FERC vs NERC: A grid control showdown over cyber security

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WWW.INTELLIGENTUTILITY.COM /// JULY/AUGUST 2011 20
ILLUSTRATION BY MELISSA DEHNER Distributed Generation Redux Solar solutions + + Distributed load or microgridding—or both? By John R. Johnson BORREGO SPRINGS, A PROGRESSIVE DESERT community located in San Diego County, is well known as a year-round center for astronomy research. In fact, the small town situated on the edge of the Anza- Borrego Desert State Park was designated as California’s first International Dark-Sky Community to keep the star gazing sky as clear as possible. When the community isn’t looking to the nighttime stars, its residents are embracing the sun—specifically, the vast potential from solar power. San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) recently received a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission to build a complex micro-grid project based in Borrego Springs. Riding it through Under clear desert skies, SDG&E will test and deploy various smart grid technologies including energy storage, smart meters, energy-management systems and integrated renewable energy generation. The goal of the three-year project is to demonstrate how to maintain reliability in a more complex grid, leverage distributed resources to benefit the community and electric system, enable more active participation by smart-meter-enabled customers, and maintain power—or “ride through” an outage—even when the larger grid is experiencing problems. In addition, the federal funding will help to install solar power generators at homes and small businesses, coordinate new peak load management technology, improve overall power quality and integrate and remotely control distributed generation storage devices to allow access to electricity in emergencies. The project will also provide research on the potential impact of electric car charging on the grid. OMS/DMS laboratory in action “This project is a ‘laboratory in action,’ where we can see, on a small scale, a version of the smart grid all the way from customer-generated solar power, to battery storage, to automatic power restoration,” said Tom Bialek, chief engineer of the smart grid for SDG&E. Bialek said that SDG&E will also use the project to integrate outage management system/distribution management system (OMS/DMS) into the microgrid operations. The utility will also have the ability to intentionally island all Borrego Springs customers in response to system problems like outages. A microgrid is essentially a small version of an electric grid that utilizes distributed energy resources and state-ofthe-art controls and equipment to enhance grid operation enough to achieve a 15 percent reduction in feeder peak loads, while increasing reliability. Ideally, microgrids promote energy independence within a certain community, potentially allowing ratepayers to be totally sustainable and exit the larger utility grid in favor of power from their own renewables like solar and wind. WWW.INTELLIGENTUTILITY.COM 21
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Page 3 and 4: SMART GRID PROVEN TEC H N OLO GY NO
Page 5 and 6: Defy the constraints of time and te
Page 7 and 8: Is it possible to meet the increasi
Page 9 and 10: Heading to the Smart Grid? You’ll
Page 11 and 12: Defining the Smart Grid. Your visio
Page 13 and 14: “ The utility side of this strate
Page 15 and 16: www.bentley.com/substationeC Bentle
Page 17 and 18: WWW.INTELLIGENTUTILITY.COM 15
Page 19 and 20: Establishing coherent policy + + Ex
Page 21: WIRELESSLY MONITOR GRID PERFORMANCE
Page 25 and 26: SOURCE-TO-SOCKET: VENTYX DELIVERS V
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Page 29 and 30: launching September, 2011 Introduci
Page 31 and 32: © 2011 Enspiria Solutions, Inc., a
Page 33 and 34: Knowledge2011 Utility Executive Sum
Page 35 and 36: Texas co-ops opt for public communi
Page 37 and 38: magazine daily magazine daily magaz
Page 39 and 40: Log On Today! Inform yourself for t
Page 41 and 42: This lack of knowledge was somewhat
Page 43 and 44: Focus on Smart Grid Reality, Not th
Page 45 and 46: Yes, you can take it with you! FREE
Page 47 and 48: only component. Utilities need to l
Page 49 and 50: United States by a large margin, an
Page 51 and 52: The resulTs are in! Thermal Direct

FERC vs NERC: A grid control showdown over cyber security

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