Jeffery E. Dagle, Thomas J. Overbye
Modern power systems are extraordinarily reliable. Most customer outages are caused by issues with radial distribution feeders, not the networked transmission grid. However, when large-scale system disturbances do occur, they provide an excellent opportunity to study their root causes and apply lessons learned to further enhance reliability in the future. These events also inform research initiatives that are underway to develop technologies and other measures to enhance the reliability, security, and resilience of the power system.
In the case of the 14 August 2003 North American blackout (which occurred 20 years ago this summer), several changes in the regulatory structure associated with mandatory reliability standards were implemented. Several new technologies that were nascent at the time, for example, time-synchronized wide-area measurements, received a substantial boost in interest and deployment. On a personal note, in the immediate aftermath of the blackout, both of us were deployed in various roles to support the investigation team. Jeff was detailed by the U.S. Department of Energy to support the blackout investigation team at the North American Electric Reliability Council in Princeton, NJ, USA, for several months leading the data requests and management activity, and Tom led in-person interviews with several of the involved power system operators at multiple operations centers. Through these experiences, we gained a tremendous amount of firsthand knowledge regarding this blackout. We observed similarities among this and other blackouts that have occurred throughout the world.
When we were invited to serve as guest editors for this special issue, we solicited articles from world-class leaders in the areas of blackout investigation and related fields. We wanted to provide a wide breadth of geographic coverage and different aspects of understanding and applying lessons learned from prior blackouts. Assembling this special issue has been a great honor for us, and we are exceedingly grateful to all of the authors who volunteered to write excellent articles.
Imai et al. [A1] provide a foundation of why blackouts occur and a few international examples of blackouts that illustrate different examples of system aspects and key considerations. There is also a significant treatment of changing grid conditions, such as the increasing prevalence of inverter-based resources, and the implications that these trends will have on the future system reliability. The article also contrasts blackouts with other large-scale system disturbances that have occurred. Finally, the authors enumerate several technologies that, when adopted, will significantly enhance overall system reliability.
Cummings [A2] delves into the details of investigating significant system disturbances and provides examples of prior events that have yielded significant new insights regarding the power system by following a rigorous investigation process. Several system disturbances are discussed, each with its own story to tell and common messages that they convey, benefiting from comprehensive investigations into their detailed sequences of events and root causes. The challenges of investigating the various failure modes of extraordinarily complex systems are presented, with tangible lessons learned and recommendations.
Robertson and Boston [A3] provide an operational perspective to blackout avoidance. Written from the perspective of the system operator, the importances of interorganization collaboration and coordination are emphasized. A detailed utility case study of this event is presented, and technology changes that were implemented as a result are described. The benefits of specific technologies that will be useful in a control center environment to avoid future blackouts are presented.
Giri [A4] covers the important role played by real-time grid management, both in routine operations and during the emergency situations that might give rise to large-scale blackouts. Much of the high degree of reliability seen in modern power systems is due to the quite effective energy management systems that are widely used in grid control centers and due to the skill of the operators and engineers who work in these control centers. By keeping the human in the loop through effective situational awareness, situations that could lead to blackouts are avoided well before they become threatening. This article provides a great overview of the many interrelated components that make this possible.
Building on Dr. Giri’s article, Bose et al. [A5] focus on one of the most important aspects of what keeps the lights on: effective operator training. Both the grids themselves and the energy management systems used to control them are complex. While much of the grid operation is automated, a large amount is still controlled by human operators. To deal with these complexities, operators need effective training. This article provides informative coverage of how this training is accomplished, with a particular focus on the operator training simulators that are crucial to achieving the reliable grids of today.
Cohn [A6] provides an enjoyable stroll through electric grid blackout history, focusing on both the blackouts themselves and public perceptions of electric grid reliability. With topics including a 1930s comedy, gas system blackouts of the 1800s, Winter Storm Uri in 2021, grid interconnections of the early 20th century, and a Doris Day comedy from the 1960s, this is a not-to-be-missed article providing interesting and fun insights into electric grid history.
Finally, Capitanescu [A7] asks a compelling question: As electricity networks are undergoing profound changes in the resource mix, will the propensity for large-scale blackouts get better or worse? The article provides an in-depth treatment on classifying root causes and discusses principles of security and resilience. Engineering tradeoffs to achieve the needed levels of resilience are explored. Measures to strengthen security and resilience to overcome specific challenges are proposed.
We have enjoyed our roles as guest editors assembling this issue. We hope that you find these articles to be as interesting and informative as we have.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2023.3247091
Date of current version: 19 April 2023
1540-7977/23©2023IEEE