Morgan Chairs Congressional Briefing on Future of U.S. Electrical Grid

Granger Morgan , Carnegie Mellon University professor of engineering and public policy and electrical and computer engineering, will chair a briefing by a National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee as they deliver a congressional briefing on "The Future of Electric Power in the U.S.," followed by a public webinar. The committee also includes William Sanders , dean of the College of Engineering. Many vital services and utilities in the U.S. are dependent on electrical power. Current events, such as the crisis in Texas, have shown the disastrous effects of prolonged mass power disruptions; however, the challenges to the future of our electric grid go well beyond this most recent example. The committee was brought together by NASEM in response to a Department of Energy (DOE) request to evaluate the mediumand long-term evolution of the electric grid. In particular, the committee was asked to consider: Technologies - for generation, storage, power electronics, sensing and measuring, controls systems, cyber security and loads Planning and operations - evolution of current practices in response to changing generation, technologies and end use Business models - cost and benefits to modernization; potential changes to oversight and market operations Grid architectures - technical and jurisdictional challenges to implementation Morgan and Sanders were both members of the previous NASEM committee on enhancing the resilience of the U.S. electricity system.