PA 510 Smart Grid and Sustainable Communities:
Version 4.0
A Two-Term Course Series, Winter and Spring Terms, 2013
Winter Term: (January 17-March 21)
The Smart Grid and Sustainable Communities: Making the Connections
Spring Term (April 11-June 13)
Making the Smart Grid Work in the Real World
Preliminary (April 8) Course Plan for Spring Term
(Note: This course plan will be replaced by a Course Syllabus at it develops over the term)
Thursday evenings, 6:30-9:40 PM
Urban Center, Room 204, 506 SW Mill
Public website: http://www.pdx.edu/cps/smart-grid-for-sustainable-communities
Link to Desire to Learn (D2L) course website for registered students with password: https://d2l.pdx.edu
Faculty and Staff
(faculty bios at http://www.pdx.edu/cps/faculty-for-smart-grid-courses)
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Jeff Hammarlund, Lead Faculty, Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Fellow, Mark Hatfield School
of Government, PSU, and President, Northwest Energy and Environmental Strategies,
hammarj@pdx.edu, 503-249-0240
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James Mater, Co-founder and General Manager, Smart Grid Business, QualityLogic; founding
member and chair, Smart Grid Oregon, jmater@qualitylogic.com, 503-780-9796
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Mark Osborn, Senior Vice President, Five Stars International, Ltd; formerly, Smart Grid Manager,
Portland General Electric, mark.osborn@fivestarsintl.com, 503-709-9373
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Lawrence Beaty, Executive Director and Chair of the Idaho State University Energy Systems
Technology and Education Center, beatkawr@isu.edu, 208-282-3265 (class advisor and guest
presenter)
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Michael Jung, Policy Director, Silver Spring Networks, mjung@silverspringnet.com, 503-360-3881
(Special Course Advisor and Speaker)
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Lisa Harrison, Course Assistant, lisaharrison@mac.com, 503-206-4534
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Bill Henry, Class Blogger, bill@eqlenergy.com, 503-475-0391
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Stephanie Levine, Special Assistant to Lisa Harrison, stephanie@oregoncub.org, 773-307-1666
Course Scope and Objectives
This two-term course series explores a set of emerging concepts, technologies, applications and business
models, and the related trade-off decisions involved in transforming the nation’s century-old, centralized
power grid into a climate and renewable energy-friendly “Smart Grid.” If offers a cross-disciplinary approach
intended to deepen individual areas of expertise in the context of multidisciplinary teamwork. The first term
establishes a basic Smart Grid literacy, while the second term applies this knowledge base to specific “real
world” case studies.
Many visionaries informed about the world of energy policy believe that this emerging “internet for energy”
will enable individuals and businesses alike to participate in both the quality and quantity of energy they use
to live and work, generating and storing energy from multiple sources, and managing the amount and timing
of their use of that energy. The smart grid is expected integrate generation from both directions –
home/business and central station plant – and move it as needed to meet load while incorporating solar
panels, wind farms, fuel cells, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and other energy sources. This intelligent
electric network will manage load shape and will achieve greater utilization than today. Its full value will be
achieved when it is combined with an emerging participatory network model that enables consumers to
actively manage their electricity consumption and sell back to the grid the surplus power they generate.
Smart grid advocates argue that the concepts, technologies, and models addressed by this course hold the
promise of a significant new paradigm for the generation, use and delivery of electric power that is more
efficient, sustainable, robust, flexible, and environmentally sound, and that encourages a much higher level of
consumer participation and control. Some advocates argue that converting to the smart grid also opens up
additional opportunities to make other infrastructures (including waste water, transportation,
telecommunications, and natural gas) greener and more sustainable during the conversion process.
During our winter term course, called The Smart Grid and Sustainable Communities: Making the
Connections – 12 graduate students and 29 professional development students learned the smart grid basics
and fine-tuned their ability how to work effectively in multidisciplinary small group teams. The spring term
course, Marking the Smart Grid Work in the Real World, will explore additional aspects of the smart grind
with new presentations from our expert faculty and additional guest speakers. But it will also offer
opportunities for students to work in small group interdisciplinary teams (often referred to in the academic
literature as “small group learning communities”) to apply much of what we have learned in “real world”
projects. By working on actual projects, our small group teams will help advance the “state of the art”
associated with this still-emerging concept of the smart grid by determining if and how it (and related
concepts such as demand response, energy storage, and enhanced renewables integration )can actually
support sustainable development. Is the smart grid mainly just hype or is there hope that, over time, it can
fulfill its promises? Let’s find out!
The course objectives for the spring term sessions are to further student’s the understanding of:
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How a comprehensive strategy involving the smart grid, demand response, and storage can enhance
the integration of solar power into the electric grid.
Smart grid application and implementation strategies that some other parts of the county are pursuing
and their potential relevance to the Pacific Northwest.
The benefits and challenges of communicating and collaborating in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary small group “leaning communities” and in larger group settings, and successful strategies
to enhance the benefits and overcome the challenges.
Strategies to collaborate in small teams to research, develop, and present a professional paper and a
presentation on that paper to clients and other professionals in a public setting.
The subject matter associated with the specific case study your small group team selects.
Course Approach and Innovative Features
This is the fourth year PSU has offered an interdisciplinary graduate level course on the smart grid. Past
editions have been heralded by all four governors and many members of Congress from the four Northwest
states, the Secretary of Energy, and numerous energy educators and experts for its innovative features. We
will continue and build upon many of these innovative features this year. For example, the course:
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Serves two critical audiences: (1) graduate students in engineering, information technology, public
administration/policy, urban planning, business, economics, law, and related fields; and (2) midcareer professionals from the utility, information technology, public administration, architecture, urban
and transportation planning, business, legal, and related communities who are interested in getting up
to speed on the smart grid as a part of their professional development.
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Is taught by a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary faculty team that can offer academic knowledge
and practical experience in policy and planning, power engineering, information technology, and
business. We apply academic theory and research to address real world challenges (“Making Oregon
our Classroom”).
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
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Invites additional nationally known experts to offer their perspectives. For example, underwriting in
2011 allowed us to invite some of the nation’s top smart grid experts who are working in regions of
the country that are ahead of Oregon on smart grid policy development, at least in some respects.
These speakers included the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Administration, the chairman
of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and smart grid leaders from California, Illinois, Texas,
Ohio, New York and elsewhere. They offered valuable insights and recommendations on what Oregon
should and should not include in the state’s Smart Grid Roadmap.
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Offers a cross-disciplinary approach that deepens individual areas of expertise in the context of
teamwork. For example, we establish interdisciplinary small group “learning communities” that require
communication, learning, and the completion of group assignments across traditional disciplines. We
believe that an ability to communicate across traditional disciplines is critical to the successful
development of the smart grid. It is also a skill that is highly valued by employers interested in
positioning their companies for a successful future.
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Runs over two consecutive terms, with the second term building on the first. The first term focuses on
establishing the smart grid basics and learning how to function in multidisciplinary student teams; the
second term adds to the knowledge base but places primary emphasis on applying this knowledge to
help support “real world” projects that identify and test how the smart grid can support sustainable
development. Examples of actual projects our multidisciplinary small group learning communities have
addressed so far: PGE’s Salem Smart Power Project, Strategies for the Smart Grid to Support
Emerging EcoDistricts and District Energy Systems in Portland; Exploring the Connections between
Smart Grid and Vehicle-to-Grid: Opportunities and Challenges in Oregon; The Smart Grid’s Role as an
Enabler of Renewable Energy Integration in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest; and Strategies to
Include Low-Income and Other Vulnerable Consumers as Smart Grid Beneficiaries. We do not require
seminar participants to enroll for both terms but we encourage them to do so.
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Concludes with a conference or public forum at which we present our findings and recommendations
to government and business leaders. For example, in 2011, each of the student teams offered a
presentation and a briefing book for the members of simulated “Governor’s Blue Ribbon Advisory
Panel on Oregon’s Smart Grid Policy.” While the panel had no official standing, it consisted of people
who could easily serve on such a panel and was chaired by the governor’s actual senior advisor on
jobs and the economy. Some of these recommendations have been incorporated in the governor’s
actual Ten-Year Energy Plan. Faculty member Michael Jung was asked to chair Governor Kitzhaber’s
Ten Year Energy Plan Task Force, and Jeff Hammarlund was asked to lead the smart grid workgroup
associated with this plan. This year’s concluding conference is tentatively scheduled for the evening of
June 13, which is also when our class would normally meet during final’s week.
An additional innovative feature for this year involves making this course available in real time to other
interested parties in the Northwest region through PSU’s Distance Learning Center. This allows interested
students enrolled at partner universities and mid-career professionals working at partner electric utilities to
take this course as part of their university curriculum or professional development training. Three Distance
Learning options are available for students and mid-career professionals:
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Video Conference. Participants may view the class presentations and interact with the faculty and
guest speakers in real time at participating receiving Distance Learning Centers. This is the
recommended option when possible.
Live Stream. Participants may view the class live but will not be able to interact with the faculty and
guest speakers in real time.
Media Archive. Each class and presentation will be captured and stored for later viewing. A link will
be provided for access to the archived media, which should be available the next day.
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
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Small Group Learning Community Case Study Projects
During the final class session of winter term, the faculty proposed ten potential small group learning
community case study projects. We identified and ranked candidate projects using a number of criteria
reflecting our best guess as to each projects likely potential to:
 Enhance the prospects for helping students secure new jobs or better jobs (professional development).
This includes:
o Advancement in current employment – e.g., gaining promotions due to added experience
o Employment opportunity improvement – e.g., improving attractiveness of resume and
references
 Meet the workforce needs of our course sponsors (Intel, Portland General Electric, and Veris
Industries) and other employers. These employers include BPA, both investor and consumer owned
electric utilities, vendors, consultants, trade associations, government agencies and non-profits.
 Synchronize well with faculty knowledge and interest. Faculty members will be more helpful and
enthusiastic if they support projects they are both interested in and knowledgeable about.
 Synchronize well with student interests.
To test our assumptions about the student interest criterion, we requested and received student feedback
during class. Based on this guidance and on additional faculty interactions with representatives of the
potential “clients” associated with these projects, we narrowed our initial list of ten “candidate” projects to the
four “finalists.” They are:
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A Demand Response and Smart Grid Component of PSU’s Clean Energy Upgrade Project;
Analysis related to two components of PGE’s Smart Power Project in Salem;
A Smart Meter Consumer Data Study; and
The Smart Grid and Demand Response Component of the Oregon Convention Center’s Strategic
Energy Plan.
Our plan is to recruit members of an Advisory Team for each project. In most instances, at least some of the
members of the advisory team will also be representatives of that group’s “client” (PGE, PSU, Oregon
Convention Center.) When possible, advisory team members will meet with their group for a formal
“consultation session” during one of our regularly scheduled class periods. All students are encouraged to
attend and learn from each of these consultation sessions, but the primary dialogue will be between the
student group and their respective advisory team. Each student team will be encouraged to prepare and
deliver questions to their advisory team in advance to ensure that their advisors’ precious time is used wisely.
The faculty will offer brief summaries of the project finalists during our first week of class and ask those
students who are interested in joining a small group learning community to identify their top two choices for
group class projects. It is important to note that professional development students may choose to participate
in a small group or not. We are confident that all professional development students who attend most of the
class presentations, participate in class discussions, listen in on the in-class consultation sessions, and tackle
at some of the required readings will learn a lot in this course will learn a lot from this class. We will make this
as easy as possible by recording all class lectures and in-class discussions and making these available on the
password protected Desire 2 Learn class website the very next day. We are just as confident that professional
development students will learn far more if they choose to supplement these important course activities by
also joining a small group and participating in a class project. At the same time, we also appreciate that
participation in a “real world” class projects such as these represents a significant time commitment that may
not be possible for all professional development students. If you simply don’t have time to take this on,
choosing not to join a small group learning community is 100% acceptable.
If you are a professional development student who is “on the fence”, be assured we do not expect you to
make the same level of commitment to a class project that is expected of the graduate students. But we will
expect you to be clear with yourself and your teammates regarding the level of commitment you can make.
We would rather a professional development not join a small group learning community at all than make a
commitment to take responsibility for on a specific aspect of the group project and fail to follow through.
We will determine how many of these case study projects we actually pursue and confirm the members of
each group’s Advisory Team based on the guidance we receive from students after our initial class. To help
you make an informed decision, here is some additional information on the four class project finalists.
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
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Smart Grid and Demand Response Component of PSU’s Clean Energy Upgrade Project
PSU has made a clear commitment to establishing a sustainable physical campus that can serve as a model to
universities across the county. In 2010, the university adopted a Climate Action Plan (CAP) and set a target
to reduce energy use 25 percent below 2000 levels through energy efficiency and demand management. It
also completed a 10-year University District Framework Plan that positioned the campus as the institutional
anchor of the South of Market (SoMa) EcoDistrict. This EcoDistrict includes 90 city blocks and approximately 9
million square feet of office, residential and university space. An estimated 50% of buildings in the district are
owned by PSU.
Current planning documents for PSU and the SoMa EcoDistrict call for an explicit focus on building retrofits to
reduce carbon emissions generated by natural gas and electricity. Buildings currently account for 36 percent
of PSU’s carbon emissions and are therefore a central target of climate mitigation strategies. PSU is now
pursuing funding for a number of intriguing energy projects that could help the university achieve its clean
energy commitments. An important objective of these projects is to engage students and faculty in hands-on,
live projects utilizing the campus as a living laboratory.
One of the largest proposals that could provide interesting opportunities for guidance from a student team is
the Campus-Wide Energy Efficiency Retrofit Project. This project has been submitted to the US Economic
Development Administration in the Department of Commerce and PSU expects a response by early to mid
April. This proposal focuses on upgrading the campus district energy loop, establishing comprehensive
metering across campus, and constructing a “visualization theater” to model and display energy efficiency
benefits on campus.
The proposal’s District Energy Upgrade Component includes the replacement a 50-year boiler with a
significantly more efficient boiler and other upgrades to the district energy loop to lower PSU’s carbon
footprint and reduce operating costs. One possible option would be to convert the district energy system from
a low-pressure steam based to a water-based system that is more efficient, cheaper to install and maintain,
safer, and are more compatible with combined heat and power systems allowing for cheaper and more
efficient production of heat and electricity. Such a system could also support the integration of wind and solar
and other intermittent renewable energy options by providing more of the water heating when the wind is
blowing and the sun shining and storing that energy as hot water when wind and solar energy are unavailable.
The proposal’s Campus-Wide Metering Component would significantly improve the metering of campus
buildings and install a new metering software system to more efficiently and effectively track energy and
utility use. The proposal involves the installation of domestic water, chilled water and heating hot water,
natural gas and electrical meters on 23 campus buildings. The system is expected to be a web-based energy
monitoring service that will track buildings energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and help with
identifying areas where efficiency can be increased. A detailed study of the potential for each building on
campus has already been completed.
PSU is also submitting a proposal to BPA through its FY 2014 Technology Innovation Funding Opportunity.
BPA offers $3.5 million in funding through this program and supports projects between $50,000-$500,000
each year, for up to three years; it requires a 50 percent cost share. The proposal has passed the first round
of BPA’s selection process and is awaiting further approval decisions.
The PSU proposal addresses one of the focus areas BPA has indicated interest in exploring – lighting controls
that could provide both energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) benefits. Demand response is
defined by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council as “a voluntary and temporary change in
consumers’ use of electricity when the power system is stressed.“ BPA is particularly interested in establishing
the technical feasibility and programmatic requirements of using various end use loads to decrease loads
(and/or in some cases increase loads) in response to utility peaks, integration of renewable energy generation,
or other grid conditions.
In its guidance document for this funding opportunity, BPA notes that
“…while lighting is most popular EE measure in the Northwest, other regions of the USA
routinely use lighting controls for both DR and EE purposes, with DR and EE measures often
installed at the same time, with incentives paid for both attributes. The PNW lags all regions in
the consideration of lighting for DR uses. It would be helpful to examine what can be done to
get some DR value from lighting system retrofits and improved design of new lighting
systems.” BPA suggests that some proposals might “assess and demonstrate the use of
lighting controls to provide DR.”
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
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PSU’s proposal does this by providing the capability to dim selected lights in response to a DR event. A
lighting control system that is capable of responding to a DR signal would require:
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A lighting system that is integrated into a building management system (BMS) and is thus capable of
remote management;
A system that can interact with multiple independent an potentially different BMS’; and
The integration of this system in ways that ensure that it can accept and respond to an OpenADR
signal.
Among other things, a small group student team could help determine what lighting control system would
offer the best opportunity for success in meeting PSU needs and support the relevant objectives of both the
Economic Development Commission grant and BPA’s Technology Innovation Funding Opportunity.
In addition to the course faculty, it is expected that the advisors on this project would include: Jason Franklin,
PSU’s Director of Campus Planning and Design; Dan Zalkow, PSU’s Executive Director, Planning, Construction
& Real Estate, Finance & Administration; Kathleen Belkhayat, Business Sector Project Manager for the Energy
Trust of Oregon and a course alumnus. We may also work with Erin Flynn, PSU’s Associate Vice President in
the Office of Research and Strategic Partnerships.
PGE Smart Power Project
Portland General Electric’s role in the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project involves developing
a series of new pilot projects in the Salem area to investigate and demonstrate the use of battery storage to
offset wind variability; commercial and residential demand response (including a water heater demand
response program), remote-operated power line switches, and islanding a specific feeder to create a highreliability zone. A small group learning community from the 2010 version of this class worked on one of the
initial phases of this project. The project is now entering the operation and data collection phase. There are
several potential project components a small group could work with PGE on that could provide benefits to both
the student team and the utility. These include:
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Energy Arbitrage. The student team could help determine the best times, amounts and economic
values for charging and discharging the projects’ 5 MW, 1.25 MWh battery to optimize engineering and
economic performance of the asset. This is often referred to as energy “arbitrage” (buying an asset,
in this case electricity, at low price and selling it at a different time or in a different at a higher price.)
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Microgrid and High Reliability Zone. A key component of the PGE Smart Power Project involves
“islanding” of a section of the grid to create a “high reliability zone.” This high reliability zone can be
viewed as a discrete microgrid that could be isolated from the rest of the grid. This student team
could help determine various conditions and analyze customer scenarios in which different sections of
the feeder would be isolated during fault conditions (outages), by fully utilizing two substations, the
battery storage system, and the dispatchable standby generation on customer property to work as a
unified whole to keep as many customers powered as possible under numerous permutations of power
outage conditions in different locations on the distribution feeder. The team might also explore the
lessons can be learned from this project that would assist others interested in similar islanding
technology.
In addition to Mark Osborn, who was the Project Manger for the PGE Smart Power Program for its first three
years, the members of the advisory team for this project would include Kevin Whitner, PGE’s Smart Grid
Engineer, and Dr. Wayne Lei, PFE’s Director of Corporate R&D and Smart Grid Programming.
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
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Smart Meter Consumer Data Study
In 20111, 493 U.S. electric utilities had 37,290,374 advanced ("smart") metering infrastructure (AMI)
installations. About 77% were installed by investor-owned utilities and about 90% were residential customer
installations.
Advanced metering infrastructure includes meters that measure and record electricity usage at a minimum of
hourly intervals and provide the data to both the utility and the utility customer at least once daily. They
range from basic hourly interval meters to real-time meters with built-in two-way communication capable of
recording and transmitting instantaneous data.
With so many meters installed, the question arises: what benefits are utilities and their customers seeing from
these installations? A potential project would research this question by looking at a sampling of utilities with
smart meters to:
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Understand what smart meter data is being made available to consumers – e.g., intervals, frequency
of updates, delays in the data, data formats, analysis capabilities, interfaces to energy management
systems, etc.
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Understand what data is available to researchers to study energy consumption and consumer energy
behavior patterns.
The project would likely require a combination of web site research and calls directly to a sampling of utilities.
A study of secondary data and publications could also be useful. Conclusions and recommendations to
regulators, consumer advocates and utilities could be an output of such a project. An advisory team for this
project has not been identified yet but it will likely includes James Mater, a member of the course faculty.
Proposing a Smart Grid and Demand Response Component of the Oregon Convention
Center’s Strategic Energy Plan
Erin Rowland, an alumnus of PSU first (2009) Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Communities class,
was recently hired as the Sustainability Coordinator for the Oregon Convention Center (OCC). She is
interested in the possibility of working with a student team to develop a smart grid and demand response
component of their overall Strategic Energy Management Plan.
According to Erin, the OCC has entered into an agreement with the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) to develop a
Strategic Energy Management Plan. This process includes: developing an energy efficiency policy for the OCC,
setting energy reduction targets, implementing various actions from an act list created for OCC from an ETO
energy audit, creating an “energy team” (along the lines of a “green team)”, receiving onsite support from
ETO in identifying efficiency measures, and more.
OCC is also working on various “Retro-Commissioning” projects, focused on lighting upgrades, BAS, and more.
They have an ongoing contract with Glumac Engineering to identify opportunities and support various projects.
OCC is in the middle of the “performance period” for their LEED EBOM re-certification. They hope to achieve
Gold status. They are also vetting proposals for a new roof (phase 1), which includes looking into the
feasibility options of adding a solar and/or eco-roof. Finally, they have developed a partnership with the Rose
Quarter and Memorial Coliseum to develop a shared thermal energy project.
The Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) is able to make recommendations on the energy efficiency and renewable
energy components of the OCC’s Strategic Energy Plan, but not on the demand response storage and related
components of the plan. Fortunately, Kathleen Belkhayat, the Energy Trust of Oregon’s project manager for
the OCC Strategic Energy Plan, was a participant in the winter term component of this course and has offered
to serve as an advisor to the student team working on this effort. This will help to ensure that the
recommendations from the student team are consistent with and build upon those that come from ETO, their
subcontractors, and other parties. The role of the student team would be to examine what role the smart
grid, demand response, and related technologies and approaches might play in supporting and advancing
other efforts. In addition to Kathleen, other potential advisors for this project include Erin Rowland, and her
boss, the OCC facilities manager. They will also be the clients for this student team.
1
See http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=108&t=3
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Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
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Final Class Projects and Pubic Forum
For its final project, each small group learning community will prepare and deliver a professional-quality report
and offer a 30-minute presentation to their clients at the Public Forum during our last evening of class (June
13.) Each report will include at least the following: the team’s definition of the problem they have decided to
address, the alternative approaches to addressing this problem they have considered, the criteria they used to
evaluate trade-offs among alternatives, their recommended course of action, and justification for that
recommendation. If this was not a class exercise, all of those steps might not be included in the final report.
Since we are participating in a learning environment, we will “show our work” to demonstrate to the faculty
and our clients that we have learned how to conduct a first-rate analysis as well as prepare a first-rate report.
This public forum will take place in the Urban Center’s Second Floor Gallery. In addition to the clients, we will
invite, the members of each group’s advisory team, the board of directors and advisory council members of
Smart Grid Oregon, all students from our this and previous year’s smart grid classes, and other interested
parties.
Course Sponsors
We could not offer a course with such a strong and diverse faculty team of recruit talented guest speakers
without the generous financial support from companies with a strong local and regional presence that believe
that the Smart Grid can make important contributions to a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. We
would like to thank Portland General Electric for offering leadership and guidance, plus critical financial,
faculty and technical support all four year’s we have offered this course, Intel Corporation for offering
valuable support for three years, and Veris Industries our newest sponsor and underwriter.
With these underwriters support, we have been able to recruit a first-rate faculty team with a wide range of
backgrounds. The faculty members are listed above.
Guest Speakers
Our course sponsors have also contributed some of the financial support needed to help us recruit a stellar
group of guest speakers. In some cases, we have been able to pay for their basic travel and
accommodations. In other cases, the guest speakers have agreed to contribute some or all of these costs. In
no cases, are the speakers requiring an honorarium. We want to acknowledge and appreciate their generosity
and passion for contributing to our efforts to help prepare the next generation of leaders in this new and
important endeavor.
Our guest speakers for spring term will be based in part on the projects the class decides to work on through
the small group learning communities during the initial two weeks of the term. However, we can confirm
several guest speakers now. The first is Eran Mahrer, Vice President, Research and Strategy for
Strategy for the Solar Electric Power Association. SEPA is holding their annual Utility Solar Conference
in Portland April 16-and 17, and Eran has kindly agreed to stay over and speak to the class on how the smart
grid can enhance the potential of solar energy the evening of April 18.
Michal Jung, Policy Director for Silver Spring Networks and former Chair of the Governor’s Ten
Year Energy Plan Task Force, and a winter term faculty member; and Bill Henry, long time class
participants and an analyst with EQL Energy, have offered to speak later in the term.
Opportunity to Participate in the Inaugural Transactive Energy Conference
Most (and potentially, all) participants in this course will receive a full scholarship to attend a very important
conference that will take place in Portland on May 23 and 24. Additional students will be allowed to attend if
the conference does not sell out and space is still available. In addition, at least one major conference speaker
will be a guest speaker in the class on May 23.
The standard registration fee for this conference is $400 ($450 for those who register the day of the
conference), so this is a great “two for the price of one” deal. We can offer this because PSU’s Center for
Public Service is one of the conference sponsors.
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Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
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The conference is called Transactive Energy – Implementing the Future of the Electric System. It is the
first conference in the world to address this very important aspect of the Smart Grid. It will feature a number
of government and industry heavy hitters including:
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John Wellinghoff, the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission;
Phil Jones, Chairman of the Board and President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners and Member of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission;
Ron Ambrosio, Global Research Executive, IBM;
Aaron Snyder, Director, Smart Grid Labs, EnerNex;
Top officials from the Department of Energy, and more.
The speaker list is still being developed. Click here for the latest updates, or go to:
http://www.pointview.com/s/131#Speakers.
What is Transactive Energy? You can tell the world after you take this class and attend this conference. For
now, we will simply say it is the set of theories, practices and technologies needed to implement the vision of
the smart grid. It includes advanced techniques for managing the generation, consumption or flow of electric
power within an electric power system through the use of economic or market based constructs while
considering grid reliability constraints. In this context, the term "transactive" refers to making energy
decisions based on economic value.
Course Readings
We will use two course texts for both the winter and spring terms of this course. They are:
 Peter Fox-Penner, Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities,
Island Press, 2010
 Fereidoon P. Sioshansi (ed.), Smart Grid: Integrating Renewable, Distributed & Efficient Energy,
Academic Press/Elsevier, 2012
Both books are available at the PSU Bookstore (for PA 510, section CPS). They are also available at various online booksellers. Some of the readings we will assign from these texts were also assigned during winter term,
so they may be a review for those students who are continuing from winter term.
In addition, we will use two new texts during spring term.
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
Fortunately, one is available free on line. It is John Kassakian , Richard Schmalensee, et al, The Future
of the Electric Grid: An Interdisciplinary Study. It is available for download as a full document or
separate chapters at: http://mitei.mit.edu/publications/reports-studies/future-electric-grid.
The other will be used during week 3 (April 25) and is not available at the bookstore so it should be
ordered from an on-line bookseller as soon as possible. It is Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for
Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving. Note: this book is in its fourth
printing. I see it on Amazon for $26. but any of the earlier printings will be fine and they are available
for as little at $2.12. I also own three copies of the first edition and would be happy to loan them (with
priority to starving grad students.)
In addition, we will use many studies and articles that are available on line or in journals that are available
electronically through the PSU library. When possible, we include links to the articles so students can access
the articles directly from an electronic version of the course syllabus. When this is not possible, we post the
article in the proper week on the Desire to Learn (D2L) course website maintained by PSU and available to
registered participants. Some of the articles we read toward the end of the term will not have been published
yet when the term begins. Our guest speakers will recommend other articles, in some cases just the week
before that class session. As a result, D2L will be updated regularly throughout the term.
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
9
Week 1 (April 11)


Introduction to the Topic, Course Plan, and Class Participants
Introduction to Candidate Case Study Projects
Agenda
6:30
Welcome
6:40
Student introductions
7:10
Faculty introductions and roundtable on what we find intriguing about the Smart Grid in general and
our candidate case studies in particular (15 minutes each faculty member)
7:50
Break
8:00
Course plan and logistics (Jeff)
8:15
Role of small group learning communities (Jeff)
8:25
Introduction to the candidate case study projects (Faculty)
9:15
Receive Individual Assignment 1 (Your bio, class objectives, and guidance on projects)
9:20
Distribution of D2L usernames and password/An introduction to D2L (Jeff and Lisa)
9:40
Adjourn
Reading Assignment for Week 1 (this will be review readings for winter term students)
Priority Reading:
Course text:
 Fox-Penner, Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities,
chapters 1-3
Posted on Desire to Learn (D2L):
 US DOE, Smart Grid Vision Statement (A Vision for the Smart Grid/What Is the Smart Grid?)
 US DOE, Enhancing the Smart Grid: Integrating Clean Distributed and Renewable Generation
 Friedman, The Energy Internet: Where IT Meets ET
Web links:
 Subscribe to free on-line Smart Grid Newsletter at
http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/index.html and review updates throughout course.
 Litos Communications for US DOE, The Smart Grid: An Introduction
http://www.oe.energy.gov/DocumentsandMedia/DOE_SG_Book_Single_Pages.pdf
 Ebert, Customers Right to Be Wary of Smart Grid
http://www.nwenergy.org/news/the-transformer-january-4-2011/
 US DOE, Enhancing the Smart Grid: Integrating Clean Distributed and Renewable Generation
http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/oeprod/DocumentsandMedia/RDSI_fact_sheet-090209.pdf
Additional Recommended Reading:
 Pernick et al, Carbon Free Prosperity 2025: How the Northwest Can Create Green Jobs, Deliver Energy
Security, and Thrive in the Global Clean-Tech Marketplace (see especially chapter on Smart Grid
Technologies) http://climatesolutions.org/resources/reports/carbon-freeprosperity/CarbonFreeProsperity.pdf
Week 2 (April 18)
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
Can the Smart Grid, Demand Response, and Storage Help Solar Electric Power Blossom?
Creation of Smart Grid Learning Communities and Selection of Case Study Projects
Agenda
6:30
Announcements
6:40
Can the smart grid, demand response, and storage help solar electric power blossom? (Eran Mahrer,
Vice President, Utility Strategy, Solar Electric Power Association)
8:15
Break
8:25
Formation of multidisciplinary small group learning communities and selection of case study projects
8:35
Troubleshooting on D2L, Google groups and small group learning communities (Lisa, faculty, and
class)
8:45
Small groups meet, exchange contact information, and get started on case studies with faculty
support
9:40
Adjourn
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
10
Reading Assignment for Week 2:
Priority Reading:
Course text:
 Fox-Penner, Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities,
chapters 1-2
 Sioshansi, Smart Grid: Integrating Renewable, Distributed, & Efficient Energy, chapters 5 (Prospects
for Renewable Energy: Meeting the Challenges of Integration and Storage), 6 (The Smart Grid Vision
and Roadmap for California, and 7 (Realizing the Potential of Renewable and Distributed Generation)
Posted on Desire to Learn (D2L):
 Gibson, What’s Next for Solar?
Web links:
 Miller & Beauvais for IEA and International Smart Grid Action Network, Smart Grid Contributions to
Variable Renewable Resource Integration, 2012, http://www.ourenergypolicy.org/smart-gridcontributions-to-variable-renewable-resource-integration/
 American Physical Society, Integrating Renewable Electricity on the Grid, A Report of the APS Panel on
Public Affairs (read at least executive summary and section on storage)
http://www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports/upload/integratingelec.pdf
 Renewable Energy Integration is Becoming a Higher Priority for Smart Grid Projects, Navigant
Research, http://www.navigantresearch.com/newsroom/renewable-energy-integration-is-becoming-ahigher-priority-for-smart-grid-projects
Additional Recommended Readings:
 Forsten & Brooks, Integrating Renewables-Role of the Smart Grid,
http://www.nrel.gov/esi/pdfs/esif_workshop_10_brooks.pdf
 Kirby and Milligan, Utilizing Load Response for Wind and Solar Integration and Power, Reliability,
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/48247.pdf
 Massive Freezers Test Integration of Renewables Using Smart grid, Sustainable Business News,
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/10/29/massive-freezers-integration-renewables-smart-grid
Week 3 (April 25)

A Tool Kit to Help Small Group Learning Communities Analyze and Prepare their Case Study Project
Reports and Recommendations
Agenda
6:30
Announcements
6:35
A “Tool Kit” to help Small Group Learning Communities develop a report for their clients (Part 1) (Jeff
Hammarlund)
8:00
Break
8:10
A Tool Kit to help Small Group Learning Communities (Part 2) (Jeff Hammarlund)
9:00
Meet in small group teams
9:40
Adjourn
Reading Assignment for Week 3:
Priority Reading:
Course text:
 Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Policy Analysis
(read all)
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
11
Week 4 (May 2)

Consultation on Smart Grid and Demand Response Component of PSU’s Clean Energy Upgrade Project
Agenda in process
Reading Assignments for Week 4:
Priority Reading:
Course text:
Web links:
 Portland State University, Portland State University District Framework Plan,
http://www.pdx.edu/planning-sustainability/university-district-framework-plan and
http://www.pdx.edu/planning-sustainability/sites/www.pdx.edu.planningsustainability/files/PSU%20FrameworkPlan_WEB.pdf
 Portland State University, Portland State University Climate Action Plan,
http://www.pdx.edu/planning-sustainability/climate-action and
http://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.sustainability/files/ClimateActionPlan%284mb%29.pdf
 Seltzer et al, Making EcoDistricts
Concepts & Methods for Advancing Sustainability in Neighborhoods
(read at least Executive Summary and Introduction), http://pdxinstitute.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/03/making_ecodistricts_concepts_and_methods_for_advancing_sustainability_i
n_neighborhoods.pdf
 Bowan et al, North Carolina State University Centennial Campus Smart Grid Feasibility Study,
http://issuu.com/ncsu_energy/docs/centennial_campus_smart_grid_feasibility_study_fin
Additional Recommended Reading:
 NREL, Smart Grid and Climate Neutral Research Campuses (with links to specific university campuses),
http://www.powermag.com/issues/cover_stories/In-Search-of-Perfect-Power_1801.html
 WSU Develops Smart Grid Expertise (short video), http://school.eecs.wsu.edu/innov_lecture
 Pullman Becomes Smart Grid Community, http://researchnews.wsu.edu/physical/260.html
 Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project 2012 Annual Report (see page 3, University of
Washington: A Smart Grid Campus for the 21st Century),
http://www.pnwsmartgrid.org/docs/2012_annual_report.pdf
 Roseth, University of Washington Launches Research Phase of Smart Grid Project,
http://www.washington.edu/news/2012/10/24/university-of-washington-launches-research-phase-of-smart-grid-project/
Week 5 (May 9)

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Consultation on PGE’s Smart Power Project in Salem
Battery arbitrage
Commercial DR Analysis
Cost/Benefit of Experiments
MicroGrids
Week 6 (May 16)
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Consultation on Third Case Study (TBD)
Week 7 (May 23)

Transactive Energy Conference and Guest Speaker
o Speaker to be recruited by James Mater
Week 8 (May 30)
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
The State of Smart Meters and Consumer Information Today/Leading States and Utilities in Consumer
Benefits/View of last mile to consumer
Electricity Markets and Demand Response (Bill Henry)
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
12
Week 9 (June 6)

Dry Run Presentations for Public Forum
Week 10 (June 13)

Public Forum
o Pew Charitable Trusts, The Clean Energy Economy: Repowering Jobs, Businesses and
Investments Across America, http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/compilations/theclean-energy-economy-repowering-jobs-businesses-and-investments-across-america8589943002
o Goldman, Peters, et al, Energy Efficiency Services Sector-Workforce Education and Training
Need, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, (executive summary),
http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/reports/lbnl-3163e.pdf
Other Course Information
Optional Field Trip:
There will be optional class field trips related to our case study projects. More information will become
available as it develops.
Evaluation of student work:
Course evaluations and grades will be based on student performance in four areas: the individual and group
assignments associated with the steps leading to the final project will count for 20% of the grade, the final
report will count for 40%, the presentation on June 13 will count for 20%, and class participation, observance
of due dates, and attendance will count for the remaining 20%. Students taking the course for professional
development are strongly urged to participate actively in their small group learning communities. This is
where a significant amount of your learning will take place. Some organizational sponsors may require an
evaluation of performance as a condition for reimbursing course payment. Faculty will follow their direction
and/or we will establish an understanding with the organizational sponsor. Unless the company sponsor
advises us otherwise, we will assume that professional development students will not take the final exam.
However, we will expect all students to participate in and complete other group and individual assignments.
Faculty will ask all students to complete an anonymous evaluation of the small group leaning community
process as a whole and of the participation level and performance of each small group member. This
information will be factored into the evaluation of each student’s performance in the course.
Attendance and Etiquette:
Please email Jeff Hammarlund and Lisa Harrison in advance if you will need to miss a class session. Arrange
for someone else in class to pick up the class handouts for the missed session. Please come to class on time
and turn all cell phones off.
Faculty office hours:
Jeff Hammarlund: Wednesday 1-3 pm and by appointment, 503-249-0240 and hammarj@pdx.edu
Lawrence Beaty, By appointment, beatkawr@isu.edu, 208-282-3265
James Mater: By appointment, jmater@qualitylogic.com, 503-780-9796
Mark Osborn, mark.osborn@fivestarsintl.com, 503-709-9373
Designing the Smart Grid for Sustainable Development
Course Syllabus, Spring Term, 2013
13