Northeast Conference Program 2024

9:00 - 9:45 AM EST

Is the Northeast prepared to support EV charging at scale? Some experts predict it may take five years or longer to deploy infrastructure necessary to accommodate charging industrial-level vehicles. This session will dive into what’s needed to support charging lots and data centers while exploring alternative solutions including on-site generation and the use of microgrids. What benefits can a DERMS provide? Panelists will also consider whether hydrogen may present a more ready-to-market solution in some instances.

10:00 - 10:45 AM EST

Reliability is key for utilities, but how valid are the worst-case scenarios that often bound the limits of a project? Can we use technology to take a closer look at the actual likelihood of fault situations and re-assess our approach? This session will tightrope the delicate line separating getting projects onto the grid quickly and doing so safely. Panelists will touch on parameters that may be adjusted to speed things up to improve DER penetration while limiting catastrophic risks. They will also discuss how responsibility might be shared all the way up to the regulator level.

10:00 - 10:45 AM EST

Non-wire alternatives utilize third-party distributed energy resources (DERs) to defer or avoid traditional electric infrastructure projects or upgrades. This session will center around how utilities are using NWAs to address system constraints by modifying load to fit our existing infrastructure in a cost-effective way and how developers can fit into the mix. Panelists will share lessons learned and collaborate on ways to improve efficiency.

11:00 - 11:45 AM EST

It's been a busy few years for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Order 2222 changed the landscape for distributed energy resources by allowing DERs to participate in wholesale energy markets, enabling virtual power plants. Order 2023 mandates significant reforms to generator interconnection procedures and agreements to ensure reliable, efficient, transparent, timely, and fair interconnection to the transmission system, and Order 1920 sets the stage for long-term and proactive transmission planning. This session will cover how Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs) ISO-NE and NYISO are responding to these orders to efficiently and expeditiously support the energy transition. Are constraints on the transmission grid impacting distribution interconnections?

11:00 - 11:45 AM EST

It’s one thing to have ambitious clean energy goals, but it’s another to actually meet them. This session will compare the region’s renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and take stock of benchmarks we’ve already hit, those we’re likely to achieve, and others that seem less practical. Panelists will identify potential barriers, how they might be addressed, and actions that could be taken to get us back on track.

11:00-11:45 AM EST

Radial distribution circuits in North America are generally designed to be energized only from one end.  With this design, de-energizing the circuit when necessary is a fairly straightforward matter.  However, when Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are added, these distribution circuits are then energized from multiple points, and ensuring that the circuit is de-energized on command becomes more complicated.  One technology sometimes employed to achieve this de-energization with DERs is Direct Transfer Trip (DTT).  DTT is proven, mature, and fast-acting, but it is also presents a host of challenges, including that it is expensive and not well-suited for situations with many DERs.  Low-cost, scalable, reliable, and fast means of ensuring distribution circuit de-energization in the presence of DERs are needed.  This session includes a discussion of DTT, presently-available DTT alternatives with their pros and cons, and potential future means for achieving the needed de-energization function with high reliability, high speed, and low cost.