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Distribution Tutorials

Register today for this 4-part in-depth webinar on DER and how they will impact the electric grid. This online course is perfect for electrical engineers, utility employees, and more. Special discounts are available for members of IEEE!

Presented by: Steve Collier, IEEE Smart Grid

Online Tutorial Overview:

Distributed Energy Resources, or DER: What are they? How do they work? And what should electric utilities be doing?

The electric utility industry is undergoing revolutionary changes. Many foundations of the longstanding bulk electric system are eroding, and new grid models are emerging. One of the most significant new developments is the accelerating proliferation of distributed energy resources (DER). They pose both daunting challenges and desirable opportunities for existing electric grids. Learn why DER are on the rise, what they are, how they work, and what electric utilities can and should be doing about them over the course of four webinar sessions.

This online tutorial will cover the following topics in each session: 

STREAM SESSION 1  

  • Introduction and Objectives
  • Why the Bulk Electric System is Changing
  • New Emerging Grid Models

STREAM SESSION 2 

  • What does DER Do?
  • Why are DER Proliferating?

STREAM SESSION 3 

  • DER Poses Challenges for the Electric Grid
  • DER Offers Benefits for the Electric Grid
  • What Electric Utilities Should Do About DER

STREAM SESSION 4 

  • Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS)
  • Convergence of Smart Grid with Internet of Things (IoT)
  • The Distributed Electric Energy Grid of the Future - DSO & EASModels

Presented by: Steven E Collier, Director of Smart Grid Strategies, Milsoft Utility Solutions

This series of recorded tutorials are now available for purchase on the IEEE Smart Grid Resource Center. Scroll down for detailed session agendas.

Session prices vary based on IEEE membership. Each 80-minute session will be available for streaming for 1 year from purchase date. In addition, CEUs/PDHs will be available for purchase. To see all recorded tutorials and corresponding slides, please visit the IEEE Smart Grid Resource Center’s Education tab.

Tutorial Overview:

For nearly a century the driving force for the U.S. electric grid was growth while the technologies and business model changed incrementally. The OPEC oil embargo in 1973 marked an inflection point after which its foundations began to erode. New electronics, information, communications, and energy technologies led to rapid growth of distributed energy resources (energy production, storage, monitoring, management). An increasingly decentralized and complex "Grid Edge" poses profound challenges for planning, operations, and management of the legacy electric grid. The fourth industrial revolution (cyber-physical systems operating via the Internet of Things) brings new ways of dealing with the challenges and maximizing the benefits of a new electric grid model.

This online tutorial will cover the following topics in each session: 

Expansion – Session 1
  • Demand
  • Facilities
  • Monopolies
Disruption - Session 2
  • Blackouts
  • OPEC Embargo
  • Legislation/Regulation