What: The purpose of this workshop is to explore the fundamentals behind making economic decisions to purchase new sources of generation and build new transmission lines. Planning for the future of Iowa electricity involves substantial uncertainty, including the future demand for electricity, possible carbon emission limits, requirements to use renewable resources, generation capabilities and efficiencies of new technologies, and the cost of different sources of generation. Incorporating these and other uncertainties into a utility’s planning and making good economic decisions in the midst of these uncertainties are challenging.
The workshop will focus on solving real-world problems in electricity planning. The workshop will specifically explore the following topics:
- Knowing when and under what conditions new sources of energy should be installed
- Valuing new energy sources
- Managing risk, especially financial risk, for an electric utility
- Understanding how a utility’s risk attitude (e.g., risk aversion) should impact the utility’s risk management decisions and valuation of new energy sources
The workshop will be designed to be interactive. The workshop will show how Excel can be used to solve for the optimal power flow in an electric bus network. Participants will be provided with Excel workbooks that they can use to calculate the optimal power flow that minimizes total generation cost.
When: Wednesday, August 11, 2021 from 10 am – 4 pm. Break with snacks and lunch will be provided.
Where: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa (exact location TBD)
Workshop Facilitators: K. Jo Min and Cameron MacKenzie, professors in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Iowa State University
Registration: There is no registration fee, but registration prior to the workshop is required. To register, please send your name, affiliation, and email to Cameron MacKenzie, 515-294-6283, [email protected]. This workshop is sponsored by the Iowa Energy Center. For further information, please contact Cameron or view www.imse.iastate.edu/sweeet (SWEEET’s designated Web page).
Who: Electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, independent power producers, investor-owned utilities, and any member of Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities and Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives.