leader’s corner
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THIS ERA WILL GO DOWN IN history as a time of unprecedented environmental, economic, and technological change for our industry. Both the forerunners of IEEE and IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) were founded 125 years ago with the mission of serving the members of our profession, and today we celebrate our success as we prepare to transform the electric industry of the future. Just a couple of years ago, we were the IEEE Power Engineering Society with 190 Chapters experiencing declining participation, especially from younger members. Today, we are the IEEE Power & Energy Society with increasing members of all ages who are active in 230 chapters (including student branch chapters) worldwide! Our new name embodies the changes before us and the general awareness of power and energy issues. What happened? Through the dedication of the PES Governing Board, Executive office, and volunteer leaders, we seized the window of opportunity that unprecedented change is offering. This is my final “Leader’s Corner” article as your president, and I thank all of you for your support. I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be your leader and am extremely proud of our accomplishments and optimistic about the future.
Compelling Conferences and Relevant Education Our efforts to promote and organize conference tracks that highlight emerging and topical areas paid off. While Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2009.934265
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Wanda Wanda K. Reder
a pivotal time PES seizes opportunities of change
the faltering economy negatively impacted many other professional events, attendance at all major PES conferences and expositions in 2008 and 2009 grew substantially over previous years. Two new specialty conferences with energy-related themes were added in 2009: Asia-Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference in Wuhan, China, and Sustainable, Alternative Energy Conference in Valencia, Spain. In addition, to spread the workload and propagate best practices in the future, steering committees for each of our major conferences have been established. We are constantly expanding our education offerings with more online Expert Now modules, tutorials at conferences, and stand-alone Plain Talk courses for nontechnical professionals. By the way, Plain Talk courses have provided great revenue-generating opportunities for the chapters that have initiated them. Recognizing the interdisciplinary nature of emerging areas and the need to engage those inside and outside of PES in power and energy issues, we are launching two publications on smart grid and sustainable energy, which are cosponsored with other IEEE Societies. We also upgraded our Manuscript Central publishing Web portal. To review or submit papers, visit http:// mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pes-ieee. To support emerging areas, we are participating in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) road mapping and P2030 standards development effort (http://www. ieeeP2030.org), which is defi ning and
closing standards gaps for greater interoperability of smart grid devices. In addition, in cooperation with EnerNex Corporation and Virginia Tech and in response to a Department of Energy (DOE) award, we will be creating a Web portal clearinghouse for smart grid information.
Supporting the Powerful Power Workforce The newly formed PES Engineering Workforce Collaborative is working to build the pipeline of engineers needed to meet present and future demand. Its action plan recommends doubling the number of power engineering graduates by creating scholarships and internships, hiring more faculty, raising incremental research funding, and creating centers of excellence to conduct power research. Online magazines and industry newsletters have covered these efforts, and, as a result of collaboration with IEEE-USA, the collaborative has gained visibility with lawmakers in Washington D.C. For more information, see http://www.ieee-pes.org/ workforce/workforce-collaborative. Since its launch in the fall of 2007, 600 students and 149 U.S. and Canadian employers have used the online career service, PES-Careers (http://www. ieee-pes.org/workforce/pes-careers). The site is also useful to promote job fairs that we have successfully held at major conferences and to encourage graduates to become PES members after they are employed. Efforts are underway to expand it worldwide. If you are interested in assisting, please november/december 2009
contact Dennis Ray at djray@engr. wisc.edu.
Communicating Our Achievements In June this year, PES launched its new Web site aimed at attracting and maintaining members (www.ieee-pes. org). Our vice presidents will now have responsibility for the content and maintenance of their areas, and technical committees and chapters can adopt templates to post their materials. PES is also creating a product portfolio e-commerce tool to make materials more accessible for practicing engineers. I thank Henry Louie, the volunteer development team, and the Webmasters for defining, implementing, and maintaining the new Web site.
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[email protected]. New videos customized for the specific situations in India, China, and Europe highlight the industry and activities within PES. PES also worked with IEEEUSA to develop two videos: “A Smart Grid: For Intelligent Use” and “Charging Ahead: The Case for Plug-In Hybrid Cars.” These videos and the winning student essays from our 125th Anniversary Essay Contest are available for download at the PES 125th Anniversary page at http://www.ieee-pes.org/125th. There’s also great information on the history of the power industry as it transpired around the world. In addition, for our 125th anniversary, all of the legacy PES publications, dating back to 1884 have been entered into the IEEE Xplore database.
Recognizing Industry Leaders In 2008, the PES Power Life Award was redefined into two new awards: the Leadership in Power Award for industry leaders who support power engineering and the Lifetime Achievement Award for those who have contributed to our profession over their careers. We also established the Robert P. Noberini Distinguished Contributions to Power Engineering Professionalism Award. In 2009, we offered the S. Douglas M. Staszesky Distribution Automation Award and the A.P. Seethapathy Rural Electrification Excellence Award for the first time. And, we’re not stopping there. In 2010, IEEE will be offering the (continued on page 24)
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related article from Marc Matsuura of Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), with an island power system point of view on operations and forecasting. Our fifth article picks up on the operations theme at the international level and moves from operations into the world of market design and operation. There is a great deal of experience outside of North America from which we can gain some valuable insights and lessons. Thomas Ackermann of Energynautics leads an able team of coauthors representing four countries from Europe, as well as New Zealand. As in the North American article, the field of wind forecasting is quite important and well represented. Very major developments have taken place in transmission planning in the past two years. These developments have been driven by an examination of the opportunity to move very large blocks of cheap energy from areas of low marginal price to areas of high marginal price. This has opened a lot of eyes to the potential for some very cost-effective high-voltage backbone transmission, first across ERCOT and then across the entire Eastern Intercon-
nection or Western Interconnection. John Lawhorn of the Midwest ISO was the lead writer for our sixth article, on transmission planning, with a very capable team of coauthors representing all three U.S. interconnections. The seventh and last article deals with a number of popular misconceptions about wind power and power systems, including such topics as capacity value, output variability, backup capacity, energy storage and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and the smart grid. The lead author is Michael Milligan of NREL, joined by an outstanding team of coauthors from Europe and the United States. This article deals head-on with a number of often contentious issues, and it is a mustread for everyone.
about what contribution wind energy can make to the nation’s energy supply and its carbon-reduction goals. When FERC holds a technical conference on the integration of renewable energy and the president of NERC says in his keynote address, “The need to reliably integrate renewable resources is no longer a question, it is a priority,” I think that we need to take note. As we have said in this editorial before, the electric power engineering profession consists of an incredibly talented and dedicated group of individuals who have created the most complex machine ever devised by man. We imagine the future, and then we build it. We have an amazing opportunity before us, reinventing the electric power system of the future. Let’s get on with it!
In Closing
Acknowledgment
We hope this issue of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine will meet your expectations for an informative and lively discussion of the wind-energy issues on the minds of power engineers today. The DOE’s 20% report has given us a bit of a target out there and has helped galvanize the thinking
We would acknowledge the vision, encouragement, and support provided by Mel Olken, the editor of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine, to help make this issue possible. Working with Mel and with all the authors and coauthors to produce this special topical issue has truly been a pleasure. p&e
leader’s corner (continued from page 12) Power Engineering Medal (endowed by PES and the Industry Applications, Power Electronics, and Industrial Electronics Societies), scholarships from the G. Ray Ekenstam Memorial Scholarship Fund, and an award focused on electricity supply in honor of Prof. Roy Billinton.
Membership: Our Bottom Line These initiatives reversed the downward trend in our membership. After seeing fewer and fewer members under age 50 since 2003, the beginning of 2009 saw a reversal of that trend when our overall membership increased about 5% over the previous year. A wide age demographic supported the increase: the 24
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number of members in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and even 60s increased. Our growth is notable, especially since many other IEEE Societies lost members over the same period. The increased number of chapters supports our growing membership and helps us reach members on a local level. For example, chapters from around the world participated in a live Internet broadcast of the membership meeting at the PES 2009 General Meeting and submitted questions in real time during the plenary program. I am proud to have been a part of the PES leadership team in 2008 and 2009. We set out to increase practical offerings, improve the effectiveness of meetings and technical activities, expand the education portfolio, em-
brace emerging themes, and increase membership—and we did. As we conclude our 125th year, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your president. During this period of rapid change, PES needs to remain flexible, embrace new technologies, provide leadership for interdisciplinary contributions, and seize growth opportunities. Under the leadership of Al Rotz, your PES president in 2010 and 201l, PES is well positioned to grow and expand its services. At this pivotal time in our history, I encourage you to join the excitement of PES by becoming more involved, inviting others to join, and giving Al your full support as we transition into the future. p&e november/december 2009
