Reliability vs. Resiliency
Prevent problems, or wait and respond when something happens?
FERC holds conference on electric reliability, asks about standards for resiliency – not just to prevent problems, but how to respond once they occur.
Reliability
Waiting for the Next Polar Vortex
How recent events could prove a harbinger of winters to come.
The winter of 2013-14 offered up a perfect storm of natural gas price spikes and threats to electric reliability. Expect more of the same.
In the Crosshairs
Protecting substations and transformers after the PG&E Metcalf attack.
The latest fallout from the April 2013 Metcalf incident: the unprecedented assault with high-powered rifles on PG&E’s Metcalf substation, in Silicon Valley, which disabled 17 of 20 large transformers.
Performance is What Counts
ISO New England’s capacity market proposal will bring reliability benefits to the region.
ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie rebuts implications in a Fortnightly column about the ISO’s “Pay for Performance” capacity market proposal.
Unwinding the Death Spiral
Rooftop solar, net metering, and the perils of utilityspeak.
The Sierra Club accuses utilities of trying to snuff out rooftop solar. Attorney Donald Sipe recommends RTO/ISO markets for natural gas.
Next-Gen Nuclear
Tomorrow’s options for low-carbon baseload generation.
The nuclear renaissance might be postponed, but technologies continue advancing. The next generation of plants will apply innovation for safety, efficiency, and modularity.
Cybersecurity and the PUC
Regulators and utilities should collaborate more to address cyber threats.
Public utility commissions face a growing need to understand cybersecurity issues, so they can address utility investments and processes. A collaborative approach will allow an effective response.
Scare Tactics
New England’s proposed capacity market reform would force generators to ‘Be There or Else.’
Facing worries about resource adequacy, ISO New England proposes changes that would penalize generators that fail to perform when needed -- for any reason. Market players say it can only work if the system operator allows for reasonable exceptions.
Toward a 21st Century Grid
Producing value with advanced distribution management systems.
Changing demands from regulators, customers, and shareholders are driving utilities toward better operational technologies to manage an increasingly complex grid. Advanced distribution management systems (ADMS) promise nearly real-time operational insight for maintaining reliability, safety, and security.
Reinventing the Grid
How to find a future that works.
The traditional central-station grid is evolving toward a more distributed architecture, accommodating a variety of resources spread out across the network. An open and thoughtful planning approach will allow an orderly transition to an integrated system – while fostering innovation among a wider range of industry players.