[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 35 (Thursday, February 21, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12042-12043]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04066]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Electric Grid Integration Technical Workshops

AGENCY: Grid Tech Team, U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that two documents are publicly 
available and the Department of Energy is requesting public comments. 
The documents are the Electricity Distribution System Workshop 
Discussion Summary and the Electricity Transmission System Workshop 
Discussion Summary.

DATES: Written comments are to be received at the addresses listed 
below no later than March 25, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are encouraged to submit comments by any 
of the following methods:
    Online comments can be submitted via an online format available 
through the following Web site (click the corresponding meeting link 
under the GTT Workshops header): www.energy.gov/doegridtechteam.
    Email comments may also be sent to: [email protected].
    In the subject line, include [Txm Wkshp] for transmission summary 
comments, [Dist Wkshp] for distribution summary comments, or [Other] 
for other general workshop-related comments.
    Paper comments can be mailed to:
    Attn: Robert S. Anders, Office of Technology Development, Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal 
Building, Room 6A-067, 1000 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC, 
20585.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caitlin A. Callaghan, National 
Electricity Delivery Division, Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability, U.S. Department of Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 
8E-032, 1000 Independence Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20585; Telephone 
202-287-6345.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is in 
the process of developing a targeted research and development roadmap 
to address grid challenges that will help guide investments over the 
next five years. Accordingly, DOE is compiling key reference material 
and input from a very broad scope of stakeholders from across all 
sectors of the electricity grid. This process entails convening 
workshops and leveraging reference material regarding various aspects 
of the grid--including (but not limited to) smart grid, energy storage, 
cyber security, advanced computation--and investigating integration 
issues within the transmission and distribution systems.
    Each of the discussion summary documents is the product of separate 
workshops hosted by the DOE's Grid Tech Team (GTT). Each workshop was 
posted publicly online and announced through outreach to stakeholders 
across various sectors of the industry. The intent was to encourage 
participation by the broadest scope of stakeholders as possible. The 
Distribution Workshop was held on September 24-26, 2012; the 
Transmission Workshop took place on November 1-2, 2012. The workshops 
were held at separate conference facilities in Arlington, Virginia. The 
discussion summary documents can be found online at: www.energy.gov/doegridtechteam (click on the corresponding link under the GTT 
Workshops header).

[[Page 12043]]

    The basic structure of the workshops had all the attendees 
participate in breakout sessions, whereby smaller groups considered 
particular topics. The underlying purpose of both workshops was not to 
build consensus among stakeholders, but rather to gather information 
based on the individual experiences and expertise of the participants 
relating to the challenges and opportunities facing the electricity 
distribution and transmission systems. The GTT took all the information 
from the breakout sessions and synthesized the common themes into the 
Discussion Summary documents that are hereby available for review and 
open for comments.
    The discussion summary documents will be valuable additions to the 
growing body of relevant reference material. Thus, the summaries of 
these workshop discussions, including consideration of public comments, 
will provide a key resource to help DOE guide its R&D investments in 
the near term.
    DOE intends to finalize and make publically available these 
documents with consideration of comments received. Comments are invited 
on all aspects of the workshop topics, although DOE is primarily 
seeking answers to the following questions:
    i. Are there any issues in the discussion summary documents that 
require particular consideration? Are there any issues in the 
discussion summary documents that do not warrant further consideration? 
Please provide any examples or information that further supports your 
comment.
    ii. Are there crucial challenges or opportunities associated with 
the Electricity Distribution or Transmission System (or both) that are 
not sufficiently represented in these documents?
    The Department of Energy will review all timely written responses 
to this notice. DOE intends to finalize and make available the 
Electricity Distribution and Transmission Workshop Discussion Summary 
reports.

    Issued in Washington, DC on February 14, 2013.
Anjan Bose,
Chairman, Grid Tech Team, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2013-04066 Filed 2-20-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P