The NWESS 2024 symposium has come to a close, and it was a resounding success! This two-day event brought together industry professionals from across the Pacific Northwest to tackle the region’s most pressing energy issues. With a theme of “Making a Resilient Northwest Grid,” the symposium featured a range of topics and presentations that sparked valuable discussions and knowledge sharing.
Historically, the timing, magnitude, and location of demand in electrical grids was easy to forecast, and the supply was highly controllable. With the growth in variable renewable energy, distributed energy resources, and electrification of buildings and transportation, this is no longer the case.
Seattle City Light is well along the pathway toward an electrified future, and despite having a 96% carbon free baseload we have a long way to go to meet our collective goals. As a utility provider we’re embracing the transition opportunities ahead, while recognizing our role has shifted from simply keeping the lights on to powering much more in our daily lives through partnerships, equity, grid modernization, and transportation and building electrification.
There is an evolution in how distributed energy resources (DERs) provide power and energy. In the last decade, DERs have become the most cost-effective source of new power in many markets. DER technologies are primed to take over a larger share of grid supply infrastructure.
Distribution grids are becoming complex and managing them with traditional approaches is increasingly untenable. On the one hand, the exponential adoption of DERs such as rooftop solar, home batteries and EVs is dramatically altering power consumption (and production) patterns.
Ambitious clean energy and climate change policies are driving the adoption of clean energy, the electrification of all sectors of the economy, and an increased emphasis on delivering benefits through the energy system for underserved communities.
Grid operation is becoming more complex and challenging due to the electrification of heating and transportation loads, deployment of intermittent renewable generation, and the occurrence of extreme weather events. Distributed energy resources (DERs) can offer considerable flexibility for grid operation but also presents a key challenge.
The energy systems at UW’s Seattle campus are in need of renewal, and that renewal is taking the form of a major transformation of how the UW heats, cools, and provides electricity to its buildings.
Snohomish County PUD – the electric utility for Snohomish County and Camano Island – recently created a new department which will focus on clean energy technologies to help prepare for the future. The new department is called Energy Storage and Emerging Technologies and is just 10 months old.
IEEE Seattle successfully hosted an unforgettable Holiday Soiree at the iconic Columbia Tower Club on December 4th, 2023. The event provided a dazzling backdrop of Puget Sound lights from the 75th floor of the tallest building, creating an atmosphere of excitement and celebration.
