The Georgia Public Service Commission recently initiated a solution to balance costs for new large load customers that many state regulators are adopting, said Georgia Commissioner Tricia Pridemore. To maintain and grow their relationship with households, utilities will need to meet customers’ changing expectations and support their evolving role as energy consumers and, increasingly, producers. Building the needed technical, operational, and regulatory capabilities will likely require breaking silos within the utility, deploying new technologies, and engaging more deeply with regulators, developers, and households. While controls to manage DER in real time require significant utility investment, DER management includes least-cost mechanisms such as time-of-use (TOU) rates and demand response for programmable thermostats that have been operating for decades with simple controls.
In Egypt and Serbia, utilities are combining intelligent field devices with substation upgrades to improve fault isolation, restoration performance and service continuity. Some feeders support critical infrastructure, but others experience recurring congestion or frequent faults. Rather than beginning with wholesale asset replacement, the utility is prioritizing centralized intelligence and operational visibility to create a more resilient and future-ready network. A similar strategy is underway in Serbia, where ElektroDistribucija Srbije is modernizing one of Southeast Europe’s largest distribution networks, which serves 3.8 million customers. Egypt’s smart DCC deployment, supported by ADMS and more than 12,000 intelligent field devices, is already improving energy utilization and reducing system disruptions. This approach establishes grid intelligence early on, enabling smarter decision-making across the network.
The report describes metrics for “multi-objective prioritization” developed https://invest24news.com/250-million-rubles-were-mastered-for-overhaul.html by DTE Electric in Michigan and Portland General Electric in Oregon. New elements for broader balancing of affordability and modernization are emerging in many other states. Costs not recovered through the contract go into the utility’s rate case, but recovery of those costs is not likely to be allowed “because negotiating the contract was the utility’s responsibility and not a ratepayer problem,” she added. As a result, though, if “affordability is the paramount target, it will be difficult to achieve.”
- “The first piece of the accountability framework was a hard budget cap on ratepayer costs of $154 million, which the company itself offered,” Anthony said.
- These targeted interventions create immediate benefits while building momentum for broader modernization efforts.
- New elements for broader balancing of affordability and modernization are emerging in many other states.
- Yet technical, operational, and regulatory barriers impede widespread adoption, highlighting the importance of developing the capabilities to overcome them.
- The Hierarchical Engine for Large-scale Infrastructure Co-Simulation (HELICS) is an open-source cyber-physical-energy cosimulation framework for energy systems, with a strong tie to the electric power system.
- They will likely want to see that utilities are leveraging unprecedented federal funding to build resilient DERstribution capabilities.
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Successful execution of integrated plans to achieve state targets should include a data-efficient architecture. Utilities can further leverage new federal and state incentives to minimize cost while maximizing the reward to first-mover LMI customers. DER deployments using these approaches could start with energy-insecure homes in areas of locational value to the grid. Given customer preferences for bill stability and the importance of market-based rates to lowering system costs, a combination of TOU and peak pricing could optimize residential flexibility to respond to both routine and emergency grid needs.39
- The Georgia Public Service Commission recently initiated a solution to balance costs for new large load customers that many state regulators are adopting, said Georgia Commissioner Tricia Pridemore.
- One of the biggest misconceptions about modernization is that it must begin with large-scale physical upgrades.
- Reach out to explore how we support end‑to‑end utility engineering services and modernization strategy.
- The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has worked on planning strategies for aging infrastructure replacement, and the Clean Air Task Force has looked at risks of relying too much on levelized cost of energy data, he said.
- Infrastructure modernization now includes rigorous cybersecurity measures protecting OT assets, ICS/SCADA systems, and distributed networks of sensors and controllers.
It provides interactive real time simulation engines, for one to thousands of buildings, supporting control and dispatch of ComStock, ResStock and other user supplied models. NLR’s testing facilities include the Energy Systems Integration Facility and the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems platform, which can be used to enhance the reliability and performance of IBR grid integration. NLR’s extensive research on IBRs—within its grid modernization portfolio—includes work on grid standards and codes and grid-forming inverters, including co-leading the Universal Interoperability for Grid-forming Inverters consortium. As https://vectorart1.com/load/articles/news/how_to_start_and_build_your_freelance_design_business/11-1-0-710 such, new model tools, control strategies, and planning procedures are needed to ensure a reliable and stable grid.
This convergence allows utilities to have a unified view of asset performance, grid operations, and customer demands, critical when managing large‑scale modernization programs. Current planning allows regulators to “pace and prioritize based on what additional capabilities and what reliability impacts” utility proposals offer, she added. One emerging tool for effectively balancing spending and rate increases is new metrics.
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Utilities are now combining real‑time sensor data with historical performance to predict failures before they occur. This drives utilities to adopt advanced transmission and distribution https://hollanderhomes.com/pros-and-cons-of-electric-warm-floor.html strategies, enhance capacity, and manage two‑way power flows. Solar, wind, battery storage and micro‑grids are being integrated at scale, shifting traditional grid dynamics. Modernization isn’t just about wires and poles, it’s about accommodating a growing array of distributed energy resources (DERs). Utility engineering services firms are expanding their offerings to include data platform integration and sensor deployment, not just physical construction.