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4 Attachment A: Reliability & Resiliency Strategic Plan – Draft for Discussion/Approval (Note that many of the actions below are also part of other documents like the Utilities Strategic Plan) Strategy 1: Replace and modernize electric distribution infrastructure To avoid outages the utility will replace aging infrastructure, make sure new technologies can be easily integrated into the distribution system, increase the interconnectedness of the electric system, and ensure the utility has the capacity to complete its maintenance and investment needs. Infrastructure investment to reduce wildfire risk will also reduce outages.
S1, Action 1: Replace aging infrastructure
Large amounts of the utility’s infrastructure are aging and needs replacement. The utility will replace much of this infrastructure over a seven-year grid modernization effort while simultaneously addressing the capacity issues in Action 2.
S1, Action 2: Upgrade capacity to accommodate new loads The utility will invest in new capacity to accommodate new loads created by the electrification of vehicles and buildings.
S1, Action 3: Improved switching to improve system flexibility, efficiency, and reliability The utility will construct additional distribution feeder circuit ties and switches to make the electric distribution system more interconnected to reduce the impact of outages, and enable more flexibility in configuring power flows to more effectively integrate solar, storage, and other new technologies and to reduce system losses.
S1, Action 4: Second transmission connection
The utility will pursue a second interconnection to PG&E’s transmission system to reduce the chance of a single incident resulting in the loss of service to the entire community.
S1, Action 5: Foothills undergrounding
The utility will underground lines in the Foothills to reduce the risk of wildfire liability and minimize the need for forced outages during windy high fire risk days to avoid the risk of electric lines being blown into trees and starting wildfires.
S1, Action 6: Reliability metrics
The utility will work with the City’s Utilities Advisory Commission and Council to establish goals for its reliability metrics as outcomes for the City’s capital investments taking place under this strategy.
Strategy 2: Implement operational practices to improve reliability and manage outages effectively
The utility will reduce operational risks that lead to outages by ensuring key positions are filled, reducing outage risks caused by vegetation, and communicating effectively during outages to give residents the information they need to manage the impacts of outages. 2 3
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4 S2, Action 1: Strengthen the workforce
The utility will recruit, train and retain line-workers, system operators, engineers, inspectors to maintain system and respond to outages effectively and, when there are staff vacancies, contract with third-party contractors to supplement staff to keep up with regular utility operations, investment, and maintenance.
S2, Action 2: Employ best maintenance practices for wildfire protection The utility will follow the practices in its Wildfire Mitigation Plan to reduce wildfire risk and the attendant health and safety, liability, and outage risks.
S2, Action 3: Communicate effectively during outages
The City will communicate with residents effectively about outages using its newly upgraded outage management system.
Strategy 3: Integrate and ease adoption of flexible and efficient technologies and strategies Many technologies are being currently added to the electric system that are capable of charging and discharging, generating electricity, or flexing their electric use by time period. Technologies include rooftop solar, home batteries, vehicle to home and vehicle to grid systems, and grid-responsive home equipment. These technologies can also create challenges for the distribution system at high penetrations, resulting in voltage issue, failures in system protection, or other issues because the system is not designed for them. But they can also create benefits when used well, reducing the cost of electricity, reducing emissions, reducing strain on the local distribution system, and creating home resiliency. The utility intends to facilitate the adoption of these technologies.
This strategy is intended to lower the barriers for these technologies and promoting their voluntary adoption even before any utility incentive or assistance programs are established (utility incentive or assistance programs will be evaluated in Strategies 4 and 5). Barrier reduction and effective grid integration are a first step toward facilitating these technologies and realizing their benefits, especially when paired with promotion of best practices for installing and operating them in an efficient manner.
S3, Action 1: Configure the distribution system to accommodate high penetrations of solar, batteries, and other technologies
The utility will complete an evaluation of how to configure the electric system to accommodate high penetrations of solar, batteries, and other technologies and integrate the findings of this evaluation into the grid modernization study.
S3, Action 2: Review, communicate, and streamline permitting and other regulatory rules for efficient and flexible electrification technologies
The utility to establish clear utility rules and policies on the installation of efficient electrification technologies (e.g. low-wattage EV chargers, circuit pausers, smart panels, grid-responsive equipment and vehicle chargers) and will work with other City departments to establish clear permitting guidelines.
S3, Action 3: Promote Efficient Electrification
The utility will partner with the City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) team and other City departments to promote efficient electrification strategies to residents, particularly those doing construction or renovation projects, and incorporate them into electrification programs where feasible. 3 3
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4 S3, Action 4: Promote the use of flexible technologies in a grid-friendly way The utility will promote energy use during times of day when it results in lowest emissions and is most grid-friendly, and will send price signals via time of use rates once advanced metering infrastructure is in place
Strategy 4: Evaluate the benefits of flexible and resiliency technologies and efficient electrification strategies to the utility and community The utility will value the benefits of flexible and resiliency technologies (such as solar + batteries, vehicle to grid, and grid-responsive water heaters and other equipment) to the utility’s supply and distribution costs and estimate the value of to the community of the resilience that some of these technologies can provide, with the results supporting an evaluation of the utility’s potential role in facilitating or promoting these technologies.
S4, Action 1: Value the utility benefit of flexible technologies on electric supply costs The utility will evaluate the electric supply cost benefits of outreach, education, and time of use rates to encourage the shifting of energy use to times of day when prices and emissions are lower and the grid faces fewer constraints, and will evaluate the benefits of strategies like automated demand response programs in enhancing customer participation in load shifting.
S4, Action 2: Value the utility benefit of flexible technologies on electric distribution costs and capacity
The utility will attempt to value the utility benefit to electric distribution costs and capacity of outreach, education, and time of use rates to encourage the use of flexible technologies to shift energy use to other times of day, and will also explore the availability and cost/benefit of technologies that could automate the operation of these flexible technologies to be responsive at the transformer level. These valuation exercises are complex, so the utility will seek partners (e.g. with SLAC’s GISMO Lab) or consultants to complete this action, and will not proceed unless this action can be completed without slowing the grid modernization efforts described in Strategy 1, Actions 1, 2, and 3 S4, Action 3: Explore estimating the value of resiliency for the community The utility will attempt to value of extra resiliency for the community to support program design.
S4, Action 4: Estimate the cost of individual customer and community resiliency approaches The utility will estimate the cost of various community resiliency approaches such as microgrids and compare them to the value of resiliency estimated in Strategy 4, Action 3 above.
Strategy 5: Evaluate the resource needs to promote the adoption of various flexible demand reduction and resiliency solutions and efficient electrification strategies Based on the cost and value of various flexible demand reduction and resiliency solutions investigated in Strategy 4 the utility will develop outlines of potential programs to facilitate and promote the use of flexible technologies to reduce supply and distribution costs, optimize the use of distribution capacity, and enhance community resiliency. The goal of this strategy is to characterize and estimate resource needs for the potential program approaches described below and to provide policy choices to the Utilities Advisory Commission and Council consideration.
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4 Strategy 5, Action 1: Evaluate utility-driven programs to enhance resiliency and lower the demand on the grid
Evaluate possible utility programs to help community members install grid-responsive equipment, solar, storage, and/or vehicle to home or vehicle to grid solutions. Program approaches could include, but are not limited to, incentives, technical assistance, power purchase agreements or feed-in tariffs, direct installation and possibly ownership of equipment, or public-private partnerships with an aggregator.
Types of locations to investigate include single-family homes, multi-family buildings, at small and medium businesses, or in larger commercial facilities in Palo Alto.
Strategy 5, Action 2: Evaluate equity-based and need-based versions of the programs The utility will consider how the programs above may need to be adjusted to address the needs of customers with special needs (e.g. medical needs) or low-income customers.
Strategy 5, Action 3: Evaluate community-based versions of the programs The utility will evaluate how the programs in Action 1 could be adjusted to provide community emergency resources at community facilities or via public-private partnerships.
Strategy 5, Action 4: Evaluate other resiliency approaches like neighborhood-level microgrids The utility will evaluate other potential approaches to providing community resiliency such as mobile battery storage or neighborhood-level microgrids.
Strategy 6: Implement any utility-driven programs identified in Strategy 5 that are chosen by the City Council
The utility will implement strategies identified in Strategy 5 as directed by Council