Ensuring Electric Grid Reliability: Preparing for Increased Demand
Hosted by the University of Rhode Island: The 2021 Act on Climate set Rhode Island on the path of achieving net-zero carbon emissions economy-wide by 2050. State policymakers have identified electrification of both the transportation and heating sectors as crucial components of their effort to achieve their state’s greenhouse gas reduction objectives. To meet this target, most of our heating and transportation sectors will need to be electrified to utilize energy from non-carbon-emitting sources. Can New England achieve 100 percent electrification? How will electrification of the heating and transportation sectors impact Rhode Islanders? What challenges and opportunities will electrification bring about for our economy and the environment?
For our third lecture in this fall's Plugged into Energy Research series, "Ensuring Electric Grid Reliability: Preparing for Increased Demand from the Highway to Home Heating," a panel will discuss planning, managing, and monitoring to maintain the reliability of our regional electric grid as we continue on the path toward a low-carbon energy system.
Moderator:
Greg Ohadoma
Policy associate, Northeast Clean Energy Council
Speakers:
Kerry Schlichting
Senior external affairs representative, ISO New England
ISO New England is an independent, not-for-profit corporation responsible for keeping electricity flowing across the six New England states and planning for the future of the regional grid. ISO also develops an annual electrification forecast to determine what impact electric vehicles and heat pumps will have on consumer demand for electricity in the coming year. Kerry Schlichting will discuss what these forecasts mean specifically for Rhode Island and their importance to ISO's overall regional planning to maintain power system reliability now and in the future.
Jennifer Marrapese
Senior director of programs and strategy, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP)
NEEP is a nonprofit funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate energy-efficiency policies and programs in Northeast states. Jennifer Marrapese will discuss reliability of the electric power grid as a function of local, state, and regional coordination, and the implications for consumers as our power systems evolve and we adapt to the changes electrification will create.
Erik Carlson
Ph.D. candidate, URI Department of Physics / 2022 URI Energy Fellow, URI Smart Grid Security research group
The Smart Grid Security research group at URI works to develop solutions that prevent cyberattacks against smart power grids. Erik Carlson is a graduate assistant and 2022 Energy Fellow working to develop an artificial intelligence whose primary goal is to defend against network intrusions by both traditional and adversarial-network attacks. He will discuss his research regarding smart grid advancement as a tool to enhance efficiency and increase reliability of the network.