Registration is open for NSPECon26 in New York City, New York!
Volunteering at NSPE is a great opportunity to grow your professional network and connect with other leaders in the field.
Decisions at the ballot box influence policies that support engineering standards and public safety.July/August 2017
PE Report
US Electric Grid Development Needs PEs
NSPE is urging the Department of Energy to include PEs in all stages of assessment and development of the electric grid in response to Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s memo examining electricity markets and reliability.
Perry issued a memo in April to DOE Chief of Staff Brian McCormack, directing him to conduct a study on the issues central to protecting the long-term reliability of the electric grid. He asked McCormack to explore the evolution of the wholesale electricity market; whether wholesale energy and capacity markets are adequately compensating attributes such as on-site fuel supply and other factors that strengthen grid resilience; and the extent to which continued regulatory burdens, mandates, and tax and subsidy policies are responsible for the premature retirement of baseload power plants.
In the letter sent to McCormack in May, NSPE 2016–17 President Kodi Verhalen, P.E., Esq., F.NSPE, wrote, “NSPE and the professional engineers we represent believe that to protect the long-term reliability of the electric grid, professional engineers must be involved in its planning, design, development, implementation, operation, and evaluation of resiliency.”
Verhalen stated that PEs should be involved in the development and execution of all engineering aspects of energy production, delivery, and conservation and efficiency. These elements should be included in the study of the long-term reliability of the electric grid, Verhalen added, particularly because the grid’s performance and operation is just as dependent on the delivery infrastructure as it is on the generation sources. “Therefore, the electric grid cannot be evaluated in isolation without first determining the nation’s approach to electricity generation, as baseload fossil fuel, intermittent fossil fuel, and renewable energy generation resources all impact the operation of the electric grid differently, and professional engineers must be a part of this evaluation.”
NSPE supports a balanced approach to domestic energy development and delivery that safely and efficiently minimizes the nation’s reliance on foreign sources.
