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  • Home
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Assessing U.S. Electric Grid Operators' Governance: Transparency, Accessibility, Accountability

Authors: Bryndis Woods, PhD, Deja Garraway, Alicia Zhang, PhD, Sagal Alisalad, Sumera Patel

Client: Slingshot

May 2025

On behalf of Slingshot (and their participation in the broader, grassroots Fix the Grid campaign in New England), this AEC report card utilized approximately 250 sources—including grid operator documents, research reports, and expert testimony—to develop and assign points across 34 metrics among three categories: 1) transparency is making information and materials publicly available; 2) accessibility is facilitating public awareness and involvement in grid operator processes; and 3) accountability is structuring governance and decision-making processes to incorporate viewpoints reflective of the diversity of the communities in each grid operator's territory. 

The primary finding of the report card is that none of the seven U.S. grid operators perform particularly well in any assessment category and there is considerable room for improvement across grid operators in terms of transparency, accessibility, and accountability. The highest overall grade was a C+ earned by CAISO due to its strong performance in the accountability category. The lowest overall grade was an F earned by ISO-NE due to its receiving a failing grade in the accessibility and accountability categories. The five remaining grid operators (PJM, MISO, SPP, ERCOT and NYISO) each received an overall grade ranging from C- to D-.

Link to Report

Link to Workbook

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tags: Bryndis-Woods, Deja Garraway, Alicia-Zhang, Sagal-Alisalad, Sumera-Patel
Tuesday 05.13.25
Posted by Liz Stanton
 

Best Practices in Electric Sector Load Forecasting

Authors: Elizabeth A. Stanton, PhD, Alicia Zhang, Sagal Alisalad, Bryndis Woods, PhD

November 2024

This Applied Economics Clinic (AEC) white paper examines best practices of annual and peak electric demand forecasting and provides additional examples for South Carolina. AEC asserts that conventional load forecasting methods must be updated to reflect the rapid transformation of demand trends and real-word conditions. To address these concerns, AEC recommends eight best practices to ensure thorough, transparent, and accurate load forecasts: model and data transparency; emerging policies and technologies; large industrial loads; non-energy constraints; forecasting innovation; uncertainty analysis and multiple future scenarios; post-modeling adjustments; and stakeholder review. Adopting contemporary best practices in load forecasting benefits consumers, utilities and regulators with lower costs, increased reliability, and improved facilitation of state-mandated decarbonization plans.

Link to Report

Link to Slides

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tags: Bryndis-Woods, Liz-Stanton, Alicia-Zhang, Sagal-Alisalad
Monday 11.18.24
Posted by Liz Stanton
 

Puerto Rico’s 2019 and 2021 Greenhouse Gas Inventories Report

Client: Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER)

Authors: Liz Stanton, PhD, Joshua R. Castigliego, Chirag T. Lala, Sachin Peddada,
Jay Bonner, Eliandro Tavares, Sumera Patel, Alicia Zhang, Myisha Majumder,
David Jiang, and Jordan Burt; Ramón Bueno and Kari Hewitt

July 2023

On behalf of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), AEC staff and partners prepared a report that presents the results for Puerto Rico’s 2019 and 2021 greenhouse gas emission inventories together with 20-year emissions projections under several scenarios and sensitivities. AEC established a methodology for conducting greenhouse gas emission inventories in Puerto Rico, which went through a comprehensive quality assurance and quality control process by an Expert Panel (established for this project and composed of experts in greenhouse gas emissions measurement and Puerto Rico climate and energy issues). Using AEC’s Emissions Measurement Inventory Tool (AEC-EMIT), AEC calculates net greenhouse gas emissions released in Puerto Rico’s seven emitting sectors: (1) Power Supply, (2) Direct Fuel, (3) Industrial Processes and Product Use, (4) Transportation, (5) Agriculture, (6) Forestry and Other Land Use, and (7) Waste Management.

Puerto Rico’s 2019 Climate Change Mitigation, Adaption, and Resiliency Law (i.e., Puerto Rico Act No. 33-2019) measures mandated emission reductions against an estimated 2005 emissions level of 53.3 MMT CO₂e and calls for a 50 percent reduction relative to 2005 emissions by 2025 (26.7 MMT CO₂e). Emission levels achieved in 2021 (34.3 MMT CO₂e) represent a 36 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels. With 14 percentage points and 4 years left to go, Puerto Rico must find another 7.7 MMT CO₂e to eliminate. Based on the Business-as-Usual projection in AEC’s analysis, Puerto Rico’s greenhouse gas emission levels will reach their mandated levels (50 percent of 2005 levels, or 26.7 MMT CO₂e) in 2035, 10 years later than the required 2025 target.

Based on the analysis presented in this report, AEC has identified several key recommendations to further facilitate Puerto Rico’s work towards achieving its ambitious and necessary decarbonization goals set out in Puerto Rico’s 2019 Climate Change Mitigation, Adaption, and Resiliency Law, including: (1) better data collection, (2) increased climate progress reporting (3) reprioritization in rebuilding its electric sector, and (4) a new focus in transportation planning.

Link to Report (English)

Link to Report (Español)

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tags: Chirag-Lala, Liz-Stanton, Elizabeth A. Stanton, Joshua-Castigliego, Sachin Peddada, Jay Bonner, Eliandro-Tavares, Sumera-Patel, Alicia-Zhang, Myisha-Majumder, David-Jiang, Jordan Burt
categories: Clean Energy Transition, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Puerto Rico
Thursday 07.27.23
Posted by Liz Stanton