EESOM: Electrical Energy Sourcing Optimization Model
Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering
Authors
Jayson Bowlsby
Shana Hoffman
Nick Perkins
Michael Rovito
Advisors
Peter Scott
Walter Sobkiw
Dr. John Keenan
Project Overview
The United States’ electrical energy sector faces a set of challenges that could undermine
national security and destabilize the Earth’s ecosystem if left unaddressed. There is a
clear need for a national energy system that is independent of foreign inputs and
sustainable in nature.
Questions such as when and where electrical energy is needed and how the resources that
fuel its generation should be harnessed are integral to the development of a national
electrical energy system. The answers to these questions are mutually dependent and
highly interrelated.
EESOM utilizes linear optimization to assess whether an independent and sustainable
energy system is achievable and determines what the lowest-cost system would look like.
The model ensures that electrical energy demand does not exceed supply and that
resources-used do not exceed resources available while minimizing the total cost of the
system. Issues addressed include: timing of demand and supply, location and intensity of
natural resources, and energy transportation costs. Finally, the costs and capacities of
various power generation technologies have been assessed and incorporated.
EESOM’s output is the lowest-cost mix of power plants, including their general location,
necessary to meet demand given the resources available. The model is capable of being
run under a variety of scenarios, including carbon caps, enabling its use as a policy
analysis and investment assessment tool. The most relevant finding is that the
domestically available natural sustainable resources – sun, wind, and subterranean heat –
are sufficient to meet more that double the current Unites States’ energy demand.