#GRIDDED RESPONSE DRIVERS#

On the demand side of the equation, the CPP does вЂњtalk about demand response as a reliability tool,вЂќ Stanberry said. At the transmission grid scale, startup Smart Wires is deploying devices that can help utilities constrict or redirect power flows in grid congestion conditions, to increase the amount of power that can be delivered from far-off wind and solar farms to where itвЂ™s needed. Scott DePasquale, CEO of Utilidata, a company thatвЂ™s providing CVR technology for utilities such as AEP and National Grid, noted in a recent blog postВ that a study found that VVO could save Michigan about $110 million in CPP compliance costs, for example. TheyвЂ™ve been around for decades, but in recent years have been boosted by technology advances, whether itвЂ™s the proliferation of smart meters that can deliver pinpoint voltage information at the edges of the grid, or power electronics that can directly control voltages on individual circuits.Д¬VR providers have made note of this new opportunity under the CPP. VVO and CVR are technologies that fine-tune voltages to save energy and reduce peak-driven strains on the grid. вЂњEPA explicitly recognizes as compliance measures any T&D options that reduce line losses, like volt/VAR optimization (VVO), or that reduce end-use demand, like conservation voltage reduction (CVR),вЂќ he said. The first are those that directly affect the transmission and distribution portion of the grid. (For readers interested in delving into the subject in detail, a good place to start is on page 1,260 of the CPP, which explains how ERCs are used for compliance, and on page 1,268, which begins the discussion of ERCs for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other advanced energy technologies, he said.)Д«roadly speaking, these technologies fall into two main classes, he said. вЂњThe basic rule of thumb is, theyвЂ™ve got to reduce net megawatt-hours of generation at affected units,вЂќ that is, coal- and natural-gas-fired power plants.Д®RCs come up in multiple places throughout the final rule and proposed federal plan, he said. вЂњThere are these technologies and services that can specifically be part of a plan as a compliance measure,вЂќ Matt Stanberry, vice president of market development at business advocacy group Advanced Energy Economy, said in an interview this week. And under certain compliance options available to states, those reductions could translate into вЂњemission rate credits,вЂќ or ERCs, that power plant operators could implement themselves or buy to offset their GHG reduction burdens. Unlike previous draft versions of the plan, the final plan released by the Environmental Protection Agency last week specifically calls out technologies like energy storage and demand response, which can help вЂњfacilitateвЂќ the big boost in intermittent wind and solar power thatвЂ™s likely to be a part of many states' compliance plans.Д«ut the current version of the CPP also designates a specific role for grid technologies that can help reduce the net amount of power being generated from carbon-emitting, fossil-fuel-fired power plants.

#GRIDDED RESPONSE DRIVERS#

These are the fundamental drivers of the Clean Power Plan's push to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and while thatвЂ™s a potential boon to wind and solar power, it could also provide a boost to technologies that can help integrate that renewable energy into the grid as a means to its end.Д«ut tucked inside the Obama administrationвЂ™s groundbreaking greenhouse gas reduction scheme are some even more significant opportunities for smart grid technologies, not just to indirectly boost the gridвЂ™s green power capacity, but to actively serve as a compliance tool for statesвЂ™ carbon-cutting and carbon-trading plans.

Gridded response