Nov. 10, 2011

UNC Charlotte’s Energy Production and Infrastructure (EPIC) hosted a discussion on the clean energy economy in America on Oct. 26, with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Patricia Hoffman, area energy industry leaders, and university faculty and students.

The discussion was a White House Business Council Roundtable designed to determine opportunities for growth and challenges common to energy businesses and their interactions with government.

“We had an excellent exchange of ideas from the private and public sector,” said EPIC Director Dr. Johan Enslin. “Industry representatives expressed their vision of emerging energy issues and opportunities, and Assistant Secretary Hoffman gave frank replies about the Energy Department’s positions and future goals. University researchers were able to discuss the importance of developing new technologies such as smart grids and renewable energy in a balanced energy portfolio.”

Central to EPIC’s mission is promoting collaboration between academia, industry and government. This mission is critical to the position that the future of America’s energy system is something that must be looked at as a whole from many different aspects.

“The entire power network including generation, grid, and distribution should be evaluated and studied as a whole, one system, and not separately,” said UNC Charlotte professor Dr. Zia Salami. “This is one of a major issue that needs to be addressed”

A summary on the topics discussed included:

• The challenges of upgrading and modernizing the aging grid.
• The impacts of intermittent renewable energy on the power grid reliability.
• The importance of a well-balanced generation mix that includes affordable base-load generation with nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewables.
• The growth of natural gas generation in the mix due to abundant shale gas at low prices through fracking.
• Smart Grid technology enabling distribution automation and distribution generation integration.
• Energy storage at an affordable price being developed to help with renewable integration.
• The need to inform high school students about energy careers and the importance of preparing for good career choices.
• The need for government agencies to coordinate better on energy projects with industry.

Industry participants in the roundtable discussion included:

• Dr. Andrew Phillips, Director, Transmission, Electric Power Research Institute
• Dirk Leach, Senior Vice President for Operations, AREVA
• Hans Hartenstein, President, STEAG Energy Services LLC
• Jim Morrow, Director of Renewable & Wholesale Market Analysis,  Duke Energy
• John Roebel, SVP Generation Support, Duke Energy

UNC Charlotte participants included:

• Dr. Robert E. Johnson – Dean – College of Engineering
• Dr. Johan Enslin – Director – Energy Production & Infrastructure Center (EPIC)
• Dr. Ron Smelser – Associate Dean – College of Engineering
• Dr. Robert Wilhelm – Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development
• Dr. David Young – Department Chair – Civil Engineering
• Dr. Deborah Sharer – Associate Professor – Engineering Technology
• Dr. Scott Smith – Department Chair – Mechanical Engineering
• Dr. Zia Salami – Associate Professor – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Dr. Valentina Cecchi – Assistant Professor – Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Christiana Palmer – Civil Engineering Undergraduate Student
• David Scott – Civil Engineering Graduate Student
• Stephen OFlynn Obrien – Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student
• E. J. Naimaster – Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student
• Matthew Knudson – Electrical and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Student
• Heather Norman – Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Student
• Andrew Gould – Electrical Engineering Technology Undergraduate Student
• Cory Engel, Electrical Engineering Technology Undergraduate Student

Patricia A. Hoffman was named Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in June 2010 after serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary since November 2007. The focus of her responsibility is to provide leadership on a national level to modernize the electric grid, enhance the security and reliability of the energy infrastructure and facilitate recovery from disruptions to the energy supply both domestically and internationally.

EPIC is a collaborative industry/education effort to produce a high-quality energy engineering workforce and be a partner in technology research for the global energy industry. This cross-discipline initiative in The William States Lee College of Engineering includes Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Technology.