California’s Clean Energy Future – With More Solar, Batteries and EVs – Requires Reimagining the Power Grid
December 09 2020 - 6:15PM
Business Wire
New SCE white paper points out that the effects of climate
change also are driving needed grid evolution
Fundamental changes in how the electric power grid is planned,
designed, built and operated are necessary to meet future
challenges that are arriving quickly. Those challenges are created
by changes in electricity use and in the sources of energy
connected to the grid, including greatly expanded use of electric
vehicles and growth in large-scale solar power and energy storage,
fundamental to California’s clean energy future. Technology
advancements in software and hardware have fostered continued
progress in strengthening and modernizing the grid, while the
underlying design and architecture of the grid have not evolved at
the same pace. This is according to Reimagining the Grid, a new
white paper published by Southern California Edison (SCE).
“Just as Pathway 2045 is SCE’s roadmap for enabling a clean
energy future for California, Reimagining the Grid is a
comprehensive assessment to address how the grid must change,” said
Kevin Payne, president and CEO of SCE. “We are working to make sure
the electric system is ready for the major shifts in how customers
will use electricity to support California’s ambitious greenhouse
gas reduction goals.”
Reimagining the Grid points out that a significant increase in
electric vehicles and distributed energy resources such as
customer-sited solar and battery storage – paired with the growth
of large-scale renewable energy resources that are more variable in
nature – will require the electric grid to manage a growing set of
challenges. The changing climate is affecting customers’ power
usage patterns, as well as the availability of energy resources,
including energy imported from other states whose own power needs
are changing. Climate-change effects also could diminish the
performance, reliability and lifespan of grid equipment. “As
electricity fuels a larger part of the economy, we must reimagine
what the grid should look like in the future and how it will need
to function in new ways to meet expanded needs,” Payne added.
“Our approach needs to shift from a focus on system-wide
reliability standards to one that meets multiple objectives based
on specific, localized needs,” said Payne. Key changes for SCE
include recognizing the increasing diversity of different regions'
needs and moving from uniform grid architectures to more
region-specific, modular grid designs.
The grid’s technological capabilities will need to be reimagined
and include advanced sensors, high-speed/high-volume
communications, edge computing, predictive analytics and artificial
intelligence. SCE foresees integrating information/operational
technologies into a common, shared operating platform deployed
across the system, with advanced cybersecurity and the ability to
seamlessly package and deploy future technologies and hardware for
location-specific needs.
SCE is planning to respond to challenges and reduce uncertainty
with an adaptive, agile grid planning approach to account for
different scenarios. To enable this, SCE is working today to
strengthen its ability to anticipate changes, accelerate critical
technologies and enhance our planning tools and processes. “We
cannot do this alone,” Payne said. “Stronger alignment, broader
reach and deeper collaboration with stakeholders will be key for
future grid designs, standards and infrastructure planning.”
Reimagining the Grid is online:
https://www.edison.com/ReimaginingtheGrid.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE: EIX) company, Southern California
Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a
population of approximately 15 million via 5 million customer
accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central,
Coastal and Southern California.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201209006033/en/
Media Contact: Jeff Monford, (626) 476-8120
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