MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Electric Power Systems Operation: Old vs. New

Dr. Marija D. Ilic
MIT

Thursday, April 23, 1998
2:00 PM (refreshments 1:45)
Grier Room, Room 34-401B
EECS Special Seminar

Abstract

This talk first provides a brief overview of the field of electric power systems operation. The emphasis is on formulating operating problems as network and control problems. These formulations are used to introduce the difficult engineering problems of providing high-quality reliable power at lowest cost, and to present our solutions to some of these problems.

The second part of this talk presents the challenge of operating electric power systems under competition in a deregulated electric power industry. The new operating problems are also formulated as network and control problems. The major differences between the new and old problems are identified.

This talk closes by speculating about the impact which deregulation will have on an ordinary electricity user in this country in terms of cost and quality of service. Emphasis is placed on the role of new engineering methods for making the electric power system responsive and flexible to the needs of an evolving energy market and its customers. Particularly exciting is the potential for developing engineering methods to shape the energy economics. My conclusion is that there exists significant need for new network-, generation- and customer-based controls. But, if they are not developed systematically, they could result in reduced system robustness, in which case today's conservative operation should not be changed. Moreover, the closer the system is to its limits of acceptable operation, the more critical it is to have a global understanding of system modeling and control design.