Electricity Use in Rural and Islanded Communities
SUMMARY OF A WORKSHOP
Ben A. Wender, Rapporteur
Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This project was supported by Contract #DE-DT0007877 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Energy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the view of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
Digital Object Identifier: 10.17226/23539
Copyright 2016 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Suggested Citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2016. Electricity Use in Rural and Islanded Communities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/23539.

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COMMITTEE ON ELECTRICITY USE IN RURAL AND ISLANDED COMMUNITIES
THOMAS BIALEK, San Diego Gas and Electric, a Sempra Utility
MICHAEL DWORKIN, Vermont Law School
MARK GLICK, Hawaii State Energy Office
JOHN G. KASSAKIAN, NAE,1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MEERA KOHLER, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative
PAM SILBERSTEIN, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Staff
LINDA CASOLA, Senior Program Assistant
K. JOHN HOLMES, Associate Board Director/Scholar, Study Director
BEN A. WENDER, Associate Program Officer
E. JONATHAN YANGER, Research Associate
JAMES J. ZUCCHETTO, Board Director, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems
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1 NAE, National Academy of Engineering.
BOARD ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
ANDREW BROWN, JR., NAE,1 Delphi Corporation (retired), Troy, Michigan, Chair
DAVID T. ALLEN, University of Texas, Austin
W. TERRY BOSTON, NAE, PJM Interconnection, LLC (retired), Audubon, Pennsylvania
WILLIAM F. BRINKMAN, NAS,2 Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
EMILY A. CARTER, NAS, NAE, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
JARED L. COHON, NAE, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
BARBARA KATES-GARNICK, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts
DEBBIE A. NIEMEIER, University of California, Davis
MARGO TSIRIGOTIS OGE, Environmental Protection Agency (retired), McLean, Virginia
JACKALYNE PFANNENSTIEL, U.S. Navy (retired), Piedmont, California
MICHAEL P. RAMAGE, NAE, ExxonMobil (retired), Annandale, New Jersey
BERNARD ROBERTSON, NAE, BIR1, LLC, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
DOROTHY ROBYN, Consultant, Washington, District of Columbia
GARY W. ROGERS, Roush Industries, Inc., Livonia, Michigan
ALISON SILVERSTEIN, Consultant, Pflugerville, Texas
MARK H. THIEMENS, NAS, University of California, San Diego
JOHN WALL, NAE, Cummins Inc. (retired), Belvedere, California
ROBERT WEISENMILLER, California Energy Commission, Sacramento, California
MARY LOU ZOBACK, NAS, Stanford University, Stanford, California
Staff
JAMES J. ZUCCHETTO, Board Director
K. JOHN HOLMES, Associate Board Director/Scholar
DANA CAINES, Financial Associate
LINDA CASOLA, Senior Program Assistant
ALAN CRANE, Senior Scientist
LIZ EULLER, Senior Program Assistant
LANITA JONES, Administrative Coordinator
MARTIN OFFUTT, Senior Program Officer
BEN A. WENDER, Associate Program Officer
E. JONATHAN YANGER, Research Associate
BETH ZEITLER, Associate Program Officer
___________________
1 NAE, National Academy of Engineering.
2 NAS, National Academy of Sciences.
Acknowledgement of Reviewers
This summary has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published summary as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Gary Connett, Great River Energy,
John G. Kassakian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Pam Silberstein, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and
Richard Tabors, Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the views presented at the workshop, nor did they see the final draft of the workshop summary before its release. The review of this workshop summary was overseen by Thomas Overbye, University Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this workshop summary was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this summary rests entirely with the author and the institution.
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Contents
WORKSHOP INTRODUCTION: WELCOME AND MEETING OBJECTIVES
SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS
Understanding Electricity Systems in Rural and Islanded Communities
Increasing System Resilience and Reliability
Generation Alternatives for Greenhouse Gas Reductions
Technological and Operational Innovations
Turning Smart Technologies into Smart Grids
Looking Out: 5- to 25-year Solutions
Modernizing the Planning Paradigm
Linking Transportation to the Electricity System