Spark by T&D World

In this session, we reconvene folks from our previous discussion on public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), first discussed in this podcast in December 2020. We're going to take the conversation a little bit deeper and talk more in detail about process and considerations of facilitating a PSPS.

What is the holistic security approach important? Hear from utility leaders who have broadened, reimagined and restructured the nature and security activities in their organizations to coincide with aggressive and ambitious digital transformation goals. Speakers: Sean Stalzer, Dominion, Glenn Purcell, Habersham EMC, David Wollman, NIST.

This episode is part of our 2021 Power Up virtual series.

In May of 2020, acting President Donald Trump issued an executive order to secure the bulk power system from foreign adversaries through means of establishing supply chain oversight of electric equipment. The order established a Task Force on Federal Energy Infrastructure Procurement Policies Related to National Security. This discussion will hone in the realities of supply chain risk, including developments of the Order through the end of 2020, its impacts on current and future bulk power projects, and what we think the future holds.

The wildfire equation is complex, with many moving parts and shared responsibility across many different stakeholders. This panel will convene experts from utilities, regulatory agencies, and community organizations to discuss the importance of effective collaboration in lowering wildfire risk, addressing vulnerable communities, ensuring safety and communication during events, and managing recovery efforts.

Microgrids have emerged as an important and multi-pronged solution for utilities to address reliability and resiliency challenges. A growing number of utilities are committed to exploring microgrids as a near-term solution for resiliency during public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), and investor-owned utilities in California have been mandated to produce plans to do so. In this discussion, utility stakeholders and industry experts will discuss the benefits of microgrids alongside some of the questions and hurdles that they have encountered in their own work.

Utilities that are vulnerable to the threat of wildfire are implementing a portfolio of technology solutions that can prevent and protect their customers and infrastructure. In this panel we will hear from leaders who have demonstrated success in areas such as ground fault prevention, customer protection and information, situational awareness and grid hardening. Learn more about how these organizations are researching, piloting and deploying these important technologies.

In order to preemptively address the threat of wildfires, it appears that Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) are here to stay. This panel of customer service and utility experts will explore what utilities can do to address customer satisfaction during PSPS events and lessons learned from previous wildfire seasons.

Stories and conversations on the evolving power delivery landscape. Presented by T&D World.