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The Distributed Utility: A Future for Electric Power
Judith Cardell, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering, Picker Engineering Program/Department of Computer Science, Smith College
April 20, 2007
Abstract
Can electric power be generated from small, local and environmentally friendly technologies while at the same time continuing to meet society's insatiable appetite for electricity? Historical expectations that the electric power system deliver reliable and low cost electricity have expanded to include expectations of low impact (in terms of the environment and system expansion or NIMBY - not in my backyard), and higher power quality as required by electronic devices. Industry deregulation and the prolonged development of electricity markets places additional stress on the system as investors are reluctant to fund new projects, thus forcing the system to meet new demands with the existing, and rapidly aging infrastructure. Balancing these constraints, many solutions for meeting our future energy needs assume a greatly expanded use of clean coal, ethanol and nuclear energy. An alternative solution relies upon an increased use of distributed technologies including generation, storage and demand response. Examples of distributed generation include fuel cells, cogeneration, mini-hydro, wind, solar, microturbines and diesel gensets. Demand response, essentially missing from existing power systems, will be one of the most important elements of the future power system, in which customers will alter their consumption in response to both the real-time price of electricity and system reliability/emergency situations. A final element for a distributed utility is a new communications and control infrastructure. An expanded use of distributed technologies will undermine the traditional centralized control strategies and star networks for power system communications. A distributed utility will therefore introduce distributed and decentralized control supported by new communications architectures and protocols. This talk will discuss the motivation for power system evolution to a distributed utility and present research projects and results for both distributed generation and demand response modeling.
Biography
Judith Cardell received a B.S. in electrical engineering and an A.B. in government from Cornell University. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Technology Management and Policy through the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. She is currently the Clare Boothe Luce assistant professor at Smith College, Northampton MA. Dr. Cardell works in two areas related to the electric power industry. The first is the control and integration of distributed technologies into the existing electric power system and future, market driven system. The second area is that of industry deregulation and market design. Dr. Cardell investigates power system and electricity market reliability and stability in response to the integration of new, distributed technologies. Before coming to Smith, Dr. Cardell worked at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and as a consultant to the power industry. She was involved in writing federal electricity policy on aspects of the deregulation of the industry. She has provided expert testimony to the federal government analyzing the California energy crisis of 2000, and power system operations throughout the eastern United States.