OE Grid Galaxy - December Edition

Message from Gene:

One of the few festivals celebrated by different groups of people all over the world is the Winter Solstice. No matter the culture or religion, everyone in the Northern Hemisphere will experience the shortest day and the longest night on December 21.

On the longest night of the year, light is a necessity for survival during the cold, dark, long hours. You need electricity to keep the lights going on the longest night and every night. The Office of Electricity (OE) is working to keep the grid reliable, resilient, secure, and affordable throughout the year to help light up the longest night and other celebrations throughout this holiday season.

From our family to yours, we wish you happy holidays and a wonderful new year full of light and energy!

Yours in partnership,

Distribution Transformers: Preparing for Growth Demand

The Office of Electricity, with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has released a report that describes the number and capacity of transformers in the United States, their current age profile, and how demand might increase in the coming years. The report, titled Distribution Transformer Demand: Understanding Demand Segmentation, Drivers, and Management Through 2050, provides a national estimate that can help manufacturers and utilities assess how many transformers will be needed in the United States and how that demand can be managed.

The study found that the demand for transformers has increased for two major reasons: new customers and overall aging of in-service transformers.

New customers increasing demand is understandable. Regarding the age of transformers, the report states, “NREL estimates [there are] 60–80 million distribution transformers, with between 2.5 and 3.5 TVA (that is over 2.5 to 3.5 billion kilowatts) of capacity, and that ~55% of in-service units are more than 33 years old and approaching end of life.” More than half of the transformers in this country are becoming too old to reliably function and can fail at any time. We not only need to build new transformers, but we also need to replace the ones that are aging out. As the report puts it, “We expect both aging assets and increases in loading to accelerate asset failure rates, particularly after 2030.”?

The report also finds that we are currently not ready to meet the distribution transformer demand. “Modeling suggests annual capacity requirements will far outpace increases in the number of units required each year.” Utilities will need to upsize existing transformers as well as provide more transformers. There is a growing trend to install distribution transformers on the ground (pad-mount) as extreme weather events make pole-mounted transformers more susceptible to damage. This will further increase the demand for pad-mounted distribution transformers. Customers can help prolong the life of the transformers that provide power to them by charging their electric vehicles during off-peak times between the late evening and early morning.

Read the full blog for more information.

Office of Electricity Chief Operating Officer Receives Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award

Terri Lee, Chief Operating Officer for OE, has been awarded the prestigious Presidential Rank Award (PRA). This recognition celebrates outstanding achievement, dedication, and leadership by career members of the Senior Executive Service and Senior Professionals across the nation. It is one of the highest honors in federal civil service, and final selections are made by the President of the United States.

The Presidential Rank Award is a distinguished recognition granted annually to a select group of leaders who have demonstrated sustained exceptional performance over an extended period and whose accomplishments have had a significant national or international impact. These leaders are chosen through a rigorous evaluation process, including nominations by department heads, endorsements by senior officials, and thorough evaluations by review boards comprised of private citizens.

“This achievement is one of the highest honors bestowed upon federal executives. Terri Lee deserves this award for a long list of reasons, including her exceptional leadership within the Office of Electricity, dedication, and her invaluable contributions to advancing OE’s mission,” said Gene Rodrigues, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity. “Ms. Lee has been instrumental in guiding the Office of Electricity through an era of growth and transformation, ensuring we’re not only meeting our goals, but setting new standards in energy resilience, reliability, security, and affordability for Americans.”

Ms. Lee, and the other 2024 PRA winners, will join a distinguished group of public servants who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, integrity, and innovation in the pursuit of excellence. The full list of this year’s Presidential Rank Award recipients, as well as their individual accomplishments, can be found on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ’s Presidential Rank Awards page.

Assistant Secretary Gene Rodrigues Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

In early December, Assistant Secretary Gene Rodrigues received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Energy Commission for his leadership and outstanding achievement advancing the state’s clean energy goals.

"Clean energy is the path to greater prosperity, greater security, and certainly greater affordability for every single person, no matter where you are in the country," says Assistant Secretary Rodrigues as he discusses his career. "The things I work on are foundational to trying to ensure that we move our country, and in fact, the world to a clean energy economy that benefits everybody."

OE Employee Spotlight: General Engineer Roxana Melendez De La Hoz

What exactly do you do?

I work for OE's Grid Systems and Components Systems division, supporting the management and execution of a multi-million-dollar R&D program that focuses on microgrid systems and behind-the-meter Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) integration.

What drew you to OE?

My main goal is to serve all communities and its people. Serving the community by applying our skills and professional experience is the leading choice to make our world a better place. Back in Colombia, we used to experience frequent power outages. This served as a great motivation for me to work towards providing solutions to technical issues, that can have a great impact on the advancement of our society.

What do you find rewarding about your work?

The opportunity to serve our society by providing solutions that will enhance people’s quality of life. Those provisions are made by designing and implementing R&D programs to provide a reliable, secure, affordable, and optimal electricity service.

What was your favorite project that you were involved in?

I have greatly enjoyed all tasks associated with the R&D Microgrid Program.

What impact did that project have on the grid or the everyday lives of Americans?

Microgrids and DERs are and will be vital to make our electrical infrastructure stronger, thus improving the quality of life of millions of inhabitants in the US and our world, perhaps changing the way in which we use electrical energy in our lives.

What is the most rewarding part of your work? ?

Ending my work journey day knowing that one day the lives of people will be positively impacted by providing them with a modern/state-of-the-art electricity service.

Watt's New

Deadline extended for Community Microgrid Development Support ??

Did You Know?

The average American household spends more on electricity for holiday lights over the season, depending on the type of lights, usage, and location. One key factor for electricity costs is the type of lights. Traditional incandescent lights consume significantly more electricity, so a moderate display of incandescent lights might increase your bill by $30 or more. LED lights are far more energy efficient and can increase your electric bill by only $5-10 on average.

Energy-saving tip: Make the switch to LED lights and use timers to reduce your electricity bill on holiday lights!