M. T. Bruce Tsuchida
Abstract Title
Loads of Loads
There has been a surge of new loads and some new loads are facing years of wait-time to get interconnected to the grid. Many have pointed to non-conventional approaches to speed up the process, including the usage of Advanced Transmission Technologies, such as Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) and High-Performance Conductors (HPCs), that proponents say will allow for faster installation at lower costs of transmission. The effectiveness of these technologies has been demonstrated – for example, a 2021 study showed that GETs could double the amount of renewables added to SPP with half a year payback. The same technologies could be applied to interconnecting new loads. Many states have started looking into these technologies, too. However, the industry in general is facing challenges in incorporating these relatively newer technology options. One of the hurdles is the familiarity by the industry, which include transmission planners, installers, and regulators who will approve rate-basing these assets, among others within the industry. This “lack of familiarness” becomes even more clearer when one looks at modeling techniques and data needed to analyze these non-conventional technologies. Taking GETs for example, ISO New England recognizes the benefits of topology optimization but is concerned that they do not have the right modeling tools to analyze it. Others in the industry see benefits in dynamic line ratings (DLR) but realize that the granular data to analyze DLRs, such as weather data including temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, solar irradiance, may not be readily available in a standard format for a wider region. And the standard long-term planning tools may not be adequate to capture the granularity or other features of these technologies. However, long-term planning has been evolving. For example, PJM has started applying effective load carrying capability (ELCC) to generation resources on an hourly granularity, moving away from the conventional planning focused on peak usage times. What kind of data and tools do we need for such evolution to happen for transmission planning?
Biography
Mr. T. Bruce Tsuchida, a Principal at The Brattle Group, specializes in the analysis of wholesale electric markets and modeling, including operations, valuations of transmission and generation assets, deliverability analyses, RTO cost benefit analyses, market power studies, and contract evaluations.
His experience spans a wide range of utility consulting projects, including the analysis of operations for power markets, ranging from integration studies for intermittent resources such as wind and solar power, ancillary service studies, operational logic studies, and analyses required for regulatory proceedings. These studies range from large interconnected systems to small island systems.
Mr. Tsuchida also has extensive experience in the analysis and modeling of wholesale marketing restructuring for the electric industry and power systems. For the US Department of Energy, he has been involved in the modeling of the entire Eastern Interconnection for the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors. He has also performed cost benefit analyses of various RTOs, and analyses of RTO options for utilities and RTO seams eliminations. He has evaluated both transmission and generation assets and contracts for electric power markets throughout North America, as well as in the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, and Saudi Arabia.
Prior to joining Brattle, Mr. Tsuchida was a principal at Charles River Associates. He was also a project manager at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), where he oversaw international generation development projects and was the lead engineer for Southeast Asia generation units. While at TEPCO, he concentrated primarily on the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of thermal power plants. He holds Master in Science degrees in Technology and Policy, and in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelors in Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from Waseda University.
Contact
Bruce.Tsuchida@brattle.com