August 15, 2017
Feature

PNNL's Dagle Contributes Grid Expertise to National Academies Report

Report considers how technological options could impact transmission, distribution reliability

Media Contact: PNNL News & Media Relations
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Jeff Dagle, Chief Engineer in PNNL's Energy and Environment Directorate

PNNL Chief Engineer Jeff Dagle(Offsite link) was one of 17 committee members—and the sole national laboratory representative—charged with developing the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report "I Enhancing the Resiliency of the Nation's Electric Power Transmission and Distribution System(Offsite link)."

"Resiliency is reducing the magnitude and duration of impact to events, and measuring resilience means that you are measuring things that have not yet occurred. It speaks to preparedness."

-Jeff Dagle

Dagle and two other committee members, Dr. M. Granger Morgan of Carnegie Mellon University and Bill Sanders of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, presented the report to Congress and the Department of Energy on July 19. The report was released publicly on July 20, followed by a webinar presented by the trio to outline the report results.

"Reliability and resilience are closely related but while reliability focuses on service interruptions, resilience is more difficult to measure," said Dagle. "Resiliency is reducing the magnitude and duration of impact to events, and measuring resilience means that you are measuring things that have not yet occurred. It speaks to preparedness."

Over the past 18 months, the committee considered how existing and emerging technological options, including greater reliance on distributed power generation, could impact the reliability and the ability to recover from disruptions to the system.

"Resilient infrastructure is robust to all hazards, ranging from storms to malicious events," said Dagle. "Even from threats that are not envisioned. That is what makes its design challenging and interesting."

The report also identifies non-technological barriers—regulatory, ownership, and financial issues—to implementation of new or expanded technology to improve the stability, reliability, and resilience of electric transmission and distribution. The committee suggests strategies, key opportunities and priorities, and actions for implementation of the identified technology pathways.

Key Capabilities

Power Systems & Electrical Engineering
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About PNNL

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on its distinguishing strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology and data science to advance scientific knowledge and address challenges in energy resiliency and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle and supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the DOE Office of Science website. For more information on PNNL, visit PNNL's News Center. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Published: August 15, 2017

Research topics

Transmission
Electric Grid Modernization
Energy Resiliency