Changes in Cascading Failure Risk with Generator Dispatch Method and System Load Level

Industry reliability rules increasingly require utilities to study and mitigate cascading failure risk in their system. Motivated by this, this paper describes how cascading failure risk, in terms of expected blackout size, varies with power system load level and pre-contingency dispatch. We used Monte Carlo sampling of random branch outages to generate contingencies, and a model of cascading failure to estimate blackout sizes. The risk associated with different blackout sizes was separately estimated in order to separate small, medium, and large blackout risk. Results from $N-1$ secure models of the IEEE RTS case and a 2383 bus case indicate that blackout risk does not always increase with load level monotonically, particularly for large blackout risk. The results also show that risk is highly dependent on the method used for generator dispatch. Minimum cost methods of dispatch can result in larger long distance power transfers, which can increase cascading failure risk.Comment: Submitted to Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition (T&D), 2014 IEEE PE

PetroPlot: A plotting and data management tool set for Microsoft Excel

PetroPlot is a 4000-line software code written in Visual Basic for the spreadsheet program Excel that automates plotting and data management tasks for large amount of data. The major plotting functions include: automation of large numbers of multiseries XY plots; normalized diagrams (e.g., spider diagrams); replotting of any complex formatted diagram with multiple series for any other axis parameters; addition of customized labels for individual data points; and labeling flexible log scale axes. Other functions include: assignment of groups for samples based on multiple customized criteria; removal of nonnumeric values; calculation of averages/standard deviations; calculation of correlation matrices; deletion of nonconsecutive rows; and compilation of multiple rows of data for a single sample to single rows appropriate for plotting. A cubic spline function permits curve fitting to complex time series, and comparison of data to the fits. For users of Excel, PetroPlot increases efficiency of data manipulation and visualization by orders of magnitude and allows exploration of large data sets that would not be possible making plots individually. The source codes are open to all users

RURAL RETIREES IN MICHIGAN: ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES - FINDINGS FROM FOCUS GROUP MEETINGS

This paper is a part of a series of reports of the activities conducted under a grant from the Fund for Rural America, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Funds for the three year grant entitled "Enhancing Rural Economies Through Comprehensive Extension, Research & Partnering Approaches Using Multi-County Clusters in Michigan With Application to National Rural Settings" were received by Michigan State University's Department of Agricultural Economics in March, 1998. The major goal of the grant is to increase economic development activity in four clusters of rural counties in Michigan through the utilization of the resources of the Michigan State University Extension Service, Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, and other resources of Michigan State University. Various local, state, and federal public partners as well as the private sector are to co-sponsor projects. This paper represents the first stages of a continuing project to explore the utilization of retirement community human resources in rural Michigan and to develop Extension programs to meet their needs. Future activities include focus groups, labor supply analysis, a conference, and perhaps a rural academy to be developed by Michigan State University and its partners.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Stratosphere chemistry in a 2-D model with residual circulation

The objective of this research was to examine the effects of chemical perturbations on the stratosphere using models which can incorporate fully interactive radiative, chemical, and dynamical responses, in the context of a zonally averaged model. Model runs for the unperturbed, chlorine-perturbed and simultaneously chlorine-and CO2-perturbed cases were completed using the JPL-87 chemical kinetics data. The base case was analyzed and submitted for publication. The perturbed cases show substantial sensitivity of the predicted column ozone depletion to the perturbations affecting lower stratosphere temperature, but less to far dynamical perturbations. The column ozone distribution changed substantially when the kinetics data was changed. This implies a greater-than-expected uncertainty in predicted latitude distributions of ozone depletion, due to uncertainty about the accuracy and completeness of the chemical kinetics data set