Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System (2012) / Chapter Skim
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2 The Electric Power System Today
2 The Electric Power System Today
Pages 20-31
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From page 20... ...
Functionally, many their three-phase electrical systems governing how faults are of those traditional utilities were vertically integrated, i.e., grounded, the number of wires strung on poles, and therefore providing generation, transmission, and end-use sales to cus- their relaying, control, and maintenance procedures. These tomers over their own distribution system -- although some different voltage standards and electrical configurations federal agencies, like the Tennessee Valley Authority and among suppliers require different equipment, which has the Bonneville Power Administration, provide only genera- implications for manufacturing costs and the size of invention and transmission services, and many rural cooperatives tories for spare components that are usually available.
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From page 21... ...
The combination of economies of scale in genera- industry voluntarily formed regional reliability organizations tion, achieved by building larger units that were frequently to coordinate activities related to the transmission system's grouped in larger power stations, with scale economies in performance, most notably the North American Electric transmission, gained through the use of higher transmission Reliability Council (NERC)
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From page 22... ...
Organization The electric power system was designed to serve analog NERC: North American Electric Reliability Council electric loads -- those without microprocessors -- and is NPCC: Northwest Power Coordinating Council (RRO) largely unable to consistently provide the level of digital RFC: Reliability First Corporation quality power required by digital manufacturing assembly RRO: Regional Reliability Organization (regional member of lines and information systems, and, soon, even our home NERC)
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From page 23... ...
Some regions have regional transmission organizations (RTOs) that administer central 1Changes in reliability enforcement as a result of the Energy Policy Act wholesale markets, whereas others do not.
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From page 24... ...
electric power industry is one of the most highly regulated Various activities of entities in the electric power industry in the nation. While other nations have adopted state-owned are also regulated by FERC, the federal agency authorized to or national utilities to provide electric service, the United implement, among other things, the Federal Power Act, the States early on adopted an approach that included a large Natural Gas Act, parts of the Energy Policy Act, and other number of private firms operating in natural monopoly set- federal statutes.
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From page 25... ...
The electric power industry has undergone considerable that formally required transmission owners to provide open changes in the last two decades that have affected how the and nondiscriminatory access to the competitive wholesale electricity infrastructure operates. Some of the once verti- generation market, and to provide comparable terms and cally integrated electric utilities that supplied generation, conditions to all market participants, including the generatransmission, and distribution services have undergone tion used to serve a utility's own customers.2 restructuring that separated them into distinct entities with FERC policies, in combination with technological and responsibility for only one or a few such services.
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From page 26... ...
. tion in its own area, to implement interchange schedules with other control areas, and to ensure transmission reliability Causes of Disruptions (Functional Model Review Task Group, 2003)
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From page 27... ...
Reliability Standards This approach enabled NERC to rewrite its reliability stan- For decades, the electric power industry operated under dards in terms of the entities that perform the reliability voluntary compliance with NERC's reliability standards. But functions (Functional Model Review Task Group, 2003)
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From page 28... ...
. NERC has stated to FERC that Vertically integrated electric utilities, either privatethe proposed reliability standards are consistent with ensur- regulated or government-run, are, by necessity, a planned ing acceptable performance with regard to operation, plan- industry with exclusive supply rights and obligations to serve ning, and design of the North American bulk-power system.
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From page 29... ...
intervention in their own internal planning processes because Problems to be resolved abound. With the traditional without that public approbation, the legal right to site new regulated vertically integrated industry structure, the utility generation facilities, and generally, transmission facilities would decide whether it was more efficient to build new also, could be denied.
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From page 30... ...
Even government- · Although there is ultimately a single operator responbuilt facilities face prolonged political fights over siting, sible for each portion of the electric system, there are compounded by debates over who is to pay for the line and many such operators around the United States, and who is the beneficiary, if user fees do not completely cover there are many more participants in the whole electric the costs. power delivery enterprise.
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From page 31... ...
Accessed June 2007. whether the benefits of reducing a risk is worth the Functional Model Review Task Group.
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