Office of Electricity (2020 Presidential transition): Difference between revisions

The [[Office of Electricity]] (OE) leads the {{w or p|Department of Energy}}’s (DOE, the Department) research and development activities to provide long-term transformational strategies that will help ensure the Nation’s most critical energy infrastructure is secure, reliable, and resilient. OE is leading the efforts to modernize the electricity delivery system to ensure that it supports the evolving grid and emerging threats. OE achieves this mission through a mix of technology and policy solutions in partnership with the public and private sectors. OE works with Federal, State, local, and industry partners to bolster the resilience of the energy infrastructure when major energy supply interruptions occur.

On January 8, 2020, {{w or p|Department of Energy}} announced a cross- cutting effort to create and sustain America’s global leadership in energy storage use, production, and exports, while using a secure, domestic manufacturing supply chain that does not depend on foreign sources for critical materials. The vision for the Grand Challenge is to create and sustain global leadership in energy storage utilization and exports, with a secure domestic manufacturing supply chain.

{{w or p|Department of Energy}} announced the results of the 2019 Grid Modernization Lab Call with funding of approximately $80 million over three years and is focused on developing projects in resilience modeling; energy storage and system flexibility; advanced sensors and data analytics; institutional support and analysis; cyber-physical security; and generation. This funding aims to strengthen, transform, and improve the resilience of energy infrastructure to ensure the Nation’s access to reliable and secure sources of energy now and in the future. The selected projects will expand on prior GMLC efforts and the portfolio of projects to emphasize a fully integrated vision of the energy system, from fuel to generation to load, including interdependent infrastructures while focusing on bulk-power system impacts. The Strategy and Multi- Year Program Plan governing the GMI was recently revised to include a broader set of strategic goals and focused actions that address the objectives.

A resilient DC microgrid project was brought online at {{w or p|Kirtland Air Force Base}} (KAFB) in December 2019, through a cooperative R&D agreement between Sandia National Laboratories, with funding from the OE and Emera Technologies. The project, the first of its kind between {{w or p|Department of Energy}} and {{w or p|Department of Defense}} (DoD) sites, resulted in the installation of a single-bus, ten-node 250 kW DC microgrid on KAFB that links together generation and load between Kirtland DoD facilities, [[Sandia]]’s Distributed Energy Technology Laboratory (DETL), and the Photovoltaic Systems Evaluation Laboratory (PSEL) to power a demonstration site consisting of six housing units, a laundromat and a community center as a proof of concept.

On May 1, 2020, the President signed Executive Order (EO) 13920, “Securing the United States Bulk- Power System,” which authorizes the U.S. Secretary of Energy to work with the Federal partners and the energy industry to secure America’s bulk-power system (BPS). In the EO, the President declared that threats to the bulk-power system by foreign adversaries constitute a national emergency. Serving as the backbone of our Nation’s energy infrastructure, the BPS is fundamental to national security, emergency services, critical infrastructure, and the economy. The EO calls for {{w or p|Department of Energy}} to adopt rules and regulations prohibiting certain acquisitions, import, transfer, or installation of bulk-power system components where there is a credible threat that could compromise the BPS. {{w or p|Department of Energy}} is also working closely with its Federal and industry partners to develop a mechanism to pre-qualify equipment and vendors for the BPS supply chain.

On May 15, 2020 the Critical Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII) Final Rule went into effect. The “CEII” designation protects and secures critical information about the Nation’s electric infrastructure as part of {{w or p|Department of Energy}}’s commitment to improve energy security while ensuring a reliable and resilient flow of energy to America’s communities and businesses. In the CEII final rule, {{w or p|Department of Energy}} established administrative procedures for how the Department will designate, protect, and share CEII. The rule also provided procedures for DOE coordination with other Federal agency partners and industry to facilitate mutual understanding and information sharing as it may relate to CEII.