IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 21
Preparing for a Future
with High Penetrations of
Distributed Energy Resources
By Robert Sherick and Robert Yinger
C
CA LI FOR N I A IS AT TH E FOR EF RON T OF TH E POW ER GR ID EVOLUTION
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enable customer self-generation. Distributed energy
resources (DERs) are the latest in a series of technology advancements that challenge the
electric industry to evolve. While there is a long history of disruptive technologies that have
impacted the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, one of the unique challenges of DERs is that they are adopted directly by customers with minimal utility management
and control (Figure 1).
Utilities have evaluated, procured, and implemented technologies that, for many years, successfully increased in scale and consequently created customer savings that culminated with
large nuclear plants in the mid-1970s. These economies of scale were stalled with the post-Three
Mile Island questioning of nuclear power plants and the rise of natural gas and independent
power producers. This change from utility-financed, large endeavors to independently financed,
smaller natural-gas units precipitated the creation of independent system operators (ISOs) and
industry restructuring in the late 1990s. This restructuring was a significant rethinking of the
role of the utility and very publicly came to a head in California with the energy crisis.
While the California energy crisis indicated that a utility going bankrupt through market
mechanisms was not productive, it strongly encouraged policy makers to increase their focus on
renewable and distributed resources. Through a series of landmark decisions (e.g., SB-1078-
Renewable Portfolio Standard, AB-32-Global Warming Solution Act, AB-327-Distribution
Resource Plan, and SB-350-50% RPS), California has enabled levels of solar photovoltaics
(PVs), storage, and electric vehicle adoption that positions the state among the leaders in the
nation and internationally.
Many great articles and books have been written on the subject of the smart grid and prosumers, and one particular view expressed by Corneli and Kihm seems especially important.
In their DER future white paper, Corneli and Kihm refer to the "social benefit of coordination"
where "organizations that can provide more outcomes that are valued by policy makers through
coordination will tend to receive policy support to develop such levels of coordination." This
successful coordination is critical, and utilities seem to be a key player, if not the primary coordinator, in this emerging grid technology landscape. As the New York Reforming the Energy
Vision indicates, utilities have the opportunity to perform this coordination role, but they need
to execute that role as platform provider and coordinator.
Southern California Edison (SCE) is working on a comprehensive set of demonstrations
of an integrated grid that facilitates higher penetrations of solar PVs, storage, and demand
response and co-optimizes customer resources with utility assets in operating the distribution grid. These demonstrations include the Integrated Grid Project (IGP), the demonstration
projects specified as part of the Distribution Resources Plan (DRP) proceeding with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and a host of studies and emerging efforts to
better understand the impacts and opportunities that DERs create. These efforts incorporate
many of the key policy objectives in California including 1) determining and publishing the
march/april 2017
ieee power & energy magazine
21
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - Cover1
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - Cover2
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 1
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 2
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 3
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 4
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 5
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 6
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 7
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 8
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 9
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 10
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 11
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 12
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 13
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 14
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 15
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 16
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 17
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 18
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 19
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 20
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 21
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 22
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 23
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 24
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 25
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 26
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 27
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 28
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 29
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 30
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 31
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 32
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 33
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 34
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 35
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 36
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 37
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 38
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 39
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 40
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 41
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 42
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 43
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 44
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 45
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 46
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 47
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 48
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 49
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 50
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 51
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 52
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 53
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 54
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 55
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 56
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 57
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 58
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 59
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 60
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 61
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 62
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 63
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 64
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 65
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 66
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 67
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 68
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 69
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 70
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 71
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 72
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 73
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 74
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 75
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 76
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 77
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 78
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 79
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 80
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 81
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 82
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 83
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 84
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 85
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 86
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 87
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 88
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 89
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 90
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 91
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 92
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 93
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 94
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 95
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - 96
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - Cover3
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - March/April 2017 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070820
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050620
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030420
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010220
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111219
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070819
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050619
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030419
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010219
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111218
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070818
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050618
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030418
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010218
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111217
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070817
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050617
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030417
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010217
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111216
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070816
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050616
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030416
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010216
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/powerenergy_010216
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111215
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070815
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050615
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030415
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010215
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111214
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070814
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050614
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030414
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010214
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com