Gas-Electric Interdependence
Date: 02/13/2024
Contact: John Brewer
Presentation to February 2024 DOE Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) Meeting regarding interrelationship between gas and electric. The EAC is a Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) committee. The purpose of the EAC is to provide advice to the U.S. Department of Energy in implementing the Energy Policy Act of 2005, executing the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and modernizing the nation's electricity delivery infrastructure.
Reliability and Decarbonization Resource Adequacy and Resilience
Date: 09/27/2023
Contact: Kirk Labarbara
The Electric Power Transformation: 2023 MEGA Symposium has a focus on the transition of the energy generation industry to cleaner and climate resilient electric power that can remain cost-effective and reliable. Electric power energy issues abound as the world and the industry address environmental policy challenges—climate change, air quality, waste and water policy, environmental justice, and Environmental Social Governance —and various technology issues related to energy production and delivery, including the latest cutting-edge options. This presentation discusses reliability and decarbonization of the power sector with a focus on resource adequacy and resilience.
Disjunctive optimization model and algorithm for long-term capacity expansion planning of reliable power generation systems
Date: 03/30/2023
Contact: Anthony Burgard
This paper proposes a new optimization model and algorithm for long-term capacity expansion planning of reliable power generation systems. The model optimizes both investment decisions (e.g., size, location, and time to install, retire and decommission facilities) and operation decisions (e.g., on/off status, operating capacity, and expected power output). It is also able to optimize reserve systems (or backup systems), as well as the main systems, to improve power systems reliability. This paper was published in Computers & Chemical Engineering.
2022 Summer Resource Adequacy in the ERCOT Region
Date: 07/20/2022
Contact: John Brewer
This report is a 2022 update to the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) report that examined the potential system performance of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system during the summer of 2021. Anticipated summer reserve margins in ERCOT have risen year-over-year from the 15.7 percent reported in ERCOT’s Final Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) for Summer 2021 to 22.8 percent in the Final SARA for Summer 2022, driven mostly by increases in wind and solar generation. Using data from ERCOT’s 2022 Summer SARA, Capacity, Demand and Reserves (CDR) reports, and historical performance data obtained from ERCOT and Hitachi Energy Velocity Suite, six economic dispatch scenarios using PROMOD were developed to assess the risk to ERCOT of a load shedding event for Summer 2022. The results suggests that ERCOT may be facing a very tight resource adequacy situation, with the potential for a serious shortfall during the summer peak, usually the end of July through mid-August, if demand and generator outage rates significantly exceed peak levels. Under these conditions, ERCOT will need to call on its operating tools, including Energy Emergency Alerts (EEA) and calls to conserve electricity, to maintain reliability and continue serving load. Those measures alone may not be sufficient to avert a shedding of load.
2021 Summer Resource Adequacy in the ERCOT Region
Date: 06/15/2021
Contact: John Brewer
This report is an update to the NETL report on the same topic that examined the potential system performance of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system during the summer of 2020. Anticipated reserve margins in ERCOT have risen year-over-year from the 10.7 percent reported in ERCOT’s Final Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) for Summer 2020 to 15.7 percent for Summer 2021 in ERCOT’s Capacity, Demand and Reserves [CDR] report published in December 2020 and 2021 Summer Preliminary SARA published in March 2021. Using data from ERCOT’s 2021 Summer SARA, CDR, and historical performance data, six economic dispatch scenarios using PROMOD were developed to assess the risk to ERCOT of a load shedding event for Summer 2021. The results suggest that ERCOT could make it through the summer season without a loss of load event, as long as the weather remains normal. However, through a combination of scenarios, including increased demand, increased forced outages, and low wind output, ERCOT is likely to find itself operating in emergency conditions.
Guideline for Developing Security Constrained Unit Commitment and Dispatch Models for NETL Studies
Date: 09/21/2020
Contact: John Brewer
Guideline for the construction of security constrained unit commitment and dispatch models for use in NETL studies.
2020 Summer Resource Adequacy in the ERCOT Region
Date: 05/08/2020
Contact: John Brewer
The study looks at the evolution of the ERCOT market across the last decade to provide an understanding of how the market arrived at its current condition. In addition, the study examines four scenarios and utilizes probabilistic dispatch analysis to assess the potential for resource adequacy and reliability concerns under those scenarios. The study finds that under three of the four scenarios, the region will see an increased risk for Energy Emergency Alerts and need for emergency operator actions to ensure the reliable delivery of electricity to the more than 25 million people who ERCOT serves.
Power Market Primers
Date: 04/30/2019
Contact: John Brewer
This report is a series of primers on key electricity system fundamentals and bodies. They explore the history, workings, and types of electricity markets comprising the regional transmission organizations in the U.S. The primers are accompanied by a Glossary for Power Market Primers in which many of the technical terms used in these primers are defined.
Reliability, Resilience, and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume II-A: Case Study: Organized Markets of the Eastern Interconnection
Date: 04/19/2019
Contact: Peter Balash
This study follows upon the previously published NETL reports that examined the performance of electricity generation units during the winter storm and cold weather event known as the “Bomb Cyclone” that occurred in early 2018. This study briefly explains the dynamics of the natural gas market, reviews the performance of slated and at-risk for retirement coal plants during the Bomb Cyclone, calculates the costs of serving load above “normal” conditions, and observes trends in fuel secure generation. Subsequently, the report projects near-term economic and reliability costs associated with expansion of the natural gas generation network finding that natural gas deliverability constraints lead to high fuel and electricity price spikes that are exacerbated by the continued retirements of thermal units. Conservatively, an investment of $470 million to $1.1 billion over that already entrained in the long-haul natural gas transmission system is identified to avoid even worse outcomes.
Reliability, Resilience, and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume II-C: Fuel-Electricity Interaction in the Northeast and Midcontinent
Date: 04/19/2019
Contact: John Brewer
This study aims to investigate how future cold weather events might affect regions as their generation fleet continues to shift away from baseload coal and nuclear plants and toward natural gas units and renewables. In particular, this study explores the potential effects of simulated extreme winter weather events in the northeastern U.S. from 2018 through 2025, how that weather might affect the BES and natural gas infrastructure and market performance, and how might the electricity and natural gas markets respond to increased demand on the system.
Reliability, Resilience, and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume II-B: Electricity Generation Supply Chain in the Northeast
Date: 04/19/2019
Contact: John Brewer
This study follows upon and expands upon the previously published NETL reports that examined the performance of electricity generation units during the winter storm and cold weather event known as the “Bomb Cyclone” that occurred in early 2018. This study reviews the performance of slated and at-risk for retirement coal plants during the Bomb Cyclone, natural gas price volatility, and the role of energy and fuel storage.
Tracking New Energy Infrastructure with Fuel Stockpiles Supplement – 2018
Date: 12/31/2018
Contact: John Brewer
This report provides a perspective on energy infrastructure under development as of the end of 2018, focusing on those making significant progress toward achieving commercial operation. Infrastructures covered in this report include power plants, electric transmission, natural gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals. Additionally, this report includes a supplemental collecting data on the stockpiled volumes of coal, natural gas, and petroleum
A Review of PJM Interconnection's April 13, 2018, Response to NETL's Report on Reliability, Resilience and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units
Date: 11/07/2018
Contact: Peter Balash
In a March 2018 report entitled Reliability, Resilience and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) analyzed the fleet performance of market areas impacted by a 13-day storm known colloquially as the “Bomb Cyclone.” Special attention was paid to northeastern areas, as these were most impacted. With respect to PJM Interconnection LLC (PJM), the report found that 1) without coal units, the system would have experienced shortfalls; 2) approximately 25 gigawatts (GW) of heretofore underutilized coal-fired plants provided crucial capacity, lending the system resilience; 3) nearly 28 GW of natural gas-fired capacity did not deploy, due to severe spikes in natural gas prices caused in turn by constrained gas deliverability, in the face of tremendous space heating demand and transmission deliverability constraints on the bulk electric system.
In April 2018, PJM issued a response that argued the NETL analysis was misplaced, asserting that gas-fired capacity was available and that it could have been called into service but was not, due to “economics.” This brief represents NETL’s reaction to PJM’s assertions in its April 2018 response.
Reliability and the Oncoming Wave of Retiring Baseload Units, Volume I: The Critical Role of Thermal Units During Extreme Weather Events
Date: 03/13/2018
Contact: Peter Balash
This study examines the cold weather event now known as the Bomb Cyclone that blanketed much of the eastern half of the United States from Dec 27, 2017 through Jan 8, 2018. Analyses focus on six areas of organized markets administered by independent system operators in the US Eastern Interconnection and Texas. This report finds: (1) Combined, fossil and nuclear energy plants provided 89% of electricity during peak demand across all the ISOs; (2) Coal provided the most resilient form of generation in PJM; (3) The value of fuel-based power generation resilience in PJM during this event was estimated at $3.5 billion; (4) Natural gas price spikes, increased demand, and pipeline constraints led to significant fuel oil burn in the US Northeast; (5) Renewables imposed a resilience penalty on the system as output decreased as demand increased; (6) Underestimation of coal and nuclear retirements could give rise to reliability concerns and an inability to meet projected electricity demand.
Tracking New Energy Infrastructure with Fuel Stockpiles Supplement – 2017
Date: 12/31/2017
Contact: John Brewer
This report provides a perspective on energy infrastructure under development as of the end of 2017, focusing on those making significant progress toward achieving commercial operation. Infrastructures covered in this report include power plants, electric transmission, natural gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals. Additionally, this report includes a supplemental illustrating the stockpiled volumes of coal, natural gas, and petroleum.
Ensuring Reliable Natural Gas-Fired Power Generation with Fuel Contracts and Storage
Date: 11/17/2017
Contact: John Brewer
This report finds that natural gas-fired power plants purchase fuel both on the spot market and through firm supply contracts; there do not appear to be clear drivers propelling power plants toward one or the other type. Most natural gas-fired power generators are located near major natural gas transmission pipelines, and most natural gas contracts are currently procured on the spot market. Although there is some regional variation in the type of contract used, a strong regional pattern does not emerge. Whether gas prices are higher with spot or firm contracts varies by both region and year.
Natural Gas Compressors and Processors – Overview and Potential Impact on Power System Reliability
Date: 07/18/2017
Contact: Justin Adder
Natural gas compressor stations and processing plants are critical components of the natural gas transmission network. Gas compressor stations are located periodically along the transmission pipeline to boost the pressure of the gas to make up for lost pressure due to pipeline friction and changes in pipeline elevation. Processing plants act in the recovery/fractionation of natural gas liquids (NGLs) (e.g., ethane, propane, butane), and remove contaminants (e.g., H2S, CO2, H2O, etc.) from the produced natural gas at or near the wellpad, and at multiple points along the supply chain. This report evaluates the impact natural gas transmission compressors and processing plants have on the natural gas system in terms of its ability to supply sufficient natural gas for electrical generation.
Tracking New Energy Infrastructure with Fuel Stockpiles Supplement - 2016
Date: 12/31/2016
Contact: John Brewer
This report provides a perspective on energy infrastructure under development as of the end of 2016, focusing on those making significant progress toward achieving commercial operation. Infrastructures covered in this report include power plants, electric transmission, natural gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals. Additionally, this report includes a supplemental illustrating the stockpiled volumes of coal, natural gas, and petroleum.
ISO New England Dual Fuel Study
Date: 09/13/2016
Contact: John Brewer
This report examines technical, regulatory, and market issues associated with operating power plants primarily fueled with natural gas, on a secondary fuel, such as fuel oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG). In addition, a regional case study was completed to identify the current and near-term potential for dual fuel operation in New England, along with a market impact analysis of potential cost savings during an extreme weather event. The New England Independent System Operator (ISO-NE) was selected as the study area based on a preponderance of natural gas-fired generators contributing to the regional generating capacity mix (nearly 50 percent natural gas), limited natural gas supply infrastructure, and the potential for natural gas delivery disruptions due to cold weather events, exacerbated by the lack of bulk natural gas storage in the region.
Profile of Resource Adequacy in the MISO Region
Date: 03/17/2015
Contact: John Brewer
MISO is facing a number of generation resource challenges, ranging from large amounts of retirements, behind schedule retrofit projects, and internal resources committed to exporting power to PJM's capacity market. This report identifies potential issues with generator retirements and retrofits, as well as potential transmission issues, including the impact of imports and exports in a short-term outlook for resource adequacy in the MISO region, including specific concerns with the generation capacity expected to be available in the MISO North and Central regions from 2014 to 2016, as well as additional risks from proposed environmental regulations.
Coal Fleet Transition: Retirement Impacts in the Eastern Interconnection
Date: 02/22/2015
Contact: Chris Nichols
This report examines the impact of announced retirements on the mix of available generating capacity, prices, resource availability, and air emissions in the Eastern Interconnection. The report uses a security constrained economic dispatch (SCED) model - Ventyx's PROMOD IV 11.1 - of the bulk electric system (BES) to model the interconnection.
Natural Gas and Electric Interdependencies Case Study: Near-Term Infrastructure Needs in PJM
Date: 02/12/2015
Contact: Justin Adder
Low natural gas prices, capacity market uncertainty, and large quantities of coal-fired capacity retirements are leading to a significant growth in PJM Interconnection, LLC (PJM) capacity from natural gas. This report summarizes the information developed for a case study of the PJM Regional Transmission Organization’s (RTO) infrastructure to determine the impact on the system from this shift from coal to natural gas. This report also evaluates the current and forecasted planned-certain capacity mix and the current and forecasted natural gas infrastructure to understand the potential risk areas with the shift from coal to gas. Previously posted version revised to add all contributing authors, correct formatting issues, and remove uncited and duplicate references.
Issues in Focus: The Role of Natural Gas Storage in Maintaining Reliability on the Electric Power System
Date: 01/21/2015
Contact: Justin Adder
As natural gas provides an increasing percentage of the nation’s electric power, the electric power system may become more vulnerable to certain types of reliability risks. Unlike other power generation sources – such as coal or nuclear – gas-fired power plants rely on just-in-time delivery of natural gas. Congestion and outages along the pipelines and/or compressor stations that supply gas-fired electric generating units can cause service interruptions. This Issue in Focus details the role of natural gas storage in maintaining reliability of the electric power system. This analysis is one of a series of Issues in Focus for natural gas/electricity interdependencies.
Issue Paper: Electricity System Adequacy - Challenges Facing the Nuclear Power Industry
Date: 11/06/2014
Contact: John Brewer
One in a series of Issue Papers addressing Electricity System Adequacy, this report focuses on Challenges Facing the Nuclear Power Industry. Early proclamations of a nuclear renaissance yield to predictions of the industry's decline, while proposed carbon regulations offer potential optimism to use nuclear as a clean energy source. Yet, nuclear plants are currently "at-risk" of early retirement (for economic reasons) due to electricity market design issues and competition with low priced natural gas. Concerns are identified as baseload generation shifts from coal and nuclear to increasing natural gas and renewables which may impact on the reliability of the power system.
Making Room for Coal Generation Under the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) Rule
Date: 10/07/2014
Contact: Justin Adder
In addition to CCS being identified as BSER in NSPS, the IPCC and IEA have asserted CCS is needed in order to achieve GHG goals. Applying an ITC to coal generation could enable coal generation with CCS to be viable in electric power markets. Competitive forces that could help enable coal with CCS include higher natural gas demand driving NG prices higher; identified alternative structures for capacity markets to meet the financial requirements of various resources for resource mix and diversity purposes; different capacity auction commitment periods; and multi-lateral contracts to spread risks across RTO members. Higher demand for new NGCCs could increase capital cost growth more than for IGCC-CCS or ADVPC-CCS with R&D gained efficiencies.
Energy Related Flow Diagrams
Date: 12/01/2013
Contact: Erik Shuster
This document contains several energy related flow diagrams (Sankey diagrams). For a Sankey diagram, the width of the arrows is proportional to the flow quantity. The following energy related diagrams included in the document are: U.S. energy use, international oil flows, international and domestic coal import/exports, and international natural gas flows.
Estimated U.S. Energy Use in 2012: Contributions from Fossil, Nuclear, and Renewable Energy
Date: 06/01/2013
Contact: Erik Shuster
A diagram of major energy sources for each sector of the U.S. economy depicted as flows in a Sankey diagram. Proportions of fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy provided for electricity generation and ultimately used by the residential, industrial, commercial, and transportation sectors of the economy are shown. This diagram rearranges and segregates information originally published by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, based on data from the Energy Information Administration's Monthly Energy Review, May 2013.
Conventional Generation Asset Management with Renewable Portfolio Standards Using Real Options
Date: 05/01/2013
Contact: Peter Balash
The transition to a more renewable generation mix under a competitive electricity market will require individual power producers to use sophisticated tools to value conventional generators. Owners will need to understand what market prices signal new investments, temporarily suspending operation, reactivating mothballed generators or permanently abandoning a plant. Net present valuation from a traditional discounted cash flow analysis is limited in capturing the value of generation technologies, and it does not provide an optimal investment criterion. We present and evaluate a closed-form decision support framework using a Spark Spread Real Options approach to value generation assets and to capture optimal market price signals that minimizes financial risks of individual power producers under a transition towards a more renewable energy fleet.
LCA XII Presentation: Life Cycle GHG Inventory Sensitivity to Changes in Natural Gas System Parameters
Date: 09/27/2012
Contact: Matthew Jamieson
This presentation discusses life cycle inventories of cradle-to-gate delivered natural gas fuel and cradle-to-grave natural gas fired electricity generation with a focus on greenhouse gas emissions. The study looks at eight distinct sources of natural gas and performs a number of sensitivity studies. The results show that production rate, episodic emission factors and the flaring rate have the most impact on the cradle-to-gate emissions profile, while power plant heat rate or efficiency most affects the cradle-to-grave emissions.
Estimated U.S. Energy Use in 2010: Contributions from Fossil, Nuclear, and Renewable Energy
Date: 12/01/2011
Contact: Ken Kern
A diagram of major energy sources for each sector of the U.S. economy depicted as flows in a Sankey diagram. Proportions of fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy provided for electricity generation and ultimately used by the residential, industrial, commercial, and transportation sectors of the economy are shown. This diagram rearranges and segregates information originally published by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, based on data from the Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Review, 2010.
The Role of Coal in a Smart Grid Environment
Date: 11/01/2011
Contact: Kirk Labarbara
This report discusses how the traditional role of coal might change in a "Smart Grid” environment. We examine new roles that might leverage the advantages and mitigate the challenges for coal generation. Topics include: i) How baseload demand might change as Smart Grid technologies are adopted, ii) ways that coal might service this changing baseload including centralized generation, distributed generation (DG), and combined heat and power (CHP), and, iii) the potential for coal to provide ancillary services and reserves. A "Smart Grid City of the Future” model is developed to demonstrate operational and economic characteristics of coal generation technologies. The revision involves changing the payback period from four years to six years for the Smart Grid City analysis.
Eliminating the Derate of Carbon Capture Retrofits
Date: 09/12/2011
Contact: Gregory Hackett
OBSOLETE CCRD – SUPERSEDED
Retrofitting existing PC plants with amine-based CO2 capture technology is thermally- and power-intensive. This study examines the benefit of installing a natural gas simple cycle to provide the auxiliaries required to operate the amine system such that the original power demand can still be met.
Frequency Instability Problems in North American Interconnections
Date: 06/01/2011
Contact: John Brewer
Uniquely correlating the increased number of larger and longer-lasting frequency excursions in North American Interconnections with electricity market design and frequency control regulations, the report connects direct (technical) and indirect (non-technical) causes, both the physics of the problem and the regulatory environment (i.e., regulations, standards, and policies). The physical laws governing the frequency stability phenomenon and system control efforts are responsible for maintaining the nominal system frequency. However, the regulatory environment impacts policy on market design, affecting frequency stability and policies directly affecting frequency control practices. The report covers both technical and policy aspects to improve frequency stability.
Technical and Economic Analysis of Various Power Generation Resources Coupled with CAES Systems
Date: 05/17/2011
Contact: Thomas Tarka
Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is an energy storage application with the potential to supplement intermittent power sources, such as wind and solar generators, and to enable better load following for more constant power sources such as coal combustion generators. To better understand CAES’s potential to provide practical energy storage for intermittent and constant-output power sources in the U.S., three practical considerations important to CAES planning and operations were analyzed: 1. Siting decisions 2. Development of optimal charge-discharge strategies 3. Design and operating factors that affect efficiency. These three analyses form the major sections of this study.
Thermal Plant Emissions Due to Intermittent Renewable Power Integration
Date: 05/01/2011
Contact: John Brewer
Answering the question of whether operating one or more natural-gas turbines to firm variable wind or solar power would result in increased Nitrous oxide (NOx) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions compared to full-power steady-state operation of natural-gas turbines, the analysis demonstrates that CO2 emissions reductions are likely to be 75-80% of those presently assumed by policy makers (one-for-one reduction). NOx reduction depends strongly on the type of NOx control and how it is dispatched. For the best system examined, using 20% renewable penetration, the NOx reductions are 30-50% of those expected; in the worst, emissions increased by 2-4 times the expected reductions.
Electric Power System Asset Optimization (Report)
Date: 03/07/2011
Contact: Kirk Labarbara
This report examines the current state of utility asset optimization within the framework of a vertically integrated utility and presents evidence on why assets are not fully optimized today. It then discusses how Smart Grid processes, technologies, and applications could be leveraged to improve today’s asset management programs enabling a significant improvement in the utilization of both system assets and human resources.
Electric Power System Asset Optimization (Presentation)
Date: 03/04/2011
Contact: Kirk Labarbara
This presentation summarizes the finding for the report, Electric Power System Asset Optimization, which investigates asset optimization within the framework of a vertically integrated utility and presents evidence on why assets are not fully optimized today. It then discusses how Smart Grid processes, technologies, and applications could be leveraged to improve today’s asset management programs enabling a significant improvement in the utilization of both system assets and human resources.
Environmental Impacts of Smart Grid
Date: 01/01/2011
Contact: Justin Adder
Using critical review of existing literature and independent analyses, NETL summarizes Smart Grid’s impact on the environment and identifies additional research to clarify the complex relationship between Smart Grid, applications enabled by Smart Grid and environmental impact. Major impacts on environmental emissions enabled by Smart Grid include load reduction/shift from demand response and demand side management; electric vehicle charging and electrification of transportation sector; shift in generation mix toward intermittent renewables; shift toward distributed generation located closer to load and improved transmission and distribution operations.
Assessment of Future Vehicle Transportation Options and Their Impact on the Electric Grid - Report
Date: 01/01/2011
Contact: Justin Adder
Using critical review of existing literature and independent analyses, NETL summarizes the future of vehicle transportation and its impact on the electric grid. It begins with a discussion of the technology performance characteristics and market potential of key competitors in the vehicle sector, in order to set the stage for the discussion of EVs, which have the highest potential for short-term market penetration. EVs are also the key transportation technology that will have a significant impact on the electric power grid, making their usage and prevalence important to both electric utilities and load-serving entities and consumers.
Assessment of Future Vehicle Transportation Options and Their Impact on the Electric Grid - Presentation
Date: 01/01/2011
Contact: Justin Adder
Using critical review of existing literature and independent analyses, NETL summarizes the future of vehicle transportation and its impact on the electric grid. It begins with a discussion of the technology performance characteristics and market potential of key competitors in the vehicle sector, in order to set the stage for the discussion of electric vehicles (EVs), which have the highest potential for short-term market penetration. EVs are also the key transportation technology that will have a significant impact on the electric power grid, making their usage and prevalence important to both electric utilities and load-serving entities and consumers.
Environmental Impacts of Smart Grid - Presentation
Date: 01/01/2011
Contact: Justin Adder
Using critical review of existing literature and independent analyses, NETL summarizes Smart Grid’s impact on the environment and identifies additional research to clarify the complex relationship between Smart Grid, applications enabled by Smart Grid and environmental impact. Major impacts on environmental emissions enabled by Smart Grid include load reduction/shift from demand response and demand side management; electric vehicle charging and electrification of transportation sector; shift in generation mix toward intermittent renewables; shift toward distributed generation located closer to load and improved transmission and distribution operations.