Past and Future Trends in Smart Grid

The Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT) Conference is celebrating 10 years of transformational changes in the electric power industry. In this last decade power delivery systems have evolved from passive, radial and relatively simple systems, into active and complex grids, where Distributed Energy Resources (DER), bidirectional power flows, renewable generation, and real-time monitoring, protection, automation and control are rapidly becoming the norm. Electric utilities have chosen a variety of approaches to pursue the objectives defined by the Smart Grid vision, to ensure that proposed solutions are customized to meet their own realities, requirements, and constraints, and the evolving needs of their customers. The investments made in this evolution toward the Utility and Grid of the Future have provided important benefits, and while significant progress has been made, important business, regulatory and technical challenges and needs remain in this new reality. For instance, how to successfully modernize the grid, integrate DERs and electric transportation, and provide a reliable, resilient and affordable service to end users in a world of declining or stagnated demands; how to solve evolving issues, such as cyber and physical security threats, and impacts of changing weather patterns, etc. This plenary session will review how our industry has changed in the last 10 years while transitioning towards the Smart Grid vision, and focus on discussing how electric utilities are preparing for addressing the challenges and needs of the Grid of the Future and potential transformational changes, like energy storage, transportation electrification, and distribution markets.