Tutorials

Tutorial #1: Energy regulation 101 (1 hour, 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.). High-level introduction to how regulation of the energy sector is structured in the US (e.g., state versus federal, vertically integrated versus restructured states, integrated resource planning, utility cost recovery, etc.). This would be intended for individuals coming in with very limited knowledge of the topic. Instructors: Will McNamara, Sandia National Laboratories and Ted Ko, Energy Policy Design Institute.

Tutorial #2: Cost of Service Regulation vs. Performance-Based Regulation (2 hours, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.) NARUC has developed an interactive, discussion-based game to teach decision makers and stakeholders about utility business models and decision making. In the game, you will run a utility for five, two-year planning periods (10 years total). In each period, players can choose to build or contract for generation; build transmission, distribution, and flexibility resources; and institute or respond to new policies in vertically integrated and restructured environments. The MegaModel Excel-based platform shows how these decisions impact customer bills, reliability (minutes of outages), earnings per share, and air emissions (carbon dioxide). Instructors: Danielle Sass Byrnett, NARUC Center for Partnerships & Innovation and Rim Baltaduonis, Stanford University.

Tutorial #3: Non-Wires Alternatives for Distribution Systems: State Requirements and Engineering Practices (2 hours, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.). Non-wires alternatives (NWAs) are technologies or operating practices that reduce grid congestion and manage peak demand to offset the need to make additional utility investments in conventional assets like substations and feeders. Examples include batteries, gas generators, microgrids, time-varying rates, and geotargeted load management programs. Attendees will learn about state requirements as well as utility engineering practices shaping deployment of NWAs across the U.S. We’ll set the stage with an overview of the NWA process and summary of state requirements. Then we’ll delve into the details, including screening criteria, cost-effectiveness evaluation, procurement options, contingency planning, stakeholder engagement, and regulatory oversight for delivering effective NWA solutions to grid needs. The engineering perspective will review NWA practices and pilots across the country, exploring how utilities identify distribution system needs suitable for NWAs, evaluate technical feasibility, and integrate these solutions into distribution planning and operations, with specific examples. We’ll highlight common engineering approaches in use today, typical performance expectations, and practical implementation considerations. Instructors: Dr. Guillermo Pereira, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Soumya Tiwari, Electric Power Engineers.

Tutorial #4a: Demystifying Transmission Planning and Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) (2 hours, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.). Instructors: Juliet Homer, and Jeremy Twitchell, and Eran Schweitzer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. This tutorial will provide attendees with a practical understanding of electrical transmission planning requirements, modeling, and decision-making processes. We’ll also provide an overview of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) and how they can be applied. This course will distill the technical complexities of transmission planning into foundational principles, helping attendees better understand how transmission planning processes work. This presentation will cover the background and drivers for modern transmission planning, the entities involved in the planning process and their respective roles, where to access transmission planning information, how to get involved in the process, and what happens when the plan is complete.  Participants will also walk away with a basic understanding of GETs—what they are, how they work, and how they can (and can’t be) integrated into transmission planning.

Tutorial #4b: Energy storage regulation 201: Mapping Process for Regulation (2 hours, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.) This session would provide a deeper dive into how state regulators can approach developing an energy storage policy framework and/or reflecting on the framework that is in place. Instructors: Will McNamara and Ted Ko

• • Market Structures
  • Market Segments: FTM-T, FTM-D, BTM
  • Energy Storage Use Cases
  • Policy Topics
  • Policy advancement levels (“crawl, walk, run”) aka Policy Readiness Level (PRL)
  • -> State of Your Market: What Use Cases are enabled + How advanced are the current policies (what’s the state’s PRL on this topic)

If you have any questions – please contact pes-epf@ieee.org.