Intelligent Protection
Local network security in the age of microgrids and distributed generation.
With the local grid infused with distributed generation, static relay settings must yield to a more dynamic approach to ensure network security.
Distributed Generation & Microgrids
From ISO to DSO
Imagining a new construct – an independent system operator for the distribution network.
A new utility industry construct – the Distribution System Operator (DSO) – could help maximize the benefits of distributed energy resources.
Working at the Edge of the Grid
How to find value in distributed energy resources.
Distributed resources create a new multi-directional power grid, achieving the sort of scale-driven cost levels and ease of installation that portend of future mass deployment.
The End of an Age
Survival in the new market requires embracing new technologies and practices.
New technologies are opening the utility domain to innovation and competition. Traditional utilities will shrink as outsourcing providers and competitors grow. Survival in this new market requires embracing new technologies and practices.
Community Renaissance
When one age ends, another begins.
Community microgrids raise questions about the role of the utility franchise, versus the free market.
Distributed Generation: Benefit Values In Hard Numbers
In the second of three articles, Oak Ridge National Laboratory reviews the economics and financial issues related to DG.
In the second of three articles on DER, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory examines the effect of DER and combined heat and power on a large power pool.
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.
Customer First
Is the current regulatory compact in anyone’s best interests?
Serving customers’ needs should be a top priority for power companies, irrespective of the regulatory construct and business model. Transformation doesn’t change this basic fact, but how do we break the model without breaking the system?
Results-Based Regulation
A more dynamic approach to grid modernization.
The utility’s role is changing, and regulation must change along with it – to spur innovation and respond to evolving customer needs. Modernizing the industry will require a dynamic approach.
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.