The GRID Act, introduced in the House and Senate, would authorize FERC to effectively address electricity grid security issues. On March 26, 2014, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) introduced the Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense (GRID) Act (H.R. 4298) aimed to amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power system and defense-critical electric infrastructure… Keep reading →
Bringing about structural change in a country’s power system requires an energy policy supported by the long-term commitment of the political elite to tackle entrenched interests. Renewables are at the center of efforts to diversify and help countries wean themselves off carbon-heavy energy supplies. IEA scenarios indicate that generation from solar photovoltaic’s (PV) and wind… Keep reading →
Towards Understanding How Corruption Impacts the Quality of Electricity Supply to End-Users in Emerging and Developing Economies This article provides a synopsis of a paper submitted to the IAEE/USAEE Best Student Paper Award Competition. On average, a fourth of all electricity produced in low-income countries was lost during transmission and distribution in the year 2000,… Keep reading →
The 2013 Chinese Year of the Snake (i.e., smart people who use others to achieve their goals) saw disappointing results from an industry smart grid strategy of convincing customers to change their behavior to mitigate inadequacies of the existing grid. Clearly, the demand response approach, while having some benefit, will not by itself ensure an… Keep reading →
Modernizing the US power grid while incorporating increasing volumes of intermittent renewable energy is the electrical engineering challenge of our time. And there’s a lot at stake from costly blackouts to highly profitable energy storage solutions. Fragmented and often outdated regulations enforced by competing government agencies from local to national levels compound the problem. These… Keep reading →
Quick Take: When it comes to the pending electricity revolution, many utilities dither or postpone or explain away (“It may have happened to every other industry. But it will NEVER happen to us. Because we’re special.”) Many environmental groups, on the other hand, are stepping up. They are not just saying that something must change.… Keep reading →
Some innovative California cities are engaging in assurance planning practices to make their energy supply more resilient during a major disaster such as earthquake, wildfire or landslide that could disrupt the normal supply for weeks. Their forward thinking includes the application of renewable distributed generation, microgrids, demand response, and other smart grid techniques and technologies… Keep reading →
