U.S. EAC submits reports to Energy Dept.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Electricity Advisory Committee released three reports on generation, transmission and storage of electricity.

The reports contain recommendations for how to address construction of generation and transmission, electricity storage and smart grids and were submitted to the secretary of energy for his consideration.

The EAC was chartered by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman in 2007 to provide support to the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.

"The committee has worked exceptionally hard this past year to produce thoughtful work describing the current situation and proposing solutions to our ongoing energy challenges," Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Kevin Kolevar said.

"Keeping the Lights on in the New World" addresses generation, transmission, use of demand-side resources, increased efficiency, and plans for meeting future electricity demand and providing reliable, cost-competitive electricity.

"Bottling Electricity: Storage as a Strategic Tool for Managing Variability and Capacity Concerns in the Modern Grid" is meant to help the Energy Department fulfill the requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The report guides the department on how to establish an Energy Storage Advisory Council that will develop a five-year plan.

The "Smart Grid: Enabler of the New Energy Economy" suggests specific actions the department can take to implement Smart Grid technologies.