An island of technicality in a sea of discretion1: A critique of existing electric power systems reliability analysis and policy

Electricity Journal

Volumn 14, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 21-31

  Felder, Frank A ^a  

^a MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0007127232     PISSN: 10406190     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S1040-6190(01)00183-X     Document Type: Article

References (17)

1. This is a description that has been applied to criminal law. See L. HALL AND SHELDON GLUECK, CRIMINAL LAW AND ITS ENFORCEMENT 3 (1st ed. 1951).
2. North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), Planning Standards, Sept. 1997.
3. NERC, Regional Reliability Criteria: Summary of Regional Criteria and Guides for Planning Reliable Bulk Electric Power Systems, Nov. 1994, at 11-19.
4. Northeast Power Coordinating Council, Basic Criteria for Design and Operation of Interconnected Power Systems, 1995, at 4, http://www.npcc.org/criteria.htm (April 8, 2001).
5. Electric Reliability Panel, Reliable Power: Renewing the North American Electric Reliability Oversight System, Dec. 22, 1997, http://www.nerc.com/publications/reference.html (April 8, 2001).
6. U.S. Department of Energy, Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), Maintaining Reliability in a Competitive U.S. Electricity Industry: Final Report of the Electric System Reliability," Sept. 29, 1998, http://www.hr.doe.gov/seab/(April 8, 2001).
7. Id., at ix-x.
8. Id., at xv.
9. George C. Loehr, Ten Myths about Electric Deregulation, PUB. UTIL. FORTNIGHTLY, April 15, 1998, at 29-32.
10. Western Interstate Energy Board, Options for Maintaining and Enhancing Electric System Reliability, Jan. 15, 1997, discusses several of the criticisms of existing reliability policy stated in this section.
11. A safety problem with one type of reactor may also exist with other reactors of the same type, resulting in dependent failures, i.e., the unavailability of one reactor is positively correlated with that of another reactor.
12. The output of wind turbine generation technology depends significantly on weather. One paper concludes that the actual contribution of a wind energy conversion system (WECS) to the reliability of a generation system depends on several factors: the wind regime at the location of the WECS, the degree of penetration of the WECS relative to the generation system, and the operating philosophy of the WECS. Not considering these factors would result in an inaccurate assessment of the reliability of a generation system with a WECS. See Roy Billinton, M. Gasper, and R. Ghajar, Wind System Reliability Evaluation: A Monte Carlo Approach, Power System Research Group, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, undated paper.
13. ROY BILLINTON AND RONALD N. ALLAN, RELIABILITY EVALUATION OF POWER SYSTEMS (2nd ed., New York: Plenum Press, 1996, at 12-14.
14. Equivalent forced outage rate measures the percentage of time a unit was unavailable due to forced outages and deratings during the time it was expected to be in service.
15. NERC, Seasonal Performance Trends: Peak Season Equivalent Forced Outage Rate Trend Evaluations for Fossil-Steam Generating Units, June 1991.
16. Rebecca Smith, Entergy Forms Venture with Shaw for New Plants, WALL STREET J., June 2, 2000, at A4.
17. Paul Ferrell, Turbines Generate Questions, NEWSDAY, Aug. 7, 2000, at A27.