1. Home
2. Panels

Panels

Day 1 - September 7, 2016
10:30am-12:00pm	Integration of Distributed Resources with Distribution Grid Operation Chair: Farrokh Rahimi, Senior Vice President, OATI The panel will address the operational and technical requirements for management of a distribution grid with high penetrations of demand response and distributed energy resources, and will present opportunities for expanding utility business models and revenue streams. Speakers: Dr. Ali Ipakchi, OATI Dr. Mohammad Shahidehpour, IIT Mr. Robert Sherick, SCE Dr. Lorenzo Kristov, CAISO
10:30am-12:00pm	Large, Realistic, Open-Access Power System Benchmark Models for Community Testing of Grid Optimization Algorithms Chair: Tim Heidel, Program Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), U.S. Department of Energy The expected growth in system complexity due to high penetrations of renewable generation, changing electricity demand patterns, and distributed energy resources will require the development of substantially improved and control tools to assist grid operators, including those solving optimal power flow problems. The panel will highlight emerging efforts funded by ARPA-E in the development of such novel power systems models. Speakers: Thomas Overbye, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Patrick Panciatici, Réseau de Transport d'Électricité (RTE France) Christopher DeMarco, University of Wisconsin–Madison Mark Rice, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Terry Nielsen, GridBright, Inc.
10:30am-12:00pm	A New Cybersecurity Architecture from Bulk Power to Distribution Grid Endpoints Chair: Jerrod Montoya, President, Infraguard Minnesota Members Alliance, OATI The panel will consider the possibility of applying bulk power security at the distribution level and whether distribution providers are in the best position to secure consumer endpoints. Speakers: Massoud Amin, University of Minnesota Paul Skare, Pacific Northwest Labs Erik Amundson, OATI David Halla, ES-ISAC
1:00pm-2:30pm	Community Power and the DER Platform for the 21st Century Chair: Greg Thomson, Chief Operating Officer, Olidata Smart Cities, LLC The panel will describe the crucial role of cities and local agencies in developing a sustainable electricity system, the architecture of a community-level DER platform, the aggregation of DER services, communication and control systems, and regulatory changes and financing strategies to facilitate such a system.
1:00pm-2:30pm	Practical Applications of Grid Architecture Chair: Jeffrey Taft, Chief Architect for Electrical Grid Transformation, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory The panel will focus on applications of the discipline of Grid Architecture to practical issues in grid modernization and cover such topics as the merging of distribution markets and control systems, electricity-natural gas network convergence, the formation of platforms to enable new value streams, the structure of communications networks, and the impact of architecture on interoperability standards and their deployment.
1:00pm-2:30pm	Communications and Cyber Security in the IEEE Power and Energy Society Chair: Michael Dood, Principal Engineer, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. The recent alignment of the IEEE Power and Energy Society combines the Power Systems Communications Committee with portions of the Substations Committee and Power System Relaying Committee. This panel will provide a survey of the width and breath of communications and cyber security technologies in the utility industry and an overview of opportunities associated with the new Power Systems Communications and Cybersecurity Committee. Speakers: Dan Nordell, Xcel Energy Ken Fodero, Schweitzer Engineering Labs Craig Preuss, Black & Veatch
3:00pm-5:00pm	Integration of Distributed Energy Resources: Challenges and Opportunities Chair: Hao Zhu, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The panel will explore challenges to the traditional operational paradigms of distribution systems and discuss the technologies and solutions needed to manage them. Speakers: Aleksi Paaso, Senior Smart Grid Specialist at Comed Alex Portilla, Principal Product Manager at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company Dongbo Zhao, Lead Engineer at Eaton Corporation Calvin Zhang, Senior Power Distribution Systems Engineer at Nexant Sairaj Dhople, Assistant Professor of ECE, University of Minnesota
3:00pm-5:00pm	Communication-Physical System Simulation Chair: Ming Ni, Chief Expert of Power System Planning and Analysis, NARI Group Corporation (China) Achieving closer integration and collaboration of the communication system and physical power system in the key to success of the smart grid. This panel will present various approaches for hybrid simulation platforms with discussions of technical issues needing to be addressed. Speakers: Adam Hahn, Washington State University Ben Kroposki, NREL, at NREL Claudio López, TU Delft Tim Yardley, University of Illinois
3:00pm-5:00pm	Distribution Communications Systems for Pervasive DER Chair: Chris Knudsen, President, CDKnudsen and Associates The panel will cover the increasing demands, criticality and design of communications systems for the distributed grid, including best methods for their design and evaluation.

Day 2 - September 8, 2016
10:30am-12:00pm	Looking Ahead – Where is Electric Distribution System Planning and Operations Headed? Chair: Paul De Martini, Senior Fellow, ICF International The session will provide a vision for the future of distribution system planning and operations in a high-DER future given the advent of new technologies, consumer choice and policies encouraging decarbonization, resilience and innovation. Speakers: Erik Takayesu, Director, Electric T&D Planning, Southern California Edison Brian Amundson, Director, Grid Modernization, Xcel Energy Tom Mimnagh, Dept. Manager, ConEdison Chris Villarreal, Director Policy, Minnesota PUC
10:30am-12:00pm	Development and Applications of Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) Chair: Eric Lightner, Director, Federal Smart Grid Task Force, U.S. Department of Energy The DOE ADMS program is working towards the development of an integrated software platform to enable the integration of vendor applications while leveraging real-time, spatial data of all connected devices. The panel session will feature presentations on recently awarded ADMS projects.
10:30am-12:00pm	Power Grid Resilience: Fast Recovery from Extreme Events Chair: Wei Sun, Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida Critical infrastructure has to operate against extreme events; fast recovery and successful adaptation are critical to building a resilient power grid. This panel will present recent developments in advanced computational models and analytical methods in power system restoration, as well as current industry practices and challenges. Speakers: Scott Backhaus, Los Alamos National Laboratory Feng Qiu, Argonne National Laboratory Rui Sun, Dominion Virginia Power
1:00pm-2:30pm	How Existing Distribution Modeling Tools Are Adapting to a High-DER Future Chair: Michael Coddington, Principal Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory The panel will offer presentations from leading vendors and model developers on new capabilities being integrated into existing products based on emerging demands. Speakers: Tom McDermott, PNNL (co-author of OpenDSS) Larry Trussell, Synergi Greg Shirek, Milsoft Jean-Sebastien Lacroix, CYME International T&D
1:00pm-2:30pm	Distribution System Volt/VAR Control, including CVR and Distributed Generation Chair: Jose Medina Palomo, Vice President for Smart Grid, OATI The deployment of advanced metering infrastructure and distributed energy resources are changing the approach for volt/VAR control at the distribution system level. This session will present how recent progress in inverter capability can address challenges seen within traditional methods of voltage control. Speakers: Roger Dugan, IEEE Fellow, Sr. Technical Executive with EPRI Dr. Mesut Baran, IEEE Fellow, Professor with North Carolina State University Tom Guttormson, PE, Principal Technology Engineer at Connexus Energy, the largest electric distribution cooperative in Minnesota Dr. Ilya Roytelman, Principal Engineer, OATI
1:00pm-2:30pm	Advances in Grid Visibility and Control Chair: Jay Giri, GE Grid Solutions With the growth of synchrophasor technology across the world, the grid can be visualized at a much faster rate. This panel will describe the latest advances and provide practical solutions that have been deployed in power grids in the US and India. Speakers: Kash Nodehi, OATI Vahid Madani, PG&E Tom Overbye, University of Illinois Manu Parashar, GE Grid solutions
3:00pm-5:00pm	Solar PV on Distribution Circuits – Simulation and Analysis Methods for Hosting and Mitigation Chair: Juliet Homer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory The panel will present various methods being advanced by the industry for determining distribution system hosting capacity with a particular focus on specific utility outcomes, mitigation strategies to increase capacity, and vendor engagement. Speakers: Benjamin Lee, SCE Kevin Schneider, PNNL Brian Fitzsimons, QADO Jeff Smith, EPRI Barry Mather, NREL
3:00pm-5:00pm	Microgrid Controllers: Vision, Research, Design, Development and Field Testing Experiences Chair: S.S. (Mani) Venkata, GE Grid Solutions Practical microgrid systems have evolved exponentially in recent years all around the world. The panel will focus on the applications of practical microgrid controllers of various types and sizes, including future directions as envisioned by the federal government, a municipal government, a university, utilities, and IEEE standards development organizations. Speakers: Jim Reilly, President Reilly Associates Inc. Will Agate, Senior Vice President, PIDC Inc. Ward Bower, President and Chair P2030.8, Ward Bower Innovations LLC Jayant Kumar, Global Smart Program Director, GE Grid Solutions Inc. Roger Dugan, Senior Technical Executive, EPRI Ebrahim Vaahedi, OATI
3:00pm-5:00pm	Grid 3.0 – The Emerging Distribution Grid of the Future Chair: Ali Ipakchi, Senior Vice President, Smart Grid and Green Power, OATI The panel session will focus on the technical and practical aspects of the ongoing distribution grid transformation and discuss the current and future state. The session will leverage industry, regulatory, standards, technology/vendor and utility experiences.

Day 3 - September 9, 2016
10:30am-12:00pm	Rate Design: Its Role in DER Adoption and Integration Chair: Christopher Villarreal, Director of Policy, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission The session will explore how rate design impacts the adoption and integration of DERs and the pros and cons of various rate designs for compensating DERs and recovering utility’s prudent costs.
10:30am-12:00pm	DOE Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium Chair: Benjamin Kroposki, Director, Power Systems Engineering Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory The U.S. Department of Energy has prepared a Grid Modernization Multi-Year Program Plan that provides a blueprint for the Department’s research, development and demonstration agenda. This panel session provides an overview of the efforts of the Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium (GMLC), which has been provided $220 million over the next three years to implement the program plan.
10:30am-12:00pm	Distribution Grid Operations Chair: Doug Houseman, Enernex The panel will focus on recent efforts by utilities and others to examine and implement needed changes in the distribution grid to accommodate distributed assets, including recent experiences in California, Hawai’i and Germany.
1:00pm-2:30pm	Advancements in Transactive Energy Systems Chair: Ron Melton, Administrator of the GridWise Architecture Council, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory This panel will present advancements in the understanding of transactive energy systems, their role in the integration and valuation of distributed energy resources, and associated the business and policy considerations.
1:00pm-2:30pm	Distributed Energy Resource Strategy and Implementation Across Unique Markets Chair: Taggart Jefferson, Founder and CEO, GridCure, Inc. The panel session will explore the successes and challenges that different energy markets have experienced when implementing a distributed energy resources strategy, as illustrated in projects occurring throughout the world.
1:00pm-2:30pm	Towards a Distribution System Operator Chair: Dimitra Apostolopoulou, Engineer of Smart Grid and Technology, Commonwealth Edison The deployment of a distribution system operator (DSO) is becoming a necessity as a result of the increasing role of the distribution grid in ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of energy to emerging proactive customers. The challenge for the grid of the future will be to define the framework that supports a DSO model and enables sustainable growth in distributed generation and new technologies. This panel will discuss the practicality of implementing such a model, including its challenges and benefits.