![]() "There's benefits there that come in the way of cost reductions, for not only energy, but also services, there's environmental impact benefits, reliability benefits, increased renewable penetrations and at this time of the pandemic, real opportunities for economic stimuli," he said.Īnd while concepts such as microgrids and other technologies are getting more attention and should not be ignored by system planners, the "big grid" is not going anywhere, said Anjan Bose, Regents Professor at Washington State University. ![]() ![]() The construction of high-capacity, multiregional transmission will provide additional opportunities as well, said James McCalley, Harpole Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Iowa State University. Having a strong backbone transmission system will give utilities the chance to take advantage of more resource options in the future and bring value to consumers, he said. It enables markets, it enables all kinds of things that we're going to need for the future grid," said Jay Caspary, vice president for consulting firm Grid Strategies LLC. ![]() Participants on a panel discussion that followed the chat between Barton and Moeller agreed about the need for a robust transmission system. "And, luckily, we've got the technology and the software to be able to help us create that visualization, and I think that will actually help us prevent any kind of significant overbuilding people get concerned about." "A truly integrated grid doesn't just stop at a substation, it's going broader than that," she said. Ensuring a system works with a more diverse pool of resources means making use of batteries and focusing on transmission and distribution planning, according to Barton. "That's when you cannot have electric vehicles be a part of your future and a part of the solution - if you can't count on the grid being there," she said.Īnd while nobody knows for certain what the exact resource mix of the future will be, it likely will be greener and look very different than the generation fleet of the past. "The reality is, people are going to become more dependent on electricity, rather than less, over time," he said.īarton said stakeholders should be less concerned about building a transmission line where 5% of the capacity is unused and more about the possibility of not having sufficient resource adequacy so that preemptive load shedding and other measures are needed to maintain reliability. Questions about resource adequacy and transmission planning should be looked at through the lens of growing reliance on the grid, particularly with the increasing use of electric vehicles, Barton said. "It's got to be even more resilient and responsive than it has before." "If we're going to electrify our vehicles and really do more in terms of our carbon footprint, we've got to invest more in the grid," she said during a fireside chat with MISO President and COO Clair Moeller. 21 at the Midcontinent ISO Market Symposium that a stronger, more interconnected grid is one that is increasingly resilient and capable of integrating a variety of technologies and resources. Lisa Barton, AEP's executive vice president of utilities, said Oct. As expectations about what the power grid can do to enable transportation electrification and bring on cleaner energy resources grow, so does the need for an even stronger, more resilient grid, an American Electric Power Co.
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