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grid reliability

A Year After the Blackout: On a Collision Course With History?

Grid reliability is still at risk unless the industry quickly takes action.

The blackout highlighted the growing threat of dynamic voltage problems. Technical solutions to this problem are readily available, but creative regulatory approaches are needed. Here is a case where the timeworn precept, “follow the money,” offers a winning solution for the entire array of power system stakeholders.
Byline: 

John B. Howe

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MISO: Building The Perfect Beast

Seams, holes, and historic precedent challenge the Midwest ISO's evolution.

As it addresses problems that contributed to last August’s blackout, the Midwest ISO struggles with staffing, “grandfathered” service agreements, and integration issues.
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr

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Envision the Utility of Tomorrow

How will the industry change in the future?

Scale, synergies, and automation will transform tomorrow’s utilities, as will deregulation. But new management strategies and new technology also will play a part.
Byline: 

Keith Mueller

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In His Own Words

A face-to-face interview with FERC Chairman Pat Wood III.

In an exclusive interview, Executive Editor Richard Stavros, talks to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III about what the commission has in store for the electric utilities industry in 2004 and beyond.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

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The Reliability Czar

Is FERC the rightful heir?

The possibility that energy legislation drafted last year won't pass in 2004 has created a power vacuum. Who now is czar of electric utility reliability?
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

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Generation Reserves: The Grid Security Question

A cost-benefit study shows the value of adding synchronized generating reserves to prevent blackouts on the scale of Aug.14.

A study reveals how increasing the availability and flexibility of generation resources is cheaper than adding transmission.
Byline: 

Rajat K. Deb

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New Nuclear Construction: Still on Hold

A number of factors point to expanded nuclear generation. But when?

Skeptics believe investors will continue to shy away from nuclear in the coming decades, but conditions are changing, with several factors pointing to expanded nuclear generation.
Byline: 

Neil J. Numark and Micheal O. Terry

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Prevention Prescriptions

Reliability demands will drive automation investments.

In the days and weeks following Aug. 14, 2003, politicians scrambled to assess blame for the blackouts that plagued the United States and Canada. Even today, as the blame game pro­ceeds, the precise cause of the grid’s collapse remains uncertain. But Republicans, Democrats, and the utility industry alike seem to agree on one thing: the U.S. power grid needs major investment.
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr

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Energy Technology: Winner Take All

A review of which technologies and companies stand to win and lose as a result of the 2003 blackout.

A review of which technologies and companies stand to win and lose as a result of the 2003 blackout.

 

Mishap, human error, and malice regularly crash the electric system. We have lurched from the Western economic power crisis of 1999-2000 to the Eastern reliability power crisis of 2003. Neither more studies nor more blackouts have changed what's been built-an excessive quantity of large generation plants dependent on relatively few major transmission lines. On its current course, the grid's inevitable destination is disaster.

Byline: 
E. Kyle Datta and Dan Gabaldon
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