The New England Conference of Public Utility Commissioners (NECPUC) and National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners offered free virtual training on electricity system planning in May and June 2022, in partnership with Berkeley Lab, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Participants learned:
Training sessions run from 1 to 3 hours starting in May. The series will close on June 30 with a states' roundtable on planning processes and hot planning topics in New England.
Bios for all speakers in the series can be found here.
Thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium for supporting the training.
Paul De Martini, Newport Consulting; Alan Cooke, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); and Fritz Kahrl, Berkeley Lab
This session will present best practices for integrated planning and potential improvements for New England utilities in the context of distributed energy resources, grid modernization, and wholesale markets, with implications for utility system operations
Lavelle Freeman and Juan Martinez, Eversource; Elton Prifti, National Grid; Kim Cullen, Avangrid; and Jody Londo, Xcel Energy
Utilities in New England and outside the region will present current and evolving approaches to distribution system planning, including goals and objectives, planning scenarios, and integration with other planning processes and grid modernization strategies. Additional topics include planning for load growth, reliability/resilience, aging infrastructure, distributed energy resources, and technological advances; distribution planning processes and methods, such as forecasting, power flow analysis, and cost/benefit analysis; and stakeholder engagement.
This session will cover distribution system and grid modernization planning designed to achieve state goals, and enabling cost recovery for the required investments.
Seemita Pal and Ron Melton, PNNL
This session will cover grid architecture for planning and design of electric systems to get the grid structure "right" so all the pieces fit into place, downstream decisions are simplified, and investments can be future-proofed. The session also will cover oversight of enterprise-wide efforts, including what utilities need to have in place, such as billing systems, staffing levels and experience operating systems.
Lisa Schwartz and Natalie Mims Frick, Berkeley Lab, and Juliet Homer, PNNL
This session will present the variety of ways states are engaging in electric distribution system planning, including example state requirements, regulatory practices, plan components and emerging issues.
Xiangqi Zhu, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
This session will provide utility examples, modeling methods, and best practices for planning distribution systems for electrification of transportation and buildings.