2021 Shultz Energy Fellowships: Western Electricity Coordinating Council
Regional-, state-, and city-level efforts are essential in our fight against climate change, especially in the field of energy. Stanford University is committed to helping by integrating its students into energy and climate ecosystems in the West through the Shultz Energy Fellowships program (formerly Stanford Energy Internships in California and the West), an energy-related summer fellowship program for undergraduate and graduate students.
Named in honor of former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, one of the most widely admired American public servants of the past half-century, the program offers a suite of paid, energy-related public service fellowships for Stanford students in California, Colorado, Utah, and Hawaii during the summer.
The fellowships run from Monday, June 21, 2021 to Friday, August 27, 2021. You will be one of two Stanford graduate students placed at WECC located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Western Electricity Coordinating Council
The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) promotes Bulk Electric System reliability in the Western Interconnection. WECC is the regional entity responsible for compliance monitoring and enforcement. In addition, WECC provides an environment for the development of reliability standards and the coordination of the operating and planning activities of its members as set forth in the WECC Bylaws.
WECC is geographically the largest and most diverse of the eight regional entities with delegated authority from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The WECC region extends from Canada to Mexico and includes the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the northern portion of Baja California, Mexico, and all or portions of the 14 Western states between.
The mission of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council is to promote and foster a reliable and efficient Bulk Electric System. WECC’s vision is to lead its stakeholders to achieve optimal system reliability, be the premier source of unbiased information, and serve as the trusted thought leader for the Western Interconnection.
For more information visit the WECC homepage.
WECC Mentor
Byron Woertz, Manager – System Adequacy Planning, will act as the student mentor for this project. Mr. Woertz manages the System Adequacy Planning Department which develops data bases such as the Anchor Data Set, 10-year and 20-year reliability assessments and future scenarios to support reliability in the Western Interconnection. The System Adequacy Department also supports WECC’s Reliability Assessment Committee (RAC) and its associated Subcommittees (Modeling and Validation, Production Cost Data, Production Cost Modeling, Studies and System Review). Prior to joining WECC, Mr. Woertz worked at the CAISO, PG&E and the CPUC. Mr. Woertz holds a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley, an M.B.A. from C.S.U. Sacramento and a P.M.P. credential from Project Management International.
Fellowship Project
The focus of the System Adequacy Planning (SAP) Department is identifying potential future reliability risks, primarily in the 10- and 20-year planning horizons. Most analytical work performed within SAP uses a production cost model (PCM) and is often linked to analyses that use a power flow model. To improve its ability to assess future reliability risks, WECC would like to consider, evaluate and possibly implement additional analytical models and tools. National Laboratories such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are currently developing and using additional analytical models and tools that could offer useful capabilities for WECC.
Over the course of the fellowship, you will investigate the applicability of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) models and tools for WECC’s reliability assessment, including the following:
- Installing and confirming that these tools can be implemented into WECC infrastructure and deliver accurate results. Throughout installation, you will be responsible for documenting installation requirements and processes.
- Adjusting inputs to determine varied results - document tuning, input metrics, and modeling features.
- Devising various use-case scenarios to test a range of tools feature set and capabilities.
- Identifying and documenting integration requirements between tools. (I.E., how to feed dGen results into ReEDS. How to feed ReEDS results into the Production Cost Model)
- Identifying and documenting result metrics and reporting requirements.
- Develop rapport with NREL staff and user groups.
By the end of the fellowship, students will have evaluated several modeling tools and will recommend how they could be used to augment WECC’s analytical capabilities.
2019 WECC Fellows
- Yulia Chen, M.S. in Energy Resources Engineering
- Chen Zhang, M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Atmosphere/Energy program
- Learn more about Yulia and Chen's experience at WECC:
- View Yulia and Chen's final project.
The ideal student candidates will have the following skills and knowledge:
Skills:
- Demonstrated research and analytical skills, including use of analytical software(s).
- Ability to think creatively, critically and broadly about issues affecting electric reliability.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- Ability to work independently as a member of a research team, demonstrate initiative and seek guidance when necessary.
- Ability to collaborate with stakeholders outside of their immediate work group.
Knowledge:
- Interest in engineering or related fields.
- Awareness of issues affecting electricity reliability.
- Interest in applying knowledge to understanding and mitigating reliability risks the Western Interconnection.
All Shultz fellows must be enrolled in the spring quarter before their fellowship.
All Shultz fellows must take a one-unit spring workshop course, 'Energy Policy in California and the West' taught by Bruce Cain and Sally Benson that will provide an in-depth analysis of the role of California state agencies, the Western Interstate Energy Board, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in driving energy policy development, technology innovation, and market structures. Course number is CEE 263G / POLISCI 73 / PUBLPOL 73 / ENERGY 73. Schedule: Wednesdays from 10:00 am - 11:00 am (Remote: Synchronous).
Please note that this opportunity is for graduate students. Interested undergraduates can apply via SIG.