1:15 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Aliso Canyon Operational Update: Keeping the Lights on in Southern California: A Story of Cross-Industry Coordination and Communication

(Joint session with the Staff Subcommittee on Electric Reliability)

In October of 2015, a gas leak was detected in one of the 115 natural gas injection/withdrawal wells in the Aliso Canyon natural gas underground storage facility.  This facility is the second largest natural gas storage facility in the west and is critical to the electric reliability of southern California.   During typical summer operations, the 86 billion cubic feet of capacity provides fuel for 17 electric generating plants, with a combined capacity of 9800 MW.   And in the winter, the core typical demand for the gas supply flips, with residential and small commercial customers using 60 percent of the facility’s gas for heating.  

By the time the leaking well was permanently sealed in the early spring of 2016, about 80 percent of its capacity was lost and the entire facility was shut-in indefinitely.  Given the unprecedented number of electric generation plants counting on just-in-time gas delivery from Aliso Canyon, and the minimal amount of time to plan for alternate deliveries, how did California keep the lights on in the summer of 2016, and what provisions will assure winter operations?   Our speaker will describe the unprecedented level of coordination and communication across agencies and industries required to serve customers reliably.

Moderator:
Patricia Poli, Chair, NARUC Staff Subcommittee on Electric Reliability

Speaker:
Steve K. Ashbaker, Director Events Analysis & Situational Awareness, WECC

Grid Modernization: Consumer Impacts and Perspectives

Growing customer engagement has been a driving force behind transformation of the U.S. electric industry. We should expect more customer engagement in the future but some customers will remain passive. Now several years after the ARRA grants provided funding for the smart grid, many benefits of these investments are being realized by consumers. We will discuss research that examines how investments in grid modernization and smart grid technologies are empowering consumers to break the mold of passive consumption and become dynamic users. Both utilities and regulators will face new challenges in the emerging world of active and passive customers. Our speakers will share insights into the consumer perspective on the customer/utility relationship of the future. 

Moderator: Kimberly Duffley, Attorney, NC Utilities Commission and Vice-Chair of the Staff Subcommittee on Electricity

Panelists:
Nathan Shannon, Deputy Director, Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative

Ken Costello, Principal Researcher, Energy & Environment, National Regulatory Research Institute