Reliability Technology Issues and Needs Assessment
The National Transmission Grid Study
During the past 10 years, competition has been introduced into wholesale electricity markets with the goal of reducing costs to consumers. Today, wholesale electricity sales save consumers nearly $13 billion annually. However, the nation's outdated transmission system was not designed to support today's competitive, regional electricity markets. Investment in the transmission system has not kept pace with the growth in generation and the increasing demand for electricity. Transmission bottlenecks threaten reliability and cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
In May 2001, the National Energy Policy directed DOE to study the benefits of establishing a national electricity grid and to identify transmission bottlenecks and measures to remove them. DOE enlisted CERTS to provide technical support to the National Transmission Grid Study.
For this work, CERTS:
- Supported DOE's extensive, open, public-input process.
- Organized and prepared six issue papers from teams of nationally recognized experts on:
- Transmission system operation and interconnection
- Reliability management and oversight
- Alternative business models for transmission ownership and operation
- Transmission planning and the need for new capacity
- Transmission siting and permitting
- Advanced transmission technologies.
- Provided technical input and production support for the National Transmission Grid Study.
- Managed an independent analysis of U.S. electricity markets and identification of transmission system bottlenecks using DOE's Policy Office Electricity Modeling System. Study documents can be downloaded from: http://www.eh.doe.gov/ntgs/
- National Transmission Grid Study
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Contact:
Joseph Eto
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(510) 486-7284