Obtaining DOE funding for grid projects requires not just an understanding of the technologies and project goals, but also application strategies, deployment, reporting strategies, expected outcomes, and maybe most importantly how all of this aligns with a utility’s business case. In this session, two investor-owned utility companies will provide an overview of that process as well as specifics about their DOE funded grid projects. A presenter from Commonwealth Edison will talk generally about the importance of making sure the technologies of a DOE funded projects align with a utility’s business requirements. He also will talk about ComEd’s current DOE funded smart grid distribution project. Presenters from Georgia Tech and Southern Company will discuss DOE funded advanced outage management practices that are being developed to create a more dynamic and resilient transmission grid. This DOE-funded project will investigate, deploy, and demonstrate the synergistic value of two types of GETs: Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) and Advanced Power Flow Control (APFC). The project will identify and investigate the synergies between DLR and APFC to address the steady-state and transient grid stabilization/damping (i.e., system oscillation damping) functions.

Power Edison of New Jersey recently deliverd the world’s largest fleet of mobile energy storage systems to DTE. Panelists in this session discuss the latest innovations and applications of mobile energy storage, a field that's rapidly transforming utilities’ approach to energy management and distribution. They will delve into how these portable systems provide reactive and real power to support the grid, enhance renewable integration, and offer customer solutions for peak shaving and emergency backup. The discussion will also address how mobile storage enables more flexible and sustainable energy solutions. This session aims to highlight the technology's versatility, from supporting EV charging infrastructure to aiding in disaster response, and its role in a more resilient and adaptive energy landscape for utilities across the country. Energy Storage can provide immediate load relief for overloaded stations or circuits caused by “Rapid Load Growth” case by penetration of electric vehicles. In addition, panelists will discuss how energy storage can provide voltage and power regulation on the distribution grid, as well as how energy storage on the distribution grid can provide spinning reserves and area regulation for the transmission system.

ComEd recognizes that a low latency, high bandwidth network is needed to achieve many of the clean energy goals that are enabled by grid modernization programs. In this session, use cases that reveal the benefits of high-speed communications when transmitting and receiving data will be presented. Initial network infrastructure designs focused on fiber optics, which led the development of ComEd’s patented EDRP (Expedited, Deterministic, Redundant, PON) and resulted in a robust and deterministic network that provides fast-failover redundancy to end devices. Speakers will discuss specific applications, including coordinating isolation of electric faults without disturbance to the rest of the grid, preserving reliable power quality to customers, and providing a platform for data analytics to drive important business decisions. While fiber is the foundation for ComEd’s advanced communications infrastructure, the journey to building an advanced communication infrastructure also takes into consideration a hybrid network consisting of Fiber Optics and PLTE for added network design flexibility. An Ericsson PLTE lab environment was established at ComEd’s Maywood Technical Center facility where an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) was installed along with 1 of 2 Radio Access Network (RAN) sites. Another RAN site was deployed in an outdoor location in Kent, Illinois. For the pilot testing, an experimental license was granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for US Band 8 at both locations and uses an FDD duplexing mode to provide 2 separate channels (uplink and downlink) each consisting of 1.4MHz bandwidth. For PLTE Lab testing, ComEd coordinated teams from Distribution Automation and Voltage Optimization to bring in utility equipment such as reclosers, capacitor banks, and voltage regulators which comprise many of the use-cases that an advanced communication infrastructure would be enabling. Test results show that PLTE can be integrated with fiber optics as a hybrid solution for utility applications. Overall, use cases were validated successfully, and lessons learned from the testing experience will help to pave the path forward as ComEd begins to adopt PLTE as a hybrid option for building out an advanced communication network infrastructure.

Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) faced significant challenges with the traditional 3-WAY GOAB (Gang Operated Air-Break) transmission line switches, which led to operational and safety issues due to their tendency to bind, seize, and break. In response to these challenges, LCRA has pioneered a new innovative 3-WAY GOAB Alternative design that addresses these issues by enhancing flexibility in operation, safety by design, and overall reliability. Launched in 2024, the first installation of this innovative two monopole switching structure design not only meets all operational and maintenance requirements but also comes at a significantly lowers cost, footprint, and construction timeline compared to another 3-WAY Box Structure Alternative. This advancement represents a significant step forward in LCRA's commitment to improving infrastructure and service reliability through design solutions.

With the adoption of IEEE 1547-2018 at Duke Energy, the utility discovered that exploring the use of smart inverter functions (volt/VAR, volt/watt, watt/VAR) within DER facilities to perform distribution system voltage regulation is a complex initiative. Duke Energy operates all DER facilities connected to the distribution system at constant power factor, typically unity, which in certain situations has constrained interconnection. To potentially address these issues, Duke Energy implemented a pilot program with a select number of DER facilities to explore different avenues for utilizing these functions.

These functions come with design requirements for DER facilities that were traditionally not required for an interconnection approval. In addition, outside of the DER facilities themselves, no two points of interconnection on the grid have the same electrical characteristics and customer tailor must be performed to evaluate options and settings. Lastly, utilities typically already have a number of existing initiatives in place to manage voltage on the distribution system. This creates a multi-variable problem that requires careful consideration to ensure all the pieces fit together cohesively.

This session will explain the site selection criteria used to find viable pilot candidates, the development of the methodology Duke Energy implemented for designing site specific smart inverter settings to accomplish adequate voltage regulation, the impact that such functionality has had on the existing voltage regulation schemes in place on the distribution system, and an overall summary of the performance of the pilot DER facilities. This session could help any utility that has not yet embarked down this path by providing a perspective that might help identify a starting point and lay the groundwork needed to begin the pilot project.

Attendees will leave with an understanding of the engineering basis for selecting and studying candidates to use smart inverter functions, a business perspective on introducing this as a process change, and an introduction to the long-term complexities of monitoring and enforcing these facilities to ensure operational characteristics don't change.