Americans' safety, productivity, comfort, and convenience depend on the reliable supply of electric power. The electric power system is a complex "cyber-physical" system composed of a network of millions of components spread out across the continent. These components are owned, operated, and regulated by thousands of different entities. Power system operators work hard to assure safe and reliable service, but large outages occasionally happen. Given the nature of the system, there is simply no way that outages can be completely avoided, no matter how much time and money is devoted to such an effort. The system's reliability and resilience can be improved but never made perfect. Thus, system owners, operators, and regulators must prioritize their investments based on potential benefits. Enhancing the Resilience of the Nation's Electricity System focuses on identifying, developing, and implementing strategies to increase the power system's resilience in the face of events that can cause large-area, long-duration outages: blackouts that extend over multiple service areas and last several days or longer. Resilience is not just about lessening the likelihood that these outages will occur. It is also about limiting the scope and impact of outages when they do occur, restoring power rapidly afterwards, and learning from these experiences to better deal with events in the future.

According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, changes in the earth’s climate are under way and expected to increase, posing risks to the electricity grid that may affect the nation’s economic and national security. Annual costs of weather-related power outages total billions of dollars and may increase with climate change, although resilience investments could help address potential effects, according to the research program. Private companies own most of the electricity grid, but the federal government plays a significant role in promoting grid resilience—the ability to adapt to changing conditions; withstand potentially disruptive events; and, if disrupted, to rapidly recover. DOE, the lead agency for grid resilience efforts, conducts research and provides information and technical assistance to industry. FERC reviews mandatory grid reliability standards. This report describes: (1) potential climate change effects on the electricity grid; and (2) actions DOE and FERC have taken since 2014 to enhance electricity grid resilience to climate change effects, and additional actions these agencies could take. GAO is making two recommendations: (1) DOE should develop a department-wide strategy to enhance grid resilience to climate change, and (2) FERC should identify and assess climate change risks to the grid and plan a response.

RESILIENCY OF POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS A revolutionary book covering the relevant concepts for resiliency-focused advancements of the distribution power grid Most resiliency and security guidelines for the power industry are focused on power transmission systems. As renewable energy and energy storage increasingly replace fossil-fuel-based power generation over the coming years, geospatially neighboring distributed energy resources will supply a majority of consumers and provide clean power through long transmission lines. These electric power distribution systems—the final stage in the delivery of electric power—carry electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers. New distributed devices will be essential to the grid to manage this variable power generation and enhance reliability and resilience while keeping electricity affordable as the world seeks solutions to climate change and threats from extreme events. In Resiliency of Power Distribution Systems, readers are provided with the tools to understand and enhance resiliency of distribution systems—and thereby, the entire power grid. In a shift from the present design and operation of the power system, the book is focused on improving the grid’s ability to predict, adapt, and respond to all hazards and threats. This, then, acts as a guide to ensure that any incident can be mitigated and responded to promptly and adequately. It also highlights the most advanced and applicable methodologies and architecture frameworks that evaluate degradation, advance proactive action, and transform system behavior to maintain normal operation, under extreme operating conditions. Resiliency of Power Distribution Systems readers will also find: Chapter organization that facilitates quick review of distribution fundamental and easy-but-thorough understanding of the importance of resiliency Real-world case studies where resilient power systems could have prevented massive financial and energy losses Frameworks to help mitigate cyber-physical attacks, strategize response on multiple timescales, and optimize operational efficiencies and priorities for the power grid Resiliency of Power Distribution Systems is a valuable reference for power system professionals including electrical engineers, utility operators, distribution system planners and engineers, and manufacturers, as well as members of the research community, energy market experts and policy makers, and graduate students on electrical engineering courses.

This book analyses the technical and social systems that satisfy these needs and asks how methods can be put into practice to achieve this.

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, completely upending the energy grid of the small island. The nearly year-long power outage that followed vividly shows how the new climate reality intersects with race and access to energy. The island is home to brown and black US citizens who lack the political power of those living in the continental US. As the world continues to warm and storms like Maria become more commonplace, it is critical that we rethink our current energy system to enable reliable, locally produced, and locally controlled energy without replicating the current structures of power and control. In Revolutionary Power, Shalanda Baker arms those made most vulnerable by our current energy system with the tools they need to remake the system in the service of their humanity. She argues that people of color, poor people, and indigenous people must engage in the creation of the new energy system in order to upend the unequal power dynamics of the current system. Revolutionary Power is a playbook for the energy transformation complete with a step-by-step analysis of the key energy policy areas that are ripe for intervention. Baker tells the stories of those who have been left behind in our current system and those who are working to be architects of a more just system. She draws from her experience as an energy-justice advocate, a lawyer, and a queer woman of color to inspire activists working to build our new energy system. Climate change will force us to rethink the way we generate and distribute energy and regulate the system. But how much are we willing to change the system? This unique moment in history provides an unprecedented opening for a deeper transformation of the energy system, and thus, an opportunity to transform society. Revolutionary Power shows us how.

As the electric power industry faces the challenges of climate change, technological disruption, new market imperatives, and changing policies, a renowned energy expert offers a roadmap to the future of this essential sector. As the damaging and costly impacts of climate change increase, the rapid development of sustainable energy has taken on great urgency. The electricity industry has responded with necessary but wrenching shifts toward renewables, even as it faces unprecedented challenges and disruption brought on by new technologies, new competitors, and policy changes. The result is a collision course between a grid that must provide abundant, secure, flexible, and affordable power, and an industry facing enormous demands for power and rapid, systemic change. The fashionable solution is to think small: smart buildings, small-scale renewables, and locally distributed green energy. But Peter Fox-Penner makes clear that these will not be enough to meet our increasing needs for electricity. He points instead to the indispensability of large power systems, battery storage, and scalable carbon-free power technologies, along with the grids and markets that will integrate them. The electric power industry and its regulators will have to provide all of these, even as they grapple with changing business models for local electric utilities, political instability, and technological change. Power after Carbon makes sense of all the moving parts, providing actionable recommendations for anyone involved with or relying on the electric power system.

The increasingly interconnected, fast-moving, unmanageable and unpredictable world brings with it an unprecedented variety of known and as yet unknown challenges and risks. Some of the global risks have a direct impact on critical infrastructures as well as those of energy supply in particular. A high level of functionality of critical infrastructures (CRITIS), which include the sectors of energy, information technology and telecommunications, transportation and traffic, health, water, food, finance and insurance, government and administration, as well as media and culture, is indispensable for a modern industrial society. In the context of the Corona crisis of 2020/2021, the worldwide inadequate preparation for pandemics became obvious, although the probability of epidemic outbreaks and their global spread has increased significantly in recent decades and was thus predictable to a certain extent. Moreover, it has been shown that in a globally interconnected world, complex crisis phenomena can mutually amplify and thus escalate within a short period of time. In particular, the deficits in preparedness for major risks that became apparent in the course of the Corona pandemic cannot be managed by nation states alone, especially since the probability of such events has risen continuously in recent decades and will continue to increase with growing globalization and urbanization and, in particular, as a result of climate change and its consequences. This publication addresses the challenges of energy resilience and climate protection, which will require immense attention in the future.

The threats to the electricity grid are on the rise at the same time as society is increasing its dependence on electricity for every aspect of our personal, social, and economic lives. We are accelerating that dependence – looking to the electrification of transportation and buildings as a way to stem the threats of climate change. Those threats have now arrived (in the form of more extreme weather, droughts, and wildfire) and they are joined by increasing threats from an aging grid and cyberattacks. The grid we rely on is experiencing increasingly vulnerable external forces. We aren’t helpless. Effective planning around these threats can dramatically reduce the havoc they engender on the electric grid. At every level, from a single building, to a city, to the electric grid and the federal government, steps can be taken to improve our resilience to threats to the electricity system. When those efforts are coordinated, their benefits multiply. This book aims to provide every level of decision-maker with tools and best practices for reducing the risk of and from electricity loss. It is written in non-technical language, with a focus on actionable, easily implemented steps.

In June 2011, President Obama released "A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid" which set out a strategy for modernizing the electric grid. The initiative directed billions of dollars toward investments in 21st century smart grid technologies focused at increasing the grid's efficiency, reliability, and resilience, and making it less vulnerable to weather-related outages and reducing the time it takes to restore power after an outage occurs. Grid resilience is increasingly important as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of severe weather, which is the leading cause of power outages in the U.S. Between 2003 and 2012, an estimated 679 widespread power outages occurred due to severe weather. This report estimates the annual cost of power outages caused by severe weather between 2003 and 2012 and describes various strategies for modernizing the grid and increasing grid resilience. Over this period, weather-related outages are estimated to have cost the U.S. economy an inflation-adjusted annual average of $18 billion to $33 billion. Continued investment in grid modernization and resilience will mitigate these costs over time. Figures. This is a print on demand report.