Why we need to Connect Policy with Technology

Today, accelerated efforts are underway to further improve the efficiency of appliances (think LED light bulbs), install more renewable generation assets, leverage smart meters, dynamic line rating equipment, batteries, and more. While microgrids may help to some degree, our macro transmission grid is lagging.

Our new administration’s plan to throw money at the problem may help, but the NIMBY’s don’t really care, and money has never really been an issue when it comes to transmission investment. If our intention is to build new transmission lines to move clean power regionally, we need policies that allow this to happen within accelerated time frames.

While FERC is considering changing various incentives utilities rely on to receive reasonable ROI’s on their T&D investments, and considering a “consumer benefits” approach vs a “risk based” approach to ROI’s, a gaping hole may remain!  

While lots of papers have stated clearly that its cheaper to save a “Negawatt” than it is to produce a Megawatt (meaning that it is less expensive to conserve energy than it is to create it), very little consideration is given to the efficiency of the grid itself. From a financial position, the utilities don’t seem to care much, because the cost of power lost on and inefficient grid is simply passed along to consumers.

New policy needs to consider the importance of grid efficiency and grid operators need to look beyond “cheapest upfront capital costs” when considering project approvals.

Researchers at the University of Maryland and John Hopkins have concluded that nearly one-billion metric tons of CO2 equivalents can be attributed to inefficiencies in the world’s electric power grid.

While many might think none of this matters too much in the U.S., let me share one example:

In 2016 American Electric Power replaced 240 circuit miles of legacy ACSR conductor with new ACCC Conductor on their 345 kV grid in Texas. They selected ACCC Conductor due to its higher capacity, reduced thermal sag and resistance to corrosion for their transmission lines near the Gulf of Mexico. The higher capacity and lighter weight of the ACCC Conductor allowed them to use the existing structures, without modification to save time and money. Using a live line technique, they avoided shutdowns and achieved their goals eight months ahead of schedule.

The use of the more efficient ACCC Conductor also reduced line losses by 30%, saving over 300,000 MWh per year. That is the equivalent of reducing CO2 emissions by 200,000 metric tons – the equivalent of removing 34,000 cars from the road. Looking at it from another perspective, the reduction in line losses also freed-up 34 MW of generation capacity (which would cost more than the conductor AEP selected). Considering that thermal plants consume around 12,000 gallons of clean, filtered and pumped water for every MW generated, they are also saving ~3.5 billions of gallons of water every year. In a place like Texas, that’s probably a good thing.

Improving the efficiency of the grid using existing and highly proven technology should be considered a no-brainer. If we can create efficiency policies for generation and demand side appliances, we should be able to create efficiency policies for our grid, as well. In this case, everyone wins.