PPL Electric Utilities Seeks Authorization To "Proactively Manage" Distributed Energy Resources Owned By Customers

May 29, 2019

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Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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PPL Electric Utilities has filed a petition with the Pennsylvania PUC for tariff supplements that would allow PPL Electric to "proactively manage" distributed energy resources (DERs) owned by customers.

Specifically, under the company’s proposal, customers applying to interconnect new DERs with PPL Electric’s distribution system will be required to, among other things, "install devices that enable PPL Electric to monitor and proactively manage DERs."

"As the deployment of DERs continues to increase, it will become critically important for the Company to monitor and manage the DERs interconnected with its electric distribution system. Solar and other intermittent resources can negatively affect the voltage on the electric distribution system, resulting in delayed interconnection or distribution system reinforcements before additional DERs can be installed. Given PPL Electric’s current inability to directly communicate and manage customer DERs to leverage grid support functionality, the amount of intermittent generation that can be interconnected must be limited to maintain system stability and reliability," PPL Electric said in the petition

"Therefore, PPL Electric ... is requesting the ability to monitor and manage DERs through the DER management devices by engaging their smart inverter grid support capabilities," PPL Electric said in the petition

"A DER management device is the communication medium between the DER inverters and the EDC," PPL Electric said in the petition

"Under the DER Management Plan, DER management devices must be installed and connected to the local communication interface of the DER system, so that the Company can monitor and manage the DERs and take advantage of the DERs’ grid support functions," PPL Electric said in the petition

Currently, PPL Electric envisions two types of DER management devices being used in conjunction with standard IEEE 1547-2018: (1) mesh network radios; or (2) cellular modems.

Discussing various situations in which the utility would manage DERs, PPL Electric in the petition said, "by utilizing the grid support functionality, PPL Electric can improve system efficiency. Indeed, enabling localized power generation improves system efficiency by reducing line losses. This is because power would be generated locally instead of being generated at utility-scale generation facilities and transported across transmission and distribution lines to end-use customers."

PPL Electric in the petition further said that, "the Company’s proposal can improve power quality at customer sites and on distribution circuits by leveraging DER voltage support functions, potentially avoiding the need to deploy traditional voltage regulation infrastructure. Specifically, power factor, Volt/VAR, Volt/Watt, ramp rates, and reactive power functions allow DERs to maintain appropriate voltage levels on the distribution system. As a result, the Company will be able to reduce DER interconnection system upgrade costs and reduce the need to deploy equipment, such as capacitor banks or voltage regulators, to manage voltage irregularities. Similarly, frequency/watt functionality allows a DER to maintain appropriate grid frequency, thereby improving the stability of the distribution system and the DER’s ability to maintain a connection with the distribution system."

"Further, allowing PPL Electric to monitor and manage DERs eliminates the issue of 'load masking' because it provides real time visibility into individual and aggregate DER generation output. With the ability to have real-time visibility to DER generation and an understanding of masked load, PPL Electric can more effectively design and operate the system. For example, when there is a disturbance on the system, PPL Electric will be able to accurately determine the actual electric demand on a circuit without the contribution from DERs and act accordingly. This allows the Company’s system operators to safely perform system restoration without violating any equipment ratings or constraints such as current or voltage limits," PPL Electric said in the petition

PPL Electric also said in the petition that, if necessary, PPL Electric could, during system restoration work, remotely curtail the DERs in the vicinity of the Company’s employees who may be working nearby and keep the distribution lines de-energized during maintenance and repair work.

"Additionally, depending on the characteristics of the circuit, a delay or failure to trip off could lead to unintentional islanding of the DER. This unintentional islanding occurs when the generation from the DERs is strong enough to supply the load when isolated from the distribution system. Such a situation presents a significant safety risk to both the public and PPL Electric’s employees and contractors. If crews are dispatched to repair equipment and see a visible break in the Company’s protective equipment, they cannot assume the downstream line is de-energized. If the unintentional island has formed, the lines will be energized downstream of this device, which can be a safety hazard to line workers and the public. If there are downed conductors, the DER can backfeed into this low impedance fault and can cause fires or electrical hazards to the public. Also, when unintentional islanding occurs, there is no way for the utility to maintain power quality, which can lead to customers’ equipment being damaged," PPL Electric said in the petition

"Currently, PPL Electric has no way of detecting if an unintentional island forms or de-energizing DERs to remove the island. However, the Company’s Plan would enable PPL Electric to locate and disconnect DERs in these unintentional islanding scenarios," PPL Electric said in the petition

Docket P-2019-3010128

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