Morgan chairing congressional briefing on future of US electrical grid
By Staff Writer
Hamerschlag University Professor Granger Morgan will chair a briefing by a National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee that includes Dean Bill Sanders as they deliver a congressional briefing on “The Future of Electric Power in the U.S.,” followed by a public webinar.
Many vital services and utilities in the U.S. are dependent on electrical power. Current events such as the crisis in Texas have shown the disastrous effects of prolonged mass power disruptions, however the challenges to the future of our electric grid go well beyond this most recent example
The committee was brought together by NASEM in response to a Department of Energy (DOE) request to evaluate the medium- and long-term evolution of the electric grid. In particular, the committee was asked to consider:
- Technologies – for generation, storage, power electronics, sensing and measuring, controls systems, cyber security, and loads.
- Planning and Operations – evolution of current practices in response to changing generation, technologies, and end-use.
- Business Models – cost and benefits to modernization; potential changes to oversight and market operations.
- Grid Architectures – technical and jurisdictional challenges to implementation.
Morgan, University Professor in Engineering and Public Policy and Electrical and Computer Engineering, as well as Dean Sanders were both members of the previous NASEM committee on enhancing the resilience of the U.S. electricity system. They provided recommendations, underscored in this newest brief, to assess and prepare against “plausible large-area, long-duration grid disruptions that could have major economic, social, and other adverse consequences.”
The committee’s final report was informed by workshops on cybersecurity and planning models, as well as numerous briefing and webinars. Morgan, who chaired the study, and his fellow authors lay out likely ways in which the U.S. power grid may evolve. They emphasize safe and secure operations as the core priority in grid evolution, and note the need to balance additional considerations for affordability & equity, sustainability & clean power, and reliability & resistance.
They’ve also created 40 recommendations to Congress, DOE, state entities, and other federal and private institutions operating within or around the energy sector. This list of suggestions offers the most informed perspective for how the U.S. may continue providing safe and secure power and avert future crises, with particular consideration towards the social, economic, and environmental impact of the decisions being made.
Morgan, Dean Sanders, and the NASEM committee will present their report before Congress on Thursday, February 25, with a public webinar to follow at 3PM EST. All members of the public are invited to participate, please register to attend.
