Developing a State-Wide Energy Assurance Plan: Course + Work = Success

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) mandates that each state prepare an energy assurance plan (EAP) which consolidates energy utilization snapshots for the state along with procedures and strategies to be employed to address a wide range of potential energy emergencies. Rowan University was contracted by the State of New Jersey to develop an EAP. In the spring of 2011 a multidisciplinary team of student engineers was formed as part of a project-based course to begin the EAP development. The result of the semester effort was a compilation of other existing state EAPs, an outline for the new document and initial development of portions of the EAP. During the summer of 2011 fourteen student engineers were hired to continue working on the EAP and the related energy monitoring systems. A significant portion of a draft EAP for the State of New Jersey was completed at that time. The following two semesters (Autumn 2011 and Spring 2012) had smaller engineering clinic teams continuing to refine the document. It was completed and shared with the State over the summer of 2012 by summer students and their professors when the document went through its final revisions. This paper reports on general aspects of the EAP in order to provide the context and then focuses on the important relationship between project-based coursework and student employment opportunities. Some of the challenges in the academic environment include the sometimes competing goals of (1) providing relevant projects based upon real industry need, and (2) the accompanying expectations of professional deliverables, which are often well beyond the scope of a oneor two-semester project. Projects that provide sufficient funding for students (undergraduate and graduate) offer the best way to provide the sophisticated results that many sponsors expect. Having students continue the momentum developed in the in their class projectbased learning experience often results in a corresponding step increase in their productivity when the summer project begins. The EAP team accomplished a significant amount of work as measured by the number of chapters, appendices and references completed, and the responses of the sponsor during regular project reviews. This approach to the key project-based portion of our curriculum has become a model for how solicit and scope projects from outside sponsors. The paper will address other strengths and weaknesses of the approach. Elements of an Energy Assurance Plan (EAP) The Federal government (under the direction of the US DOE) has encouraged, as well as provided funding for, states across the nation to develop useful energy assurance plans (EAPs). Their reasons for doing this are many. They include at a minimum: 1) to better prepare the state to deal with energy emergencies that may occur as the result of natural disasters, damage to P ge 23388.2 energy production sites, terrorist attacks, etc., 2) to provide insights into possible ways to reduce the risk of, number of, and extent of energy disruptions and speed their recovery, and 3) to assist state agencies in coordinating response efforts across many companies, jurisdictions and participants to address energy disruptions more effectively and efficiently. [1] Many EAPs follow a similar outline in achieving these purposes. They include an introductory section which presents an overview of total amounts of energy used in state and identifies key energy sources both within and imported into the state that make up the energy supply. Any related legal requirements (i.e., national, state, and local statutes) that affect energy production, usage, or emergency response requirements are typically identified and described in this overview as well. Typically, subsequent chapters focus on the state’s primary energy supply infrastructures such as the electricity sector, (including sources of electricity production, the largest consumers and producers of electricity and the delivery assets), the petroleum sector (with a breakdown of how petroleum is used throughout the state along with the largest producers and consumers) and the natural gas sector (highlighting gas usage throughout the state along with the largest producers, pipelines and consumers). Obviously from state to state these sections will vary depending upon the amount of energy used/provided by each of these sectors to meet the state’s needs. This focus on energy sources, flows and ultimate end-users gives a solid overview of the current energy dependence and vulnerabilities to state decision-makers and planning and emergency policymakers. Since history has shown that energy crises can pose economic and security threats the benefits of well thought out EAPs include risk and vulnerability to energy disruptions regardless of the underlying cause. Hurricanes and other extreme weather also impact the State of New Jersey. In late August 2011, Hurricane Irene dumped more than 5 inches of rain throughout the entire state with some areas receiving more than 8 inches of rain. This caused widespread power outages in the region leaving over 1.2M customers without power, many for over a week. The most recent storm (Sandy – Autumn 2012) brought flooding and serious gas and electric outages to the state that persist months later. Based upon these and similar experiences, it is clear that the effectiveness of an EAP depends heavily on planning and practice before emergencies; in conjunction with clear coordination and communication linkages to integrate stakeholders during recovery. [1] It was this challenge that our student engineers faced when developing the first plan for New Jersey from scratch, assuring it would meet the specific needs of this coastal state. The purpose of EAPs was established by multiple Federal entities who created a set of helpful and prescriptive guidelines to assist states in creating their custom EAP. The lead agency was the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE). Other key entities who aided in the guideline creation were the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). Their explicit rationale for this effort is stated in their guidance to states as they develop EAPs: “Since the September 11, 2001 attack on the nation, the Northeast Blackout of 2003, the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, and the petroleum supply disruptions caused by the Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 in the Southeastern states, federal, state and local governments have placed greater emphasis on assurance and included within it the P ge 23388.3 need to address the protection of energy infrastructure” [2] The purpose of the New Jersey Energy Assurance Plan (NJEAP) being developed by our student project team was “to facilitate the rapid response and resolution of energy emergencies, to strengthen the resiliency of critical energy infrastructures, and to improve the efficiency of New Jersey energy usage. The means by which the students would accomplish this was through working on paid internships funded by the grant and the novel engineering clinic of Rowan University’s College of Engineering briefly highlighted in the following section. The Engineering Clinic at Rowan University The Rowan University undergraduate engineering program offers an inter-disciplinary clinic program which runs throughout all of the four years of the degree program. This eightsemester sequence is required of all engineering students in every discipline. The final four semesters of engineering clinical practice are designed to provide junior and senior students with the opportunity to collaborate on real world projects for real world clients or sponsors and to develop and present solutions by applying multi-disciplinary engineering concepts. [3,4,5] These real world projects are typically sponsored by industry partners or government agencies for either research and/or design purposes. Over the past few years, sponsored projects within the Electrical & Computer engineering department have ranged from the research and development of smart PV module topologies to the system design and monitoring of multiple, cutting-edge solar PV module types. Clinic projects in other disciplines, such as the civil & environmental engineering or mechanical engineering departments have ranged from aquifer recharge and recycled concrete aggregate feasibility studies to fatigue and fracture research. A typical set of activities in the clinic sequence includes: information search and review; development of a clear and concise problem statement; research and/or design and testing activities; and presentation of results via written report and presentation. [5] Within the engineering curriculum these projects help to develop many important engineering skills often inadequately addressed in the more formal elements of the student’s educational experience through giving them hands-on practice, real-world application of their core engineering skill set and experiential learning. The engineering clinic program experience has been described in many different conferences and publications as well. [5,6,7,8,9] Rowan University’s junior and senior year clinic projects guide students to fulfill their progression from developing basic problem solving techniques and improving technical writing/presenting skills to delivering finished products and effectively reporting all relevant data and studies to a project sponsor or client. It was the excellent fit that this educational model provided to the project requirements of the state’s Board of Public Utilities Division of Reliability and Security that led them to approach the university to see if the work required for the state’s EAP could be accomplished with a multiple year engineering clinic and summer internships. Course Accomplishments P ge 23388.4 An agreement was reached early in the process of discussing