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DOE Office of Electric Transmission & Distribution (OETD)

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Back in March, we thought announcements were imminent. (See UFTO Note ? T&D R&D Gaining Attention, 21 Mar 2003.) Little did we realize the kinds of struggles that would ensue internally in DOE over which people, programs and budgets would be won or lost by which office. The new office started its work nonetheless, judging from numerous appearances by its chief, Jimmy Glotfelty, and several planning and roadmapping meetings over the spring and summer. And the dust has settled internally.

OETD officially “stood up” on August 10, but the big August 14th blackout made for awkward timing for a press release–none has been issued. (In fact, until an appropriations bill passes, I’m told they aren’t actually officially “up”.)

A new website quietly appeared on August 21. If offers a first cut at describing the Office and its scope of responsibilities and giving links to planning documents:

http://www.electricity.doe.gov/

[This site has a good compendium of information on the blackout, however for the 12 Sept announcement of the release of a report on the events sequence, go to the DOE home page, www.energy.gov.]

**National Electric Delivery Technologies Vision and Roadmap**
There’ve been two major meetings this year, one in April and one in July. In chronological order:

~~~
April 2003 Vision Meeting Proceedings (PDF 1.1 MB)
[65 people attended, of whom only 8 represented utilities]
http://www.energetics.com/meetings/electric/pdfs/presentations/proceedings.pdf

Results of the April meeting are given in this vision document**. [The results of the July meeting will be reported in a few more weeks.]:

“Grid 2030” — “A National Vision for Electricity’s Second 100 Years,
A CALL FOR LEADERSHIP”

**DOE’s National Electric Vision Document
(Final version, July 31, 2003) (PDF 1.2 MB)
http://www.energetics.com/meetings/electric/pdfs/electric_vision.pdf

~~~
Proceedings for National Electric Delivery Technologies Roadmap,
July 8-9, 2003 (PDF 1.0 MB)
[About 20 utilities were represented, with less than 40 people out of 200 participants.]
http://www.energetics.com/meetings/electric/pdfs/proceedings.pdf

~~~
Glotfelty’s kickoff presentation July 8:
“Transforming the Grid to Revolutionize Electric Power in North America”
http://www.electricity.doe.gov/documents/glotfelty roadmap opening 07 08 03.pdf

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No personnel are identified on the new website (other than Gotfelty and Bill Parks, Assistant Director), and no org charts shown. The most complete descriptions of the programs appear in a series of factsheets:
http://www.electricity.doe.gov/documents/
http://www.electricity.doe.gov/documents/OETD_factsheet.pdf

The work of OETD follows these earlier developments: (see reliability program materials at http://www.eere.energy.gov/der/transmission/)

— The National Energy Policy (May 2001) calls for the Department of Energy to address constraints in electric transmission and relieve bottlenecks.

— The National Transmission Grid Study (May 2002) contains 51 recommendations for accomplishing the President’s National Energy Policy and speeding the pace of the transition to competitive regional electricity markets.

— The Transmission Grid Solutions Report (September 2002) provides guidance for priority actions to address congestion on “national interest” transmission corridors.

OETD conducts research in several areas:
–High-Temperature Superconductivity
–Electric Distribution Transformation
–Energy Storage
–Transmission Reliability

One participant at the July meeting told me he thought that DOE seems to be in the thrall of superconductors and other mega-technology solutions, and giving short shrift to distributed generation, microgrids, and other common sense approaches.

As for budget, through the end of Sept (FY03), OETD is operating on funds already committed to the programs that were brought in. Of roughly $85 Million in FY’03, high temperature superconductors have $40 M, and $27M was subject to Congressional earmarks. The FY04 budget request has a new line item for electric power infrastructure, and hopefully will provide more resources in FY05) explicitly for transmission reliability. Another observer said that the future program will be more balanced as a result.

The R&D plan is based on a 3-level architecture:
1. “Supergrid”, or coast to coast backbone for power exchange. (superconducting)
2. RegionGrid
3. CityGrid, ultimately involving fully integrated 2-way power flow, microgrids, etc.

Planning and analysis tools are needed at all 3 levels. The Supergrid is a longer term goal, operational perhaps in 10-15 years. Other near term elements include sensors, storage, and DC systems.

Virtual Utility Technology License Available

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The “Virtual Utility” (VU) concept provides intelligent coordination and aggregation of distributed resources through web-based connectivity. ABB developed an extensive portfolio of technology and IP which is now being made available for license, as an “enabler” in distributed generation markets. This comes as a result of the company’s recent move to tighten its business focus.

The ABB VU technology is centered on an internet-accessible control center by which clients or aggregates of clients can intelligently monitor and control distributed resource assets. Both distributed generation (DG) and distributed storage assets can be connected by the VU into a single highly flexible integrated power resource.

Both utilities and large consumers of energy will use the VU. Once commercialized, the VU can be sold as either an enterprise-wide “micro SCADA-like” system or as an Internet service provider where customers can call in to monitor and control their assets. The value provided by such a product could consist of any or all of the following:

– Universal monitoring ? the VU can offer the possibility of monitoring all distributed resource assets regardless of type, manufacturer, or date of manufacture.
– Power reliability ? with interconnected DG one can guarantee higher availability for important loads.
– Peak shaving ? fast dispatchable generation can avoid maximum demand surcharges and curtailment orders.
– Network optimization ? connection of DG units can be optimized to ensure the most economic and secure network; microgrids can be operated where bulk power supply reinforcement cannot be justified.
– Network safety ? protection settings can be monitored and calculated dynamically to ensure that power flows do not affect network protection parameters.
– Energy trading ? aggregated units can provide surplus energy from non-DG sources, which then can be sold.

Several business models are possible using such tools. Revenues can possibly be generated proactively ? by engaging in peak shaving, energy trading, premium power, etc. or by providing a service bureau business to allow others to access and control the DG equipment through a server that contains the required intelligent applications and communication technology. This latter arrangement relieves the customer of the responsibility of maintaining the database, updating software applications, etc. and provides the financial attractiveness of a lease rather than a purchase.

The Virtual Utility can have a significant impact on the bottom-line of a DG project or series of projects. Although the cost of the control and communication system is usually a small part of the cost of the project, its performance can be a determining factor in overall economic success. An intelligent control system can ensure the lowest energy and maintenance costs, the largest profit, the best payback, or even the greatest system reliability. It also can aggregate many small power generators into a more marketable mass.

The VU concept can be applied to both new and existing assets. As a minimum, the retrofit to existing emergency back-up generators would provide value in automatic testing and reporting. Further benefits of peak shaving and aggregation of load can also be realized depending on the VU owner.

VU also solves another serious future issue for distributed generation — the ability to connect many various distributed devices involving different technologies and manufacturers. VU thus becomes the infrastructure for all distributed resources and an enabler for market expansion.

The ABB concept is focused on low installation and operating cost, flexible control intelligence, and universal adaptability along with possible integration with existing power system assets. Low costs are achieved through technologies such as a browser based data server, wireless LAN, and the communication and control network. Control intelligence is achieved via economic planning and optimization algorithms, utilizing situation specific dispatching levels, and a hybrid central / local control logic. This platform is universally accessible to all distributed resources through intelligent electronic device configuration and information handling processes.

This intellectual property is represented by a patent portfolio, technical documentation, business model and market evaluation, and technical expertise related to hardware, software, and analytical tools. Technical assistance would be available to assist the integration of this technology into a current system or developing and commercializing a new system.

For more information, contact UFTO, if you or any company you work with might have an interest.

DOE Final POST Report on Outages

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Report of DOE’s Power Outage Study Team (POST) was released this morning.

“Findings and Recommendations to Enhance Reliability
from the Summer of 1999”

(This morning’s Wall Street Journal also broke the story.)

————————
REF: UFTO Note – DOE Power Outage Study
Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2000

The interim report was released in January, and a series of workshops were held around the country in the last week of January. Perhaps your company was represented.
————————-

This final report makes summarizes workshop findings, and makes recommendations.

It is available (pdf acrobat) at: http://www.policy.energy.gov
or the POST webpage at: http://tis.eh.doe.gov/post/

(It should be there by the end of today.)

Printed copies of the can be obtained from the department’s Office of Public Inquiries by calling 202/586-5575.

—- DOE press release —————

March 13, 2000

Energy Department Issues Recommendations to Help Prevent Power Outages

Richardson Receives Power Outage Study Team Final Report

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson today received the department’s Power Outage Study Team final report on electricity outages and system disturbances during the summer of 1999. The report contains the team’s findings and recommendations of appropriate federal actions to help enhance electric reliability, and avoid the types of problems that occurred last summer.

“While demand for electricity is soaring along with the use of computers, fax machines and other appliances in our homes, offices and factories, the reliability of our electric grid is, at times, faltering, mainly because policy makers haven’t kept pace with rapid changes in the electric utility industry,” Secretary Richardson said. “But today’s report can be a blueprint for how we will work to keep the lights on and air conditioners running in America’s cities this summer.”

The report states that competition in the electricity industry can save customers money and help with improved reliability. The institutions and practices that provided reliable electric service in the past will need to change along with ongoing economic reforms.

The report makes the following 12 recommendations, each of which includes specific action items for federal consideration:

– Promoting market-based approaches to ensure reliable electric
services;
– Enabling customer participation in competitive electricity markets;
– Removing barriers to distributed energy resources;
– Supporting mandatory reliability standards for bulk-power systems;
– Supporting reporting and sharing of information on “best practices;”
– Enhancing emergency preparedness activities for low-probability,
high-consequence events on bulk-power systems;
– Demonstrating federal leadership through promotion of best
reliability practices at federal utilities;
– Conducting public-interest reliability-related research and
development consistent with the needs of a restructuring
electric industry;
– Facilitating and empowering regional solutions to the siting of
generation and transmission facilities;
– Promoting public awareness of electric reliability issues;
– Monitoring and assessing vulnerabilities to electric power
system reliability;
– Encouraging energy efficiency as a means for enhancing reliability.

“Federal electricity legislation is an essential component of the effort to help alleviate power outages this summer,” Secretary Richardson said. “Congress must move ahead to make changes in the federal statutory framework to provide the certainty that is needed to achieve reliable electric service in competitive wholesale and retail markets.”

Secretary Richardson formed the team, made up of power system experts from the Energy Department and its national research laboratories, as well as universities, following a series of power outages that crippled parts of New York City, Chicago and other communities across the nation during the past summer.

The final report follows an interim report issued in January that described events and findings on six power outages and two additional power disturbances. The team held three technical workshops across the country to invite comment and input on the appropriate federal role to help avoid future power outages. Over 150 individuals attended one or more of the workshops and over 70 entities submitted written comments.

DOE Power Outage Study

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Power Outage Study Team (POST) Releases Interim Report

Bill Richardson initiated this effort last summer, on the heels of the various outages around the country. The team was assembled during September and went through its paces, coordinated by Paul Carrier in DOE headquarters. There’s no direct connection to the CERTS effort, though many of the same people are involved. The press release below explains all the key elements. In particular, note the workshops later this month, and the availability of the interim report in hard copy and on line. The team’s website was turned on 2 days ago, and has all the information: http://tis.eh.doe.gov/post/

Contact: Paul Carrier, 202-586-5659, paul.carrier@hq.doe.gov

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DOE PRESS RELEASE January 4, 2000

Energy Department Team Examines Summer Outage Problems in the U.S. Electric Power System

Power Outage Study Team Releases Interim Report

U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson today received an Interim Report on the department’s investigation of the power outages and disturbances that occurred last summer. The high temperatures and heavy demand strained electric systems, affecting millions of people and businesses.

“The lessons that we learned as industry and government worked together preparing for the Y2K rollover were a good step toward achieving a more reliable electric grid,” Secretary Richardson said. “However, Congress needs to pass the administration’s electricity competition legislation in order to address many of the uncertainties that exist as the industry transitions to a new restructured environment.”

The investigation’s findings warn that while the electricity industry is undergoing fundamental change, the necessary operating practices, regulatory policies, and technological tools for dealing with those changes are not yet in place to assure an acceptable level of reliability. A significant increase in electricity use, especially during times of peak demand, is stressing the electric system.

The team of academics and departmental experts, formed last September as part of the Secretary’s six-point initiative to address electric reliability concerns, investigated outages in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, the Delmarva (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) Peninsula, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Chicago, and non-outage disturbances in New England and the Mid-Atlantic States.

A final report, to be issued in March, will provide recommendations and will be followed by regional policy-level discussions across the country among industry leaders and federal, local and state government officials.

The team will be conducting a series of three technical workshops to obtain stakeholder input and comment on the Interim Report. The 38 findings detailed in the report have been grouped into five topical areas to facilitate discussion at the workshops. The workshop times, locations and primary topics are:

January 20
San Francisco, California
– Topic 1: Transition to Competitive Energy Service Markets (morning session)
– Topic 2: Regulatory Policy for Reliable Transmission and Distribution ( afternoon session)

January 25
New Orleans, Louisiana
– Topic 3: Information Resources (morning session)
– Topic 4: Operations Management and Emergency Response (afternoon session)

January 27
Newark, New Jersey
– Topic 5: Reliability Metrics, Planning, and Tracking

All interested parties are invited to register to participate in one or more of the workshops. A registration form is provided on the world wide web at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/post/.

The Interim Report is also available on that website. Printed copies of the report may be obtained from the Energy Department’s Public Reading Room at 202/586-3142.

Comments on the Report can also be submitted through January 31 via the Internet. These comments, as well as those received at the technical workshops, will help develop recommendations for the final report.

CERTS Draft White Papers – Grid of the Future

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Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS)
Grid of the Future

White Papers — August 30, 1999

Prepared for the:
Transmission Reliability Program
Office of Power Technologies
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE

Attached are the six DRAFT white papers prepared for the CERTS program by the various participants (labs and others), which have been made available to UFTO for review and comment. These were presented at an invitational workshop last Friday Sept. 17. Apparently Hurricane Floyd dampened the attendance but not the enthusiasm.

Plans are to close the written comment period at the end of the month, finalize the white papers, and then use them to develop a multi-year research plan for DOE.

Comments should be directed to:
Joe Eto, LBNL, 510-486-7284, JHEto@lbl.gov

(The six papers are together in a single zipped folder/directory. If you have trouble downloading or unzipping, I can supply them as word documents instead–total 2 MB)

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1. scenario300899.doc

The Federal Role in Electric System Reliability RD&D During a Time of Industry Transition: An Application of Scenario Analysis; Joseph Eto, LBNL

—————–
2. integdr030999.doc

Interconnection and Controls for Reliable, Large Scale Integration of Distributed Energy Resources; Vikram Budhraja, Carlos Martinez, Jim Dyer, Mohan Kondragunta, Edison Technology Solutions

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3. rcntevnt010999.doc

Review of Recent Reliability Issues and System Events;
John F. Hauer, Jeff E. Dagle, PNNL

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4. bulkpowr070999.doc

Review of the Structure of Bulk Power Markets;
Brendan J. Kirby and John D. Kueck, ORNL

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5. realtime300899.doc

Real-Time Security Monitoring and Control of Power Systems; G. Gross (UIUC), A. Bose (WSU), C. DeMarco (UWM), M. Pai (UIUC), J. Thorp (Cornell U) and P. Varaiya (UCB) PSERC

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6. uncertai010999.doc

Accommodating Uncertainty in Planning and Operations;
M. Ivey, A. Akhil, D. Robinson, J. Stamp, K. Stamber, Sandia, K. Chu, PNNL

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
(Excerpt from:
UFTO Note – CERTS-New DOE Prog in Elec. Reliability, 01 Mar 1999)

FY 99 activities for DOE include work in five areas, the first of
which is:

“Grid of the Future”

The first year of a two year planning study to identify emerging gaps in reliability technology R&D. In the first year, CERTS will lay the groundwork for the development of a federal R&D roadmap by preparing six white papers, which will be the basis for industry-wide stakeholder workshops on:

(1) alternative scenarios for the future of the electric power system, including a detailed articulation of the technological assumptions underlying each of these futures;

(2) assessment of the technology and control R&D needs for widespread integration of distributed resources;

(3) recent reliability issues review, including in-depth analysis of technological and institutional aspects of recent reliability events (e.g., summer 1996 WSCC events; winter 1997 northeast ice storms; winter 1998 San Francisco outage, etc.);

(4) review and assessment of the current structure of U.S. bulk power markets and provision of reliability services (including 1998 price spikes in mid-west and west, and absence of meaningful opportunities for demand response);

(5) assessment of the technology and control R&D needs for real time system control;

(6) assessment of the treatment of uncertainty in planning and operational models.

CERTS – New DOE Prog in Elec. Reliability

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The Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS) has been tasked by DOE to undertake a major new $2.5 million program in electric power system reliability research and technology development. (Congress re-established a budget for Transmission Reliability research in FY 1999, in DOE’s newly renamed “Office of Power Technologies” (OPT), formerly called the Office of Utility Technologies, under Deputy Assistant Secretary, Dan Adamson.)

The members of CERTS include:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Edison Technology Solutions (ETS)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC)
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL).
The program is an important element in DOE_s response to the recommendations and findings of the SEAB Task Force on Electric System Reliability final report. (See UFTO Note, Oct 8, 1998, or go to: http://www.hr.doe.gov/seab.)

PSERC is a group of universities that have formed a cross-disciplinary team dedicated to solving the challenges arising from power system restructuring. It’s worth a visit to their website at: http://www.pserc.wisc.edu.

CERTS organizers are committed to a high degree of involvement by stakeholders. In particular, there will be a Technical Advisory Committee (see below), and numerous opportunities to participate in the research itself. A website is in preparation to provide public access to program details and developments.

KEY CONTACTS:

Joe Eto, LBNL, Program Office Manager for the Consortium
jheto@lbl.gov, 510-486-7284

Phil Overholt, DOE/OPT, T&D Reliability Program Manager
philip.overholt@ee.doe.gov, 202-586-8110

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Introduction and Overview–(excerpted from CERTS proposal)

The U.S. electric power system is in transition from one that has been centrally planned and controlled to one that will be increasingly dependent on competitive market forces to determine its operation and expansion. Unique features of electric power, including the need to match supply and demand in real-time, the interconnected networks over which power flows, and the rapid propagation of disturbances throughout the grid pose unique challenges that are likely to be exacerbated in the future. As the physical events of 1996 and the market events of 1998 demonstrate, the reliability of the grid and the integrity of the markets it supports are integral to the economic well-being of the nation.

The Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS) was formed to develop and commercialize new methods, tools, and technologies to protect and enhance the reliability of the U.S. electric power system under the emerging competitive electricity market structure.

CERTS organizes its activities under four major areas: (1) Reliability Technology Issues and Needs Assessment; (2) Real Time System Control; (3) Integration of Distributed Technologies; and (4) Reliability and Markets. The first area encompasses strategic planning; the remaining three areas involve research and technology development. (See individual projects described below).

CERTS Organization

LBNL operates a Program Office for CERTS with day-to-day responsibilities for managing CERTS projects and activities acting under direction from the Management Steering Committee.

ETS operates a Commercialization Office for CERTS with responsibilities for preparing commercialization plans and, when appropriate, implementing commercialization activities for CERTS projects and activities.

CERTS is also working with DOE to create a Technical Advisory Committee, consisting of 10+ industry stakeholders and experts to review the activities of the consortium and provide guidance on research direction.

FY 99 activities for DOE include work in five areas

1. Grid of the Future

The first year of a two year planning study to identify emerging gaps in reliability technology R&D. In the first year, CERTS will lay the groundwork for the development of a federal R&D roadmap by preparing six white papers, which will be the basis for industry-wide stakeholder workshops on: (1) alternative scenarios for the future of the electric power system, including a detailed articulation of the technological assumptions underlying each of these futures; (2) assessment of the technology and control R&D needs for widespread integration of distributed resources; (3) recent reliability issues review, including in-depth analysis of technological and institutional aspects of recent reliability events (e.g., summer 1996 WSCC events; winter 1997 northeast ice storms; winter 1998 San Francisco outage, etc.); (4) review and assessment of the current structure of U.S. bulk power markets and provision of reliability services (including 1998 price spikes in mid-west and west, and absence of meaningful opportunities for demand response); (5) assessment of the technology and control R&D needs for real time system control; (6) assessment of the treatment of uncertainty in planning and operational models.
2. Distributed Technologies Test Bed

The first year of a major multi-year effort to design and ultimately, with industry and other stakeholder partners from industry, operate an in-field distributed technologies test bed. The objective of this work is to develop and demonstrate the technologies and control strategies needed to support widespread integration of distributed resources into the grid.

During the first year, CERTS will: (1) specify the information needed to conduct system simulation studies of distributed technologies, assemble available information, and develop a plan for additional laboratory bench tests to gather missing information; (2) conduct simulation studies of the different scenarios of distributed technology penetration using available data and models to evaluate distribution system reliability impacts and identify micro-grid control issues; and (3) develop a multi-year demonstration plan for a distributed technologies test bed.

3. Reliability Market Monitoring, Design, and Analysis

The first year of a multi-year effort to improve the design and operation of markets for the provision of reliability services in a restructured electricity industry. An integrated set of data development, simulation, and design activities will provide both immediate and longer-term benefits to emerging competitive markets.

During the first year, CERTS will: (1) collect data on ancillary services market compliance for the CA ISO and evaluate alternative user interfaces for using these data; (2) use these and other data to examine the performance of the market and, where warranted, suggest directions for fundamental changes in the design of these markets; (3) use experimental economic methods and other methods to simulate the performance of both current and proposed market designs; and (4) analyze customer-side technical requirements for provision of reliability services

4. Smart VAR Management System

Develop and demonstrate a software tool that will allow system operators to measure, communicate, and process real-time data to perform a VAR analysis of the WSCC grid and provide system operators with voltage profiles and reactive reserve margins at key substations. Had this tool been available, the 1996 outages on the Western grid could have been prevented.

During the first year, CERTS will develop, prototype, and field-test hardware and software that can be integrated with current energy management systems to provide operators with necessary information, contingency simulation, performance tracking, and report generation on voltage and reactive reserve margins.

5. Distributed Control

The first year of a multi-year effort to develop and demonstrate the appropriate role for distributed controls in management of the operations of regional power systems. During the first year, CERTS will initiate a demonstration of the ability and comparative performance of autonomous reasoning agents to maintain power system reliability compared to conventional centralized control methods.

Reliability TF Final Report

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Electric System Reliability Task Force Completes Final Report

On Tuesday, September 29, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s (SEAB) Task Force on Electric System Reliability conducted its final meeting in Washington, DC and approved its final report.

The Task Force’s final 150 page report, “Maintaining Reliability in a Competitive U.S. Electricity Industry: Final Report of the Task Force on Electric System Reliability,” dated September 29, 1998, addresses the critical institutional, technical and policy issues related to maintaining bulk-power system reliability in the context of a more competitive electric industry. It will be submitted to the Chairman of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board and Secretary Richardson following the incorporation of the final Task Force review comments.

Printed copies of the Report can be obtained from Richard Burrow, SEAB, (202/586-1709 or Richard.Burrow@hq.doe.gov).

Inquiries regarding the Report can be directed to Paul Carrier (202/586-5659 or Paul.Carrier@hq.doe.gov).

Here is a Reuters news story about the report:

Competition won’t hurt power reliability, DOE told

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – A Department of Energy advisory panel on Tuesday said opening the nation’s bulk-power markets to competition should not damage reliability of electric supply, although deregulation is a complex task.

Ending a 21-month investigation, the DOE task force concluded that the “viability and vigor of commercial markets must not be unnecessarily restricted,” and market forces now being implemented depend on fair and open access to the transmission grid.
“The traditional reliability institutions and processes that have served the nation well in the past need to be modified to ensure the reliability is maintained in a competitively neutral fashion,” the task force report said.

The group, officially called the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s Task Force on Electric System Reliability, was formed to address the question of whether consumers would be able to count on electricity service after restructuring.

The task force began its work as a result of concerns raised after power outages in Western states during the summer of 1996. It is chaired by Dr. Philip Sharp, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

At the time the task force was formed, the DOE asked the group to define an agenda “to address relevant technology development and analysis tools, control schemes, operating practices and data requirements for ensuring reliability under changing industry structure and regulation.”

The report also said there is uncertainty regarding statutory and regulatory authority over reliability management, which was being exacerbated by the unbundling of vertically integrated utility functions.

The group said commercial markets should develop economic practices consistent with the mutual interests of the participants, ensuring grid reliability maintenance.

The role of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) must also adapt to an increasingly decentralized and competitive industry, the report said. The NERC represents wholesale power systems in 10 regions in the U.S. and most of Canada.

Other findings praised the implementation of Independent System Operators, and said competitive markets should be created for ancillary services, like load following, spinning reserve and loss replacement.

Of the numerous recommendations supplied by the task force, the report highlighted the group’s confidence that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and a restructured North American Electric Reliability Organization can maintain performance.

During the transition from monopoly markets to open competition, the task force said electric utilities should open their transmission systems to others and in many cases divest their generating assets.

Final Meeting SEAB Elec. Reliab TF

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From Paul Carrier, Task Force Staff Director (paul.carrier@hq.doe.gov)

Here is the draft agenda for the September 29 meeting of the DOE Task Force on Electric System Reliability. It is anticipated that the Task Force will conclude its work at this meeting with the approval of a final report.

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Secretary of Energy Advisory Board – Electric System Reliability Task Force
Tuesday, September 29, 1998, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM.
Georgetown University Conference Center,
Salon H, 3800 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington DC 20057

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard C. Burrow, Secretary of Energy
Advisory Board (AB-1), U.S. DOE, (202-586-1709

Background
The electric power industry is in the midst of a complex transition to competition, which will induce many far-reaching changes in the structure of the industry and the institutions which regulate it. This transition raises many reliability issues, as new entities emerge in the power markets and as generation becomes less integrated with transmission.
The purpose of the Electric System Reliability Task Force is to provide advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board regarding the critical institutional, technical, and policy issues that need to be addressed in order to maintain the reliability of the nation’s bulk electric system in the context of a more competitive industry.

Tentative Agenda
Tuesday, September 29, 1998
8:30 – 8:45 AM Opening Remarks & Objectives — Philip Sharp, Task Force Chairman
8:45 – 10:15 AM Working Session: Discussion of Draft Report –Facilitated by Philip Sharp
10:15 – 10:30 AM Break
10:30 – 11:45 AM Working Session: Discussion of Draft Report –Facilitated by Philip Sharp
11:45 – 12:00 PM Public Comment Period
12:00 – 1:30 PM Lunch
1:30 – 2:30 PM Working Session: Approval of Final Report –Facilitated by Philip Sharp
2:30 – 3:30 PM Closing Comments by Task Force Members
3:30 – 3:45 PM Closing Comments by DOE Representatives
3:45 – 4:00 PM Public Comment Period
4:00 PM Adjourn
This tentative agenda is subject to change. The final agenda will be available at the meeting.