DOE

The Mobiles are FAST

Including mobile substations in Strategic Transformer Reserve Program

Both spare large power transformers, and emergency mobile substations, have critical roles in the U.S. Department of Energy's Strategic Transformer Reserve Program, STRP. An emergency mobile substation can literally roll onto the site on the bed of a truck, run connecting wires to the power lines, and bypass all of the damaged substation equipment, allowing electricity to flow again within hours.

Remarkable Energy Careers: Jim Fama

We talked with Jim Fama, retiring and on his last day at EEI, about his remarkable career.

Jim Fama was the Edison Electric Institute’s vice president for energy delivery since 2002.

Nuclear Life Extension

Deciding whether to go forward with a second license renewal.

A majority of nuclear power plant operators already have received operating license renewals – to operate their plants for 20 years beyond the 40 years outlined in their initial operating licenses. As utilities decide whether or not to invest in license renewal, they must consider three key questions.

Sacramento Municipal Utility District Awarded $600,000 Federal Grid Resilience Grant

The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) $600,000 to install smart-grid technologies. The Grid Resilience Grant helps fund half of SMUD's $1.2 million Resilient Grid Initiative that is designed to make SMUD's distribution system more adaptable to major disasters and reduce the effects of climate change through the installation and operation of high-voltage switches and the implementation and operation of voltage optimization measures.

U.S. Department of Energy, SDG&E Partner to Improve Resiliency of Nation’s Electric Grid

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) joined U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dr. Ernest Moniz, to formally launch the U.S. Department of Energy's Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience. SDG&E will collaborate with the Department of Energy (DOE) and 16 other utilities to improve the resilience of the nation's energy infrastructure against extreme weather and climate change impacts. Under the partnership program, owners and operators of energy assets will develop and pursue strategies to reduce climate and weather-related vulnerabilities.

Energy Storage: Out of the Lab and Onto the Grid

As deployments take hold, real-world challenges abound.

Energy storage has advanced rapidly, leaving the lab and entering a phase of deployment on the grid. Storage's advancements are a result of its promise as well as the tireless support of industry stakeholders who modeled, tested, evaluated and demonstrated the technology.

Securing the Smart Grid

Questions and answers on consumer privacy and threats to the grid – both physical and cyber.

The economic argument for investments in the smart grid is clear: the payback from those technologies in the U.S. is likely three to six times greater than the money invested, and grows with each sequence of grid improvement.

GE, Utility, Government, and Academia Partner on Underground Microgrid Project to Improve Electricity Reliability in NY’s North Country

GE Global Research and GE Energy Consulting, along with National Grid, the Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Clarkson University announced a partnership on a research project to improve the reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York.

Alstom Awarded Microgrid Project by the U.S Energy Department

Alstom was awarded the $1.2 million Microgrid Research Development and System Design (RD&D) project by the US Energy Department (DoE). Alstom is one of seven organizations to receive microgrid funding ($8 million total) from the DOE. The objective of this funding is to perform research, development and testing of advanced microgrid controllers capable of managing and controlling microgrid systems to improve viability, reliability and resiliency of the electric distribution grid.

Why Care About Transactive Energy?

Only if you’re a governor, legislator, regulator ... or customer. 

When ratepayers become generators, the utility industry is turned upside-down. A warning to legislators, regulators – and even governors – on what to expect.