The electric power grid is going through fundamental changes as a result of a multitude of drivers including:
Proliferation of distributed energy resources and their cost reductions trendGovernment Clean Air policies and Renewable Portfolio standards (RPS)Technology advancements and penetrationsCustomer expectations for flexibility, lower cost, participation, and informationMarkets and competitive forcesThe future grid will face many technical operational challenges and provide many opportunities. This track will examine the changes required in the utility functions and processes dealing with distribution and transmission systems, remedial actions to mitigate the challenges and technology solutions to enable and facilitate the functions. The areas covered include:
Utility functional changes and processes required to manage the future grid operationGrid architecture and coordination frameworksGrid codesOperational challenges and benefits of the future gridElectric vehiclesPhase imbalance and voltage issuesTechnology solutions required to enable utility functional objectivesDistribution Management Systems (DMSs)Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMs)Microgrids, DERs, and Smart BuildingsSensing, communications and controlSmart transmission technologies such as grid services provisioning and synchrophasor measurementsGrid Edge Devices and secure communication of the dataData and information managementCloud computingCybersecurityCustomer enablement solutionsPractical experience with technology adoption and functional changes