Electricity Supply and Delivery Fundamentals

This deep dive offers a comprehensive overview of the electricity supply and delivery system, highlighting its complex nature due to electricity's inability to be stored in large quantities and consumers' consistent demand. It explains the infrastructure categories of generation and delivery, encompassing the bulk power system and the power grid. The document further details the national grid's geographical divisions and the regulatory oversight provided by FERC and NERC for reliability. It then explores various power generation methods, distinguishing between conventional sources like natural gas, coal, oil, and nuclear, and a range of renewable sources including wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, and biogas, alongside their respective characteristics and associated policies like tax credits and renewable portfolio standards. Finally, the text touches upon the growing importance of electric storage technologies and distributed energy resources within the broader transmission network.