Modernizing America’s Electricity Infrastructure
Mason Willrich
How we started using
electricity
How our society uses
electricity today
How we will use electricity
in the future
Why a National Strategy?
• Much of America’s infrastructure is aging and, sooner rather than
later, will require replacement or renewal
• Two major threats:
▪ Climate change
▪ Cyber attacks
• The work of transforming America’s electricity infrastructure
will extend over at least two decades and involve investing trillions
of dollars
The structure of the electric grid
Publicly Owned
Utilities
(2,006)
59.5%
Investor-Owned
Utilities
(185)
5.5%
Cooperatives
(875)
26.0%
Federal Power
Agencies
(9)
0.3%
Power Marketers
(296)
8.7%
Number of Electricity Providers
Electricity Providers by Customers
Publicly Owned
Utilities
14.6%
Investor-Owned
Utilities
68.1%
Cooperatives
12.9%
Power Marketers
4.4%
Generation Ownership
Independent
Power
Producers
43%
Investor-Owned
Utilities
36%
Publicly Owned
Utilities
10%
Cooperatives
5%
Federal Power
Agencies
6%
Actual Generation by Fuel Type
Natural Gas
33.00%
Coal
33.00%
Nuclear
20.00%Hydro
6.00%
Wind, Solar,
Biomass
7.00%
Other
1.00%
Electricity
30%
Transportation
28%
Industry
21%Commercial &
Residential
12%
Agriculture
9%
Total U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2017). Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2015
Carbon Dioxide Emissions for the Electricity Sector, by Source
EIA Monthly Energy Review, July 2017
Coal 68.2%
Natural Gas 30%
Distillate Fuels
0.20%
Petroleum 1.20%
Non-Biomass
Waste 0.60%
Other Public
Power
7%
Investor-Owned Utilities
66%
Cooperatives
6%
Federal Power
Agencies
14%
Independent
Transmission
Operators
4%
NA
3%
Transmission Grid Ownership
WAUW
HQT
IESO
NSPINBPC
ISNE
NYIS
LGEE
OVECMISO
SWPP
SPC
AECI
MHEB
SPA
EEI
TVA
SOCO
AEC
CPLECPLW DUK
YAD
SCEG
SC
TALGVL
JEA
NSBSEC
TEC
FPC
FPL
FMPP
HST
BCHA
NWMTWWA
GWA
WACM
PSCO
PNM
EPE
AESO
IPCO
PACE
PACW
PGE
SCL
TPWR
DOPD
GCPD
CHPDBPAT
AVA
CSTO
PSEI
BANC
CISO
TID
LDWP
IID
CFE
NEVP
WALC GRIF
AZPSDEAA
HGMAGRMA
SRP
TEPC
PJM
SPC
ONT
NBPC
TE
ERCOT ERCO
ISNENYIS
PJM
MISOPEAK
AESO
SPP
TVA
FRCC
SEPA
SOCO
VACAR-S
Created using Ventyx Velocity Suite,© 2016 Ventyx, an ABBCompany
NERC Balancing AuthoritiesAs of October 1, 2015
Dynamically controlled generation
Back-to-Back DC Converter
Submit changes to [email protected]
Federal State Local
Electric Industry Structure
Reliability Standards
Whole Rate Design
Resource Adequacy
Retail Rate Design
Resource Mix
Transmission Cost Recovery
Transmission Siting
Interoperability & Cybersecurity
Renewables & Demand Response
Energy Efficiency
Electric Industry Policy Oversight
Renewable Portfolio Standard Policieswww.dsireusa.org / February 2017
WA: 15% x 2020*
OR: 50%x 2040* (large utilities)
CA: 50%
x 2030
MT: 15% x 2015
NV: 25% x
2025* UT: 20% x
2025*†
AZ: 15% x
2025*
ND: 10% x 2015
NM: 20%ax 2020
(IOUs)
HI: 100% x 2045
CO: 30% by 2020
(IOUs) *†
OK: 15% x
2015
MN:26.5%
x 2025 (IOUs)31.5% x 2020 (Xcel)
MI: 15% x
2021*†
WI: 10%
2015
MO:15% x
2021
IA: 105 MWIN:
10% x
2025†IL: 25%
x 2026
OH: 12.5%
x 2026
NC: 12.5% x 2021 (IOUs)
VA: 15%
x 2025†KS: 20% x 2020
ME: 40% x 2017
29 States + Washington
DC + 3 territories have a
Renewable Portfolio
Standard (8 states and 1 territories have
renewable portfolio goals)Renewable portfolio standard
Renewable portfolio goal Includes non-renewable alternative resources* Extra credit for solar or customer-sited renewables
†
U.S. Territories
DC
TX: 5,880 MW x 2015*
SD: 10% x 2015
SC: 2% 2021
NMI: 20% x 2016
PR: 20% x 2035
Guam: 25% x 2035
USVI: 30% x 2025
NH: 24.8 x 2025
VT: 75% x 2032
MA: 15% x 2020(new resources)
6.03% x 2016 (existing resources)
RI: 38.5% x 2035
CT: 27% x 2020
NY:50% x 2030
PA: 18% x 2021†
NJ: 20.38% RE x 2020 + 4.1% solar by 2027
DE: 25% x 2026*
MD: 25% x 2020
DC: 50% x 2032
Why a National Strategy?
• Much of America’s infrastructure is aging and, sooner rather than
later, will require replacement or renewal
• Two major threats:
▪ Climate change
▪ Cyber attacks
• The work of transforming America’s electricity infrastructure
will extend over at least two decades and involve investing trillions
of dollars
Reliable &
Resilient
Environmentally
Sustainable
Interoperable
& Secure
Affordable &
FinanceableGovernance
How should we think about a national strategy?
• In years past, the order of presentation and discussion would have been from
supply to demand—GTDR to consumers. Grounding a strategy in the
present, it is preferable to reverse the order of discussion by starting with
consumers, progressing through distribution and transmission, to generation.
• Change must occur incrementally in order to avoid disruptions to continuous
electric service for America’s economy and society.
• Collaboration will be required among a diverse set of business, labor,
consumer, and environmental stakeholders in furtherance of common
interests.
Retail Consumers
• Existing buildings and facilities should be retrofitted with all energy efficiency
improvements that are cost effective. New construction should comply with
all state and federal energy efficiency and environmental
standards.
• Should IOU retail electricity markets be closed or open to competition from
private suppliers?
• Should states generally adopt legislation that enables Community Choice
Aggregation as an alternative for local public power takeovers of IOU retail
service territories?
Distribution
• State PUCs should adopt time-varying pricing for electric service; decouple
utility-authorized revenues from sales; and align a utility’s performance with
its customers’ preferences.
• States should adopt legislation for utilities to develop and implement
Distribution Resource Plans that provide cost transparency about existing
and planned operations of their distribution networks.
• Distribution planning and transmission planning should be fully coordinated,
so distribution and transmission systems will operate seamlessly.
Distributed Energy Resources
• A driving force of electric infrastructure modernization is the incorporation
of distributed energy resources—energy efficiency, demand response (DR),
solar, cogeneration, energy storage—DERs.
• Utilities should serve as platforms to enable the integration of DERs into
their distribution networks and to coordinate the operations of DRs within
overall distribution-system operations.
• DERs deployed within utility distribution networks should be optimally
located and mainly procured by contracts between utilities and independent
firms. While DERs on consumers’ premises should be provided mainly by
independent firms.
Transmission
• Additions to high-voltage transmission networks should be sited, developed,
financed, and operated optimally pursuant to regional plans covering large
multistate regions within the Western and Eastern Interconnections.
• All utilities—IOU and POU—should publish and update periodically long-
term resource plans covering generation, transmission, distribution, and
retail service.
• Congress should enact legislation that clarifies FERC’s eminent domain
authority related to the establishment of national transmission corridors.
• The number of balancing authorities should be reduced by expanding
ISO/RTO footprints, especially in the Western Interconnection.
Wholesale Markets
• Wind, solar, and demand response should receive adequate
compensation from a well-functioning wholesale energy and ancillary
services market.
• Energy storage should be eligible for capacity payments since it stands
ready and should be available when called upon.
• For electric utilities that participate in an RTO/ISO wholesale power
market, the utility should perform enhanced functions to operate its
distribution system in a more complex environment as DSO.
Generation
• IPPs should avoid excessive leverage and overly complex deal structures as
they seek financing to build portfolios of long-lived project assets.
• Rather than continuing the DOE Clean Coal Power Initiative, the DOE and its
counterpart in China should co-lead the establishment of a multinational
Clean Coal Power Initiative for a series of carbon capture and sequestration
projects.
• The DOE should collaborate with the nuclear industry in sponsoring a major
program for research, development, and commercial demonstration of a
variety of small modular nuclear reactor designs.
Cybersecurity
• Interoperability and cybersecurity need to be recognized as intertwined
issues.
• Existing federal cybersecurity standards for the bulk power grid need to be
expanded to include distribution networks.
• President Trump should work with Congress to develop legislation that will
establish mandatory open source interoperability standards and
cybersecurity standards that will be applicable throughout America’s electric
infrastructure including distribution networks.
Thank you!
Hardcover | $25.00 Short | £19.95 | 320 pp. | 6 x 9 in
| 16 figures | October 2017 | ISBN: 9780262036795
eBook | $18.00 Short | October 2017 | ISBN:
9780262342391
For more information, find my book through
the MIT Press or Amazon.