Transparency and knowledge

Helping shape the nation’s electric

infrastructure for the 21st century

Mike Davis
Associate Laboratory Director
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
National Smart Grid Conference
April 6, 2009

1 PNNL-SA-65589
 A quick look back

For more than 100 years,

the nation’s electricity
infrastructure has served us
well, providing electricity
that is:
Abundant
Affordable
Reliable
Secure
Critical to our economic
growth and success
Essential to our quality
of life

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 The challenge ahead is complex

Deliver these new benefits…

Accelerate integration of renewable energy sources

Maximize opportunities for end-use efficiency

Develop and deploy effective energy storage technologies

Electrify transportation sector to reduce dependence

on imported oil

…with a system not designed or operated to deliver them,

….while continuing to provide the abundant, affordable, reliable and
secure energy that is essential to our economy and quality of life.

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 The current situation

The electric infrastructure was created:

service territory by service territory
with a market monopoly and a regulated return on
investment in exchange for the obligation to serve

Service territories, though now connected, define the

geographical, regulatory and balance sheet footprint for
planning and operations.

Are these footprints large enough to enable decisions needed to realize

new objectives for the grid without impacting original objectives it delivers today?

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The need for new knowledge

We’re trying to improve the system without a consensus

of what improvements are best and where to focus efforts
Speed and affordability of computing and communication
are constantly improving—leverage these infrastructures
Approach the future from a knowledge point of view,
rather than a regulatory or control point of view
New business models enabled by a real-time
understanding of where the electrons are needed, where
they are available and how best to move them from point
A to point B will bring maximum value to all participants
Policy, technology and capital
Essential pieces of the puzzle

Capital

Markets
Public/Private
Partnerships

Technology Policy
Policy needs

Focus on national interests, not special interests

Think beyond service territory boundaries and
balance sheets
Provide data to arm all participants with sufficient
understanding beyond their service territory (footprint) to:
maximize asset utility
move from static and conservative management of assets
speed and broaden progress toward new grid objectives
Enable regulatory structure that welcomes and rewards
new technology
 Technology needs

Establish computational and visualization capability

to look beyond current service territory footprints
Models to accurately represent the built infrastructure at the
interconnection level
GPS information to understand real-time dynamic operation
of infrastructure
Use new knowledge to:
create transparency
enable decisions
realize benefits more quickly and broadly

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New visualization tools
Capital needs
Define and manage smart grid investments and
business models
Who gets the benefits and what does it cost?
How are costs allocated and who pays?
Who takes the risk?
Who owns the assets?
What policies will maximize benefits to all parties?
What regulations should be removed, changed or added?
How do we realize the new expectations without losing sight of the
benefits we have today?
 Leadership needs

Leadership needed to build constituency and

consensus necessary for change and progress
Leaders help move from data → knowledge → action
Greater understanding of system can move participants
toward consensus on the best next steps
Real-time knowledge of system at interconnection scale
is necessary to optimize electricity system operations, but
can be equally important in approaches to carbon cap
and trade
Learn from others
China’s national grid is deploying technology and business
models that look at real-time dynamic system operations

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 New business models arising

Tools to aggregate the demand

side of the equation to the point
of control
If you can control demand, it
can be dispatched—faster
than any new resources on the
supply side
PNNL’s Olympic Peninsula
GridWise® demonstration
project illustrated this concept
Smart devices dispatched demand
automatically over the Internet

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 The role of government

Provide and assure

transparency
Build upon existing
communication, computation
and visualization technologies
Leverage other existing
infrastructures—wireless,
broadband, Internet
Accelerate phasor build out
Shape and guide access to
new data sources

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The Northwest can lead the way

National leadership in energy efficiency based in the

Northwest
Strong regional partnerships
Engaged consumers interested in environmental and
energy issues
Large concentration of innovative utilities and vendors
may speed initial implementation to demonstrate results
 In closing
Technology: Better
tools are needed to
understand benefits
and make decisions
Policy: DOE, FERC
and NARUC can
work with industry to
guide the grid of the
21st century
Capital: New
business models
could arise as real
game changers
Leadership: The
Northwest can help
lead the way

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