The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, Calif., recently presented eighteen technical recommendations for solving the power crisis that began in California last year and now involves the eleven-state Western power grid. The recommendations are backed by a diverse group of more than three-dozen stakeholders from California and other Western states who attended a workshop held at the EPRI headquarters in June. Among the recommendations:
- Upgrade existing power plants to increase their capacity by 5 percent through advanced maintenance procedures, diagnostics, and cost-effective retrofits.
- Repair dysfunctional wholesale/retail power markets.
- Improve existing transmission capability to achieve more throughputs.
- Pursue a balanced portfolio of generation sources to avert an over-reliance on natural gas.
- Accelerate interconnection of clean distributed generation into the power grid to provide back-up support.
- Develop and implement a comprehensive architecture for the power supply infrastructure that anticipates the rapidly escalating needs of the digital society.
In addition to regulatory and market reforms, all the recommendations require the introduction of new enabling technology to meet the objectives in a cost-effective, timely manner. EPRI plans to present the recommendations to state, regional, and national regulatory and administrative institutions for their consideration and to seek collaborative funding and joint action for critical assessments and development activities.
For a PDF version of the entire report or for more information, contact EPRI.
