Weekly coordination calls with pilot project managers and resource agency field staff

Monthly coordination calls with pilot project applicants

DOE’s work on regulation implementing Section 216(h) of the Federal Power Act which is intended to improve the efficiency of Federal review and permitting for interstate transmission projects.

Transparency of transmission permitting through the ETrans website: http://doe-etrans.us/

Transmission Training for RRTT staff

Consideration of Lean Six Sigma to find efficiencies in internal processes

Implementation of the West Wide Energy Corridor Litigation Settlement Agreement over the next twelve months through a BLM/FS/DOE working group, including gathering stakeholder input to refine, add, and delete corridors to improve their utility for project developers, government agencies, and other participants.

Highlights from Interconnection-wide

Planning Studies – East

Two new organizations established: Industry-based Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC), and state-based Eastern Interconnection States Planning Council (EISPC)

Key products:

First-ever rollup of 10-year plans prepared by Interconnection’s 26 Planning Authorities

Phase 1 report: 8 20-year macro-economic futures, with 72 sensitivity cases

Phase 2 report (in prep): 3 detailed 20-year transmission build-out scenarios

Eastern “EZ mapper” tool – an electronic energy resource atlas that states and others can use to analyze possible energy zones, transmission routes, pipeline routes, etc

Highlights from Interconnection-wide

Planning Studies – West

Builds on earlier work by Western Electricity Coordinating

Council (WECC) and Western Governors Association (WGA)

Key products:

2011WECC 10-Year Regional Transmission Plan

2013 WECC 10- and 20-Year Regional Transmission Plans (in prep)

Creation of West-wide environmental and water consumption

information for use in transmission planning analyses

Creation of a GIS-based long-term capital expansion planning

tool

Highlights from Interconnection-wide

Planning Studies – ERCOT

Key products:

Improved tools for evaluation of resource and transmission

expansion futures and options

BAU resource expansion future and related sensitivities

More robust stakeholder participation process (under development)

Incorporation of demand-side resources, solar and geothermal

resources, storage technologies, and electric vehicles into ERCOT’s

long-term planning tools and processes (under development)

GTT Vision of the Future Grid

A seamless, cost-effective electricity system, from generation to end-use, capable of meeting all clean energy demands and capacity requirements, while allowing consumer participation and electricity use as desired:

Significant scale-up of clean energy (renewables, natural gas, nuclear, fossil with CCUS)

Allows 100% consumer participation and choice (including distributed generation, demand-side management, electrification of transportation, and energy efficiency)

100% holistically designed (including regional diversity, AC-DC hybrid configurations, and centralized-decentralized control)

Accommodates two-way flows of energy and information

Reliable, secure, and resilient

GTT Modernization Drivers & Strategy

DOE GTT Strategic Levers

Critical DOE Roles

Convener of diverse stakeholders

Aggregator and disseminator of unbiased information

Provider of technical expertise and analytical capabilities

Key Elements of GTT Strategy

RD&D activities are focused on overcoming the technical challenges identified through workshops on grid challenges

Initiatives are focused on overcoming the institutional challenges identified through workshops on grid challenges

Regional engagements are extensions of initiatives that require recognition of regional differences and sensitivities to State and local jurisdictions

Holistic Systems Perspective

Institutional issues and solutions must be considered in conjunction with these technical challenges

Strategic Framework

Visibility to

“see” an event

Understanding

to “know” what

is happening

Flexibility to

“do” something

appropriate in

response

Potential Grid Modernization Goals

Visibility Goals

Deployment of PMU functionality at all substations > 230 kV

Visibility of whole interconnection to appropriate control rooms at PMU rates

Increase deployment of sensors (including AMI) on distribution feeders

Energy use data will be accessible to utilities and customers

Understanding Goals

Harmonized and accessible databases of grid assets for planning and operation

Development of operator and planning tools that utilize improved methodologies

(stochastics, forecasting, parallel processing, etc.)

Development and validation of models for new technologies and systems integration

Development of advanced energy/distribution/outage management systems

Flexibility Goals

Increase deployment of power controllers on the transmission system

Increase deployment of controllers/smart devices on distribution feeders

Expand the use of demand side resources to provide flexibility

Expand the use and capabilities of thermal units to provide flexibility

GTT Near-Term Priorities

Initiatives

Improving Situational Awareness (Visibility)

Planning Database Standardization (Understanding, Visibility)

RD&D Activities

Grid Metrics Development (Understanding)

Electricity Systems Hub (All)

Next Generation Tools and Data for Distribution Systems (All)

Interface Tools for Advanced Grid Modeling (Understanding)

Advanced Power Flow and Protection (Flexibility)

GTT Next Steps and Summary

Next Steps

Proceed with near-term initiatives, associated regional

engagements, and workshops on grid challenges

Summary

Utilizing the convening power of government, the

capabilities and expertise within DOE, and targeted

RD&D investments and initiatives, we will build

collaborations and catalyze the industry to enhance the

visibility, understanding, and flexibility of the electric

power system to achieve the vision of the future grid

Transmission…

represents only a fraction of a consumers total energy bill (5-10%)

enables and defines markets

can no longer be an undervalued asset since it provides tremendous

benefits in reducing congestion costs, lowering capacity margins,

improving the value of diverse/variable resources, enhancing grid

efficiencies and dynamic performance

outages to perform rebuilds can be very costly to consumers, well

beyond E&C costs

is aging infrastructure in existing ROWs that could provide

tremendous value and capability as it is replaced and “rightsized”,

where appropriate

Concluding Remarks

Aging of the bulk power system’s infrastructure is both a threat

and an opportunity.

Proactive steps are required to get the best lines in the best

corridors.

A process is needed that will identify key corridors through sound

analytics based on good data.

DOE is taking steps to facilitate better models and broader

planning consistent with its charter and FERC Order 1000 while

leveraging existing institutions and processes

Standardization should start with industry adopted unique

substation naming conventions for bulk power supply facilities to

facilitate consistency across various applications and tools.

Concluding Remarks (con’t)

To facilitate more effective long range planning, equipment

condition (remaining life) and corridor capabilities for critical

facilities needs to be collected.

Standardization of data is key not only for improved

operations and planning, but also better research, innovation

and more efficient and effective markets.

Development of a solid bulk power industry dataset is a critical

first step toward creation of better performance metrics and

tools needed to design and manage the 21st century electric

system.