Building an Inclusive Tool for Distributed Energy Resource Planning Using Public Participation GIS
Topics: Energy
, Environmental Justice
, Urban Geography
Keywords: distributed energy resources, web mapping, disadvantaged communities, electric power grid
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 38
Authors:
Eric Daniel Fournier, UCLA, California Center for Sustainable Communities
Lauren Strug, UCLA, California Center for Sustainable Communities
Robert Cudd, UCLA, California Center for Sustainable Communities
Felicia Federico, UCLA, California Center for Sustainable Communities
Stephanie Pincetl, UCLA, California Center for Sustainable Communities
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Abstract
New technologies for the distributed renewable generation and storage of electricity are rapidly transforming energy geographies. In response to the growth of these new distributed energy resources (DERs), the design architecture of electric power grids are being forced to quickly adapt. However, these processes of adaptation are occurring largely in an ad-hoc manner, without sufficient coordination between the needs of grid operators and the technology adoption decisions being taken by individual consumers. This has created a situation where DERs are wrongly being cast as potential problems rather than solutions by those who favor more centralized grid architectures. Interactive web mapping tools are well suited to addressing this need for information sharing and improved coordination - as the optimal placement of DER systems is a thick and inherently geographic problem - one which relates to path dependent patterns of energy infrastructure investment, local urban development, and community socio-demographic change. If more equitable outcomes are to be achieved in the ongoing energy transition, accessible planning tools must be designed and implemented through a process of public participation with stakeholders who have an explicit focus on issues of social and environmental justice. We describe the process by which one such tool has been created within Southern California and comment on a number of the technical and communicational challenges which were overcome.
Building an Inclusive Tool for Distributed Energy Resource Planning Using Public Participation GIS
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
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