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Home > All School Topics
All School TopicsTRANSMISSION BASICSAn overview on transmission hardware; system design; facility siting; the physics of the interconnected transmission grid; existing and new generation sources; the basics of power systems; and, deployment of new technology for transmission. TRANSMISSION SERVICES AND PRICINGExplanation of how transmission service is provided; the key aspects of transmission service pricing – access and congestion; incentives for grid expansion and coverage of evolving regulatory requirements; long-term financial transmission rights; the role of investment in improving the provision of transmission services in electricity markets. TRANSMISSION OPERATIONSReview of the requirements for the interconnected grid coordination to meet various reliability/security and economy considerations; the functions of the control center; the impacts of mandatory reliability standards; and, the ERO functions. GRID INTEGRATION OF RENEWABLE AND DEMAND RESOURCESThe key obstacles to overcome for the effective integration of renewable generation and demand response resources; current opportunities; major challenges and the way markets and regulation are shaping the various decisions; recent legislation; role of aggregated distributed energy resources, including storage; and, actual system experiences. TRANSMISSION SYSTEM COMPUTER SIMULATIONA hands-on demonstration of the innate complexities of the interconnected grids; examples of constrained systems; interrelationships between market forces and the movement of energy; key points on historical blackouts; and the impact of extreme weather events. ELECTRICITY MARKETS AND RISK MANAGEMENTThe evolution of electricity markets to sophisticated pools; public and private markets; the role of forward markets in risk mitigation; role of financial institutions and hedge funds; purchase power agreements; credit worthiness standards. ELECTRICITY RESTRUCTURING DEVELOPMENTS AND POLICYA review of how the industry got to where it is today, the unbundling of the electric power industry, its new structures, and the emergence of transmission as a critically important new business; the new structures created by FERC Order Nos. 888, 889, 890 and 2000; the key RTO issues; FERC directions for electricity market and RTO development; market design issues; Order No. 888 reform; impacts of net metering activities mandated by the EPACT 2005, EISA 2007 and ARRA 2009. MARKET MONITORINGThe role and nature of market monitoring; market behavior metrics and monitoring data requirements; modes of market power, mitigation approaches and FERC priorities; market performance in RTO and bilateral markets; inter-RTO seams issues; nature of investigations, audits and compliance enforcement. TRANSMISSION PLANNING AND RELIABILITYCoverage of the planning, siting, asset modernization, utilization and investment aspects and their interrelationships with cost allocation; reliability management under mandatory reliability requirements; environmental impacts; national-interest electric transmission corridors. regional planning challenges; NERC’s ERO role; and, environmental matter/policies. TRANSMISSION INVESTMENT AND OPERATIONS BUSINESS MODELSOverview of the RTO structure issues; review of international experiences; the role and the nature of incentives for the new transmission asset investments. MARKET DESIGN AND CONGESTION MANAGEMENTThe key aspects of efficient market design and structures; the interrelationships between markets; the role of ancillary service markets; effective transmission management and the role of financial transmission rights. REALIZATION OF THE SMART GRID POTENTIALThe key drivers to make grids smarter; basic definition and nature of the smart grids; the principal building blocks – architectural design, communication infrastructure and standards; policy and cost recovery issues and the roles of the US DoE, FERC and state regulatory agencies; advanced metering infrastructure beyond smart grids. THE NEW TRANSMISSION BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTEvaluation and assessment of the principal thrusts of the EPACT 2005 on transmission; PUHCA repeal aftermath; impacts of Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements; impacts of new mergers and acquisitions provisions; transmission bottlenecks and national-interest electric transmission corridors; adequacy of financial incentives to stimulate transmission investment and modernization. THE TRANSMISSION BUILDOUTThere is a common perception in the industry, shared by the regulators, the transmission customers and other interested stakeholders, that the transmission system is badly in need of modernization and of the enhancement of the transfer capabilities for the reliable deliverability of generation resources to the loads. The deeper penetration of renewable resources is providing an additional push to expand the aging transmission grid. This presentation will provide a status report on the current transmission developments, review the impacts of the FERC Order No. 1000, discuss the utilization of the new advancements in technology and provide a forecast of the prospects of bringing about the further improvements needed to enable the effective harnessing of the nation's renewable resources. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONSThe lectures in the School curriculum are augmented by additional topics to present issues, such as the continuing critical future role of reliability and resilience in the competitive environment, the views of transmission-only ownership entities, the RTO market design and implementation developments, grid modernization efforts, decarbonization impacts and overview of recent FERC developments. |
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