Panel Session: Organizing Research Consortia

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A Consortium for Electric Reliability
Research Under Competition

• Panel Session Organizing Research Consortia
• Presented to IEEE Power Engineering Society
  Summer Meeting
• Chicago, Illinois
• July 24, 2002
• Presented by Philip N. Overholt
• Program Manager, Transmission Reliability
• US Department of Energy
• philip.overholt_at_ee.doe.gov

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Transmission Reliability Program

• Background
• Western outages (1996)
• California price spikes (1998)
• Midwest price excursions (1998)
• Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) report
  on Electric System Reliability (commissioned in
  response to 1996 Western Outages)
• Recommendation assure no gaps in reliability
  technology RD

3
Transmission Reliability Program

• Implementation
• Congress directed (FY 1999 Appropriations) DOE to
  support a national laboratory/electricity
  industry partnership to conduct research on
  reliability of the Nations electricity
  infrastructure
• The Consortium for Electric Reliability
  Technology Solutions (CERTS) was formed as the
  partnership

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Consortium For Electric Reliability Technology
Solutions

• The members of CERTS include
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Electric Power Group
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC)
• Sandia National Laboratories
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• The members of PSERC currently performing work
  for DOE include
• Cornell University
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• University of California-Berkeley
• Washington State University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Carnegie-Mellon University

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Transmission Reliability Program

• Mission
• Develop technologies and policy options that
  will contribute to maintaining and enhancing the
  reliability of the Nations electricity delivery
  system during the transition to competitive power
  markets.

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Transmission Reliability Program

• Implementation Approach
• Projects were planned and developed consistent
  with
• Results of two electric industry leaders
  workshops
• RD needs of other potential reliability research
  funders (including EPRI, California Energy
  Commission, National Science Foundation)
• Activities are organized under five major areas
• Real-Time Grid Reliability Management
• Reliability and Markets
• Distributed Energy Resource Integration
• Reliability Technology Issues and Needs
  Assessment
• Load as a Resource

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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs

• Multi-disciplinary approach
• Balance of near and long term RD
• Independent, third-party analysis

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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs

• Multi-disciplinary Approach to Address the Issues
• Power Engineering
• Economics
• Regulatory
• Computing, communications and control
• Institutional and environmental

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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs

• National Transmission Grid Study Issue Papers
• Transmission System Operation and Interconnection
• Reliability Management and Oversight
• Alternative Business Models for Transmission
  Investment and Operation
• Transmission Planning and the Need for New
  Capacity
• Transmission Siting and Permitting
• Advanced Transmission Technologies

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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs

• Balance of Near and Long Term RD
• Near
• Create real time monitoring tools with
  visualization using existing SCADA
• Adapt interruptible load to respond to markets
• Extend use of existing Wide Area Measurement
  System
• Long
• Examine feasibility of real time control and
  creation of the smart grid
• Design and control of smart microgrids

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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs
Research and Funding Balances
Public/Private Partners
Government
Cost Sharing s
Development
Applied Research
Field Evaluation
Time
University
National Laboratory
Private Sector
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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs

• Third-Party, Independent Analysis Under
  Competition
• Present technically-based policy options to
  decision makers
• Analyze market design impacts on obtaining energy
  and ancillary services
• Formulate/analyze an incentive framework to
  expand transmission system
• Investigate optional market designs to operate
  transmission

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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs

• Program Administration
• Common understanding for program planning under
  restructuring
• National laboratory option for subcontracting and
  project management
• Internal peer review of consortiums research
  products
• DOE/NSF interagency grant reduces transaction
  costs

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Elements of a Consortium to Match Research Needs

• University Sub-consortium
• Projects draw expertise from various fields of
  power research
• Offers self-organizing teams for a power
  engineering, economic, regulatory team approach
  from within and across universities
• Brings experience and knowledge from other
  industry-sponsored projects
• Allows DOE to invest in educating power engineers
  and researchers for the power system of the future

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Summary

• The laboratory/university/industry consortium
• Provides multi-disciplinary RD approach required
  today
• Supports RD from applied research through field
  evaluation
• Allows third-party analysis in the competitive
  environment