Research Library

Is the electric grid ready for the era of decarbonization? Nonresident scholar Julie A. Cohn explains why new inverter technology could prove vital for preventing outages and grid instability.

The Texas power grid is infamously disconnected from the rest of the U.S. Its status as an “energy island” can bring both advantages and disadvantages. Two years ago, Winter Storm Uri knocked out power across Texas for days and exposed major reliability concerns. Here, we discuss changes made in the two years since Winter Storm Uri. Is the Texas grid “fixed?”

It’s been two years since Winter Storm Uri swept across Texas, and the question of whether and how to end the isolation of the state’s grid remains. Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn offers a brief history of the standalone Texas grid to explore how the lessons of the past can inform the state’s electric power future.

Why does Texas have its own power grid, and how can its history inform the future of electric power in the state? Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn looks beyond the mythology surrounding the standalone Texas grid and finds that reliability and economics — not politics — were the major factors leading to isolation.

As the energy transition continues, the viability of our power system is at stake. Nonresident scholar Julie A. Cohn explains the need to prepare for next-generation grid technology if we are to maintain a stable, economical and secure power system.

In the transition to a renewable energy future, we must invest in a new transmission infrastructure – some crossing state borders – that connects intermittent power, traditional power and users, write Center for Energy Studies experts.

With opposition to large-scale energy infrastructure on the rise, transmission service providers find it problematic to build the new power lines essential to a greener grid. This paper highlights the Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zone initiative (CREZ) — a case study of the difficulties that new power lines face and the policy choices that can facilitate development of this necessary infrastructure. The CREZ experience can inform development of new large-scale transmission infrastructure in other regions.

This article considers the implications of expanding hydroelectricity for war production and strategy using Canada, the United States and Germany during World War II as an example. The article also examines how war-time decisions structured the longer-term evolution of large technological systems: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740022819000366

Author Julie Cohn traces historical trends and experiences with the U.S. electrical grid to help frame choices as more renewables are brought into the system.

Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn explores the history of the giant interconnecting machine that linked the majority of power users across the country from 1967 to 1975. Proceedings of the IEEE, Dec. 28, 2018.