Advanced Energy Perspectives

On April 21, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) released its “Phase I” assessment of the reliability impacts of EPA’s Clean Power Plan. The Phase I report is a follow-up to NERC’s Initial Reliability Review, and NERC indicates there will be more to come. This is in keeping with NERC’s vital role in informing policymakers and grid operators about issues in maintaining reliable electric service across the country. Precisely because of NERC’s role as guardian of electric reliability, it’s important to point out where analyses commissioned by NERC fall short. 

The Phase I modeling of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) as proposed – which is now under revision at EPA, in preparation for the final rule due this summer – projects an electric power system of the future that is inconsistent with the technology and market trends of today, let alone tomorrow. Taking into account the more likely result of ongoing developments in the electric power sector, especially those that will be accelerated by the CPP, the reliability concerns raised in the Phase I report largely disappear.

This is the third in a series of blog posts on EPA’s forthcoming rules on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from existing power plants – known as 111(d) for the section of the Clean Air Act under which the rules are being developed. In this series we have been discussing how 111d offers us a unique opportunity to modernize the grid for the 21^st Century while meeting GHG reduction targets. We have already discussed how we can create a high-performing grid that is efficient, clean, affordable, reliable and resilient, by making investments in advanced energy technologies and services. In this post we argue that an important way to achieve these objectives is to create a customer-focused grid, which will require modernizing not just the physical grid, but the way utilities are regulated.

In the first blog post in this series, we talked about how EPA’s forthcoming rule on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from existing power plants – known as 111(d) for the section of the Clean Air Act under which the rules are being developed – presents a unique opportunity to modernize the power grid for the 21^st Century. We made the argument that we could create a high-performing grid that was efficient, clean, and affordable, and that advanced energy technologies could help make the use of both energy and capital more efficient. In this post, we look at some other important aspects of a high-performing grid, namely reliability, resiliency, and restoration – the “3Rs” of an electric power system we can count on. As with efficiency in energy and capital, we can achieve improved reliability, resiliency, and restoration by using many of the same technologies that can drive down GHG emissions.

Our electricity system has served us well as an engine of economic growth for many years, but it is increasingly out of step with the needs of a 21st Century economy and society, both of which rely more and more on electricity – and the services it enables – around the clock, every day. Changes are under way to modernize the electric power system, but the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) upcoming rulemaking on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for existing power plants presents a unique opportunity to accelerate the transition to a high-performing grid.

What defines a high-performing grid? It is one that is efficient, reliable, resilient, clean, affordable, and consumer focused. Can it be all of these things? Yes. The same advanced energy technologies that make the grid more efficient and resilient can also keep it affordable and make it more responsive to customers. In this series of blog posts, we will address all of these. But for now, let’s focus on three aspects that are closely related: efficient, clean and affordable.