IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - January/February 2022 - 38

Smart Grid
Figure 4. U.S. primary energy consumption by
energy source, 2019. Sum of components may not
equal 100% because of independent rounding.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
(EIA).4
every household in the country for a year. For
the same year (2018), RES accounted for about
11% of total U.S. energy consumption (similar as
in 2019-11.4%, shown in Figure 4) and about
17% of electricity generation.
The significance of RES as energy contributor
and the opportunities in driving an oil drillingfree
ecosystem are not fully understood or recognized
by the society as a whole. Consequently,
the RES industry has suffered from disconnected
supply and value chains, and a lack of collaboration.
It is essential to structure effective shortand
long-term plans for technology development
as well as integration and policy growth. Four
primary barriers for the innovative ecosystem
include: (1) the fragmentation of the RES industry
for the energy sector; (2) gaps in RES
research and manufacturing capabilities; (3)
lacks of business models, public understanding,
policies, and investment interests; and (4) workforce
availability and talent development challenges.
It is critical that governments, through
public-private partnerships, address these barriers
to enable secure and resilient electric grid
and capture economic benefit from translating
RES research and development into new
manufacturing employment and investment.
STEPS FORWARD
While solar and other forms of RES are growing
rapidly, they are primarily providing off-take
energy and, as yet, are largely not integrated
into grid operations, nor do they contribute in
38
any significant way to electric and cities systems
resiliency. It is critical to effectively utilize RES
as a fully integrated grid operating asset and a
resource for enhancing security, reliability, and
resilience in a substantial and multifaceted
effort. It is important to expand current utility
forecasting capabilities not only in terms of
assets, but also develop probabilistic models for
asset availability, accessibility, and usability during
and succeeding a major disaster. The task is
complex and is dependent on multiple, interacting
and often counterintuitive correlations
between variables. Thus, there is a need to
develop new indices for security and resilience,
suited for the extreme event challenges of resulting
from adverse events, either malicious or not,
such as cyberattacks and natural hazards including
droughts, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes,
tornadoes, and fires.
Future research in the area needs to develop
interdisciplinary and innovative technologies for
secure and resilient electric grid with 100%
renewable energy vision; put people in the loop
in a cyberphysical human-centered systematic
approach, formulate and adopt technical, public,
and economic policies to accelerate the use of
renewable energy, and develop education programs
to train the next generation of power and
energy systems engineers. As world urbanization
continually grows, smart cities supporting a
secure and resilient electric grid will offer an
attractive solution that can contribute in economic
growth, increased efficiency of energy
and transportation systems, and promote sustainable
development.
In terms of anticipated impacts, developments
in this area will further lead to: (1) greater
clarity and improved understanding of the fundamental
gaps in the power system infrastructures
and how concerted engineering methods
can result in revolutionary improvements in the
reliability, efficiency, and resiliency of the fully
RES-supported critical city infrastructure; (2)
convene and codevelopment of the complementary
skills needed to address the current and
future challenges as well as foster and grow
effective relationships with all stakeholders
involved; and (3) preparation of the broader
community to adopt the resulting technologies
in a timely manner. Societal impact can be
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