The Future of Electric Power in the United States (2021) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 1-12
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From page 1... ...
In recognition of this fact, the congressional language that gave rise to this committee called for "an evaluation of the expected medium- and long-term evolution of the grid … [focused] on developments that include the emergence of new technologies, planning and operating techniques, grid architecture, and business models." In whatever ways the power system evolves in the future, the system must be simultaneously safe and secure, clean and sustainable, affordable and equitable, and reliable and resilient.
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The chapter discusses the committee's findings and recommendations for how this can be achieved, by employing well-designed and operated systems that involve people and processes as well as technology, and develops a variety of recommendations for how to improve and reduce future vulnerabilities. FIVE MAJOR NEEDS FOR THE FUTURE ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM As directed by the statement of task, the committee performed an assessment and provided findings and recommendations across several topics: technologies; planning and operations; business models; and grid architectures.
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Because of many parallel changes in technology, patterns of electricity consumption, and social expectations for electric power, it is more difficult to forecast future electricity supply, demand, and infrastructure today than it was a few decades ago. The tools for forecasting electric futures need to be capable of adaptation because the architecture of the grid will evolve in different ways in different regions, and will adjust as the country reduces emissions of greenhouse gases from the overall economy through decarbonizing the electric supply and more pervasive use of electricity.
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Highlights: These recommendations call for increased utility regulator attention to and assessment of how changes in the electric system are interacting with energy access, equity, and affordability, and for actions to address such outcomes; greater federal investment in understanding the impacts of energy transitions on work ers and in various research areas that have traditionally been neglected by RD&D focused on technological innovation; and funding for education and training for the workforce needed for the changing electric system. The committee's recommendations for improving understanding of how people use electricity and how the social compact relating to the provision of electricity service can evolve with profound technological changes are directed to NARUC, DOE, local regulatory bodies, APPA, and NRECA (3.5)
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Highlights: These recommendations call for a tripling of support for applied electric power development and demonstration; needed increases in support for demonstration and deployment of advanced technologies as well as for a variety of technologies and control systems that can support multiple pathways for the electric system's evolution; setting standards for equipment that is critical to the electric system's performance and is imported from other countries; and the encouragement of international collaboration on precompetitive energy research. The committee's recommendations with respect to accelerating the pace and usefulness of technological inno vation in the face of shifting global supply chains and sources of technological change are directed to Congress (4.8)
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Recommendation 5.7: As more capable and intercompatible simulation tools become available, system Directed to: planners and operators should use the results and insights that are gained to develop better grid architec System Planners and tures, plans, and operational procedures; they should also inform regulators and policy makers, such as the Operators, FERC, NERC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Regulators, and Policy (NERC)
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Congress should also authorize FERC to require greater transparency and reporting of conditions occurring on the natural gas delivery system to allow for better situational awareness as to the operational circumstances needed to help support electric system reliability. Recommendation 3.3: Regarding transmission siting, in light of the fundamental ways in which interstate commerce is enabled by the high-voltage, multistate transmission networks in the Eastern and Western Interconnections of the United States and in which transitions in the nation's electric system increase reliance on remote renewable resources, Congress and the states should support the evolution of planning for and siting of regional transmission facilities in the United States, while recognizing that some developments at the grid edge may partly mitigate the need for new transmission.
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to create a joint task force that includes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) , the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
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to develop guidance for distribution- Congress, level resiliency requirements to be implemented at the state and local level, in coordination with the with DOE, NARUC, NRENational Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) , American Public Power Association (APPA)
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Recommendation 3.8: The states, through the energy and utility regulation committees of their legisla tures as well as through their regulatory agencies, should adopt and/or strengthen policies that support the ability of investor-owned utilities and other parties to innovate on business model issues, rate making, Directed to: and rate design. For publicly owned utilities, the national organizations (i.e., the National Rural Electric State Legislatures, Cooperative Association [NRECA]
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Recommendation 3.4: In recognition of the changes under way in the electric industry, when Congress and state legislatures enact new policies and incentives to stimulate and/or encourage investment in nascent Directed to: clean-energy or the early phases of deployment of new advanced grid technologies, legislatures should de- Congress and State sign such policies and incentives so that they phase out on predictable schedules as the penetration of such Legislatures technologies increases over time. Recommendation 4.2: In light of the globalization of the electric equipment supply industry, and with it the globalization of much of the innovative activity in the industry, the United States needs to develop better regulatory tools and capabilities for dealing with imported equipment and cross-border ownership of firms producing critical equipment.
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From page 12... ...
, other domestic and international research organizations, universities, and worldwide industry should support the development of new suites of technologies that can enable the high levels of automation needed in a Directed to: future grid. These include (1)
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