Float Together / Sink Together ? ( The Effect of Connectivity on Power Systems ) by Richard

The recent mantra for reorganizing power systems in the U.S. has been to extend the geographic scope of control centers to span several states, utilities and/or grid operators, initially for the purpose of expanding the range of economic transfers and more recently to improve operational reliability, in both cases through the reduction of “seams” at the borders of control areas. In the early days of electric deregulation this push for coordination was in the guise of forming four to five Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO), combining existing power pools and Independent System Operators (ISO), that might dispatch power at least-cost over wide regions of the country. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) also proposed a standard market design (SMD) for all control areas so that neighboring entities could exchange power more effectively, but this initiative has fallen victim to massive states’ rights battles (Whatever happened to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution?). Following the August 14, 2003 Northeast blackout, similar calls for far greater regional coordination have been based upon the perceived benefits in terms of greater reliability and reduced susceptibility to cascading disturbances across control area borders.