Grid mod: Cross-agency coordination strengthens federal partnerships

Since 2018, BPA has embarked on an initiative to modernize its assets and system operations through the Grid Modernization program. The multiyear effort to increase automation, accuracy and visibility of BPA’s federal power and transmission system operations is a sizable undertaking and not a single agency effort. Rather, BPA’s grid modernization progress and preparation to join the Western Energy Imbalance Market is the result of ongoing collaboration with two integral federal partners: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Introduced in 2018, the Three-Agency Coordination Plan is a framework for BPA, the Corps and Reclamation to collaboratively implement Grid Modernization improvements. The plan identifies four projects as the focus of the federal entities’ collaboration: Automatic Generation Control Modernization; Federal Data and Generation Dispatch Modernization; Metering Review and Update; and the EIM Training Program.

The plan facilitates collaboration through principles such as strong leadership and staff ownership, while also providing ways for groups to meet at multiple leadership levels, including executive forums, monthly manager and senior staff meetings, as well as weekly project check-ins.

The Three-Agency Coordination Plan highlights the importance of communication. Particularly when grid modernization projects affect components of the Federal Columbia River Power System that fall outside of BPA’s management, effective communication enables problem-solving and knowledge transferring of the necessary changes and market participation insights between the three federal bodies.

 “While grid modernization and EIM implementation are largely BPA initiatives, the FCRPS partnerships are essential to our success,” said BPA’s Bill Leady, vice president for Generation Asset Management. “These projects all support BPA’s linkage to the Corps’ and Reclamation’s powerhouses, and because of that, they are truly joint-agency efforts, progressing well due to steadfast teamwork and extraordinary talent.”

As BPA does not physically operate and maintain the federal dams, early and frequent communication with staff at the Corps and Reclamation who have those responsibilities is vital for the three agencies’ shared oversight of the FCRPS. Ultimately, successful communication identified knowledge gaps for the Automatic Generation Control Modernization project.

Automatic generation control is the system that BPA’s dispatchers and hydro schedulers use to adjust power generation to meet changes in load, and to communicate with the operations control system known as the Generic Data Acquisition and Control System, or GDACS, within the 10 largest FCRPS dams. To update the AGC system and facilitate compatibility with the EIM market operator, the California Independent System Operator, the effort requires close coordination on the two control systems with the Corps’ and Reclamation’s plant operators, providing better visibility into how the power system is operating in real time.

"Plant operators are our allies, but sometimes they can be overlooked in being looped in on designs and projects,” said Dave Brown, AGC Modernization project lead. “The plant operators were interested in what was going to change with their operations and they wanted to support the EIM effort, but they needed some discussions and training to help.”

To fix the information gap between BPA and the plant operators, the AGC Modernization project team funneled discussions through a pre-existing subcommittee for the three federal parties. Using this avenue, members from BPA’s Power and Transmission Services organizations were able to create an open dialogue with plant operators, and develop and provide training and information sessions to the Corps’ and the Reclamations’ operations staff, while also gaining new knowledge of FCRPS operations.

Beyond the scope of automatic generation control, plant operators’ daily tasks are vital to supporting the overall grid modernization and EIM readiness efforts. To loop them in on the job changes caused by joining the new market, BPA turned to experts at the Corps and Reclamation to identify information that would be most useful to deliver to plant operators through extending its EIM Training Program. One of the over 35 grid modernization projects, the EIM Training Program gives key workers at BPA, the Corps and Reclamation specific knowledge and skills needed to support participation in the EIM.

EIM training staff and change managers first focused on developing frequently asked questions to educate operators on EIM-related issues. Next, they created information sessions to introduce plant operators to more detailed information on EIM market operations, including new look-ahead features that will allow them to see what dispatches look like in the next couple of hours. This training will be provided to operators of participating hydroelectric resources in the near future.

“Since BPA does not physically operate the federal generators, we could not have developed the training without the subject matter experts from both the Corps and Reclamation,” said BPA’s Glen Smith, electrical engineer and EIM Training project member. “Their knowledge was critical to define and deliver the training that would most benefit plant operators at our sister agencies.”

Effective communication and knowledge-sharing were also pivotal to successful cross-agency coordination on the Federal Data and Generation Dispatch Modernization and the Metering Review and Update projects, which both involve upgrading systems, processes or equipment to share data between hydroelectric projects and BPA. Read more about the collaborative effort on the FDGDM project to reduce station control error on the non-big 10 federal projects in the article, “Grid Mod: Dialing in hydroelectric generators’ responses to market signals.” And learn about the complex coordination among the three federal parties to inventory, analyze and install new meters for the Metering Review and Update project in the article, “Grid Mod: New revenue-quality meters installed at Grand Coulee Substation."

Thanks to the crucial support of the Corps and Reclamation since the start of its grid modernization mobilization, BPA now finds itself in a position to join the EIM on May 3. This achievement would not have been possible without BPA’s FCRPS partners.

“We have developed better relationships and a deeper understanding of what’s needed as we move toward EIM go-live,” said Smith as an FDGDM project lead. “I have seen comfort levels rise as we and our partners better understand the intricacies of the EIM market.”

Shawn Worthington, Regional Operations and Maintenance program manager for the Corps’ Northwestern Division, shares positive comments for the Metering Review and Update project. “I’ve seen the partnering relationships between BPA, the Corps and Reclamation build on the foundation already laid by continuing to use the established communication channels and by proactively identifying new ones,” he said. “Overall, the teams collaborated well, and I believe this has led to a greater understanding and appreciation of what each partnering agency brings to the FCRPS as a whole.”

The four collaborative projects identified in the Three-Agency Coordination Plan are part of BPA's grid modernization initiative and ensure the agency and its workforce are prepared to join the EIM. Grid modernization supports BPA's strategic goals to modernize federal power and transmission system operations and supporting technology, and to provide competitive power and transmission products and services. To learn more about the portfolio of projects or to see all that's happening with grid modernization, click here. To follow BPA's progress toward joining the Western EIM, see the EIM webpage.