Distribution Capacity Expansion Planning: Current Practice, Opportunities, and Decision Support
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Kevala, Inc., San Francisco, CA (United States)
- Duquesne Light Co., Shippingport, PA (United States)
- Portland General Electric, Portland, OR (United States)
- Pepco Holdings, Inc., Washington, DC (United States)
- Hawaiian Electric, Honolulu, HI (United States)
- Xcel Energy, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
- National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Arlington, VA (United States)
The distribution utility industry and its engineers are experiencing monumental shifts in consumer needs and expectations. Characterizing future native loads as compared to net load demand for long-term capacity planning is especially difficult, as consumers are increasingly adopting prosumer technologies. This paper is the culmination of 5 months of utility interviews coordinated by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Kevala, Inc. (Kevala) to better understand distribution capacity planning challenges. The interviews covered all aspects of capacity planning including load and DER forecasting, criteria for assessing system constraints, solution types, and organizational and decision-making structures. Our intent is to provide insight into distribution capacity planning decision support needs for utilities and the increasing number of stakeholders involved, from state and regulatory agencies to community and solution providers with interest in increasing their understanding in the distribution capacity planning process.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1898008
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/TP-6A40-83892; MainId:84665; UUID:6ecb9e7f-b7bc-4e58-a9b7-4e8e208e5b6d; MainAdminID:67960
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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