{"663693":{"#nid":"663693","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Department of Energy Awards Georgia Tech Grant for Energyshed Project","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor decades, the U.S. energy generation, transmission, and distribution model has been developed and planned around large-scale power plants that combust fossil fuels to create power that is then transferred to population centers via a network of powerlines.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith the recent and rapid growth of distributed renewable technologies \u2014 wind, solar, and hydropower, and storage assets like batteries \u2014 a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology is reimagining the planning paradigm for electric power infrastructure. The hope is to help shape new models that are better suited to community needs and include input and decision-making at the local level.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs envisioned, the Georgia Energyshed (G-SHED) will analyze the benefits, costs, and effects of various electricity generation, distribution, and usage-and-demand scenarios via use-case tests and modeling. That data will then be used to inform policy decisions at the local level and the implementation of new ideas for the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/atlantaregional.org\/browse\/?browse=topic\u0026amp;topic=atlanta-region\u0026amp;subtopic=county-profiles\u0026amp;type=\u0026amp;\u0022\u003E11-county metro Atlanta area\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;as defined by the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/atlantaregional.org\/\u0022\u003EAtlanta Regional Commission (ARC)\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat\u2019s unique about this proposal is we\u2019re using this funding to explore a new planning mechanism that would really listen to the voices of these communities around their energy matrix,\u201d said Richard Simmons, director of research and studies at Georgia Tech\u2019s Strategic Energy Institute.\u0026nbsp;Simmons is the project\u0027s principal investigator.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnnounced\u0026nbsp;on November 2, the energyshed award is part of the federal agency\u2019s push to encourage a regional approach to understanding local energy demands and needs \u2014 and the best solutions to solve them tailored to those communities. Through its Office of Energy Efficiency \u0026amp; Renewable Energy, the DOE funding is part of a wider strategy to help communities understand the impacts and benefits of consuming energy that they generate locally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe idea is not only to better include these communities in the conversation, but demonstrate that they can realize more local benefits from their and input and decisions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELeading the initiative is the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/epicenter.energy.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EEnergy, Policy, and Innovation Center (EPICenter)\u003C\/a\u003E. An arm of the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/energy\u0022\u003EStrategic Energy Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, EPICenter is tasked with marrying innovation with energy technology and policy; contributing to sound recommendations for the Southeast through unbiased research and analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis grant is ideally suited for the mission of the EPICenter, which really tries to take leading energy technology and apply it in a local context that is mindful of the economic and social implications,\u201d Simmons said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team also includes researchers from the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/planning.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of City and Regional Planning\u003C\/a\u003E, and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo conduct the work, Georgia Tech is collaborating with key partners: the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), which has engaged in similar planning and modeling processes for regional water and transportation usage and trends; and the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.southface.org\/\u0022\u003ESouthface Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, a sustainability non-profit with extensive experience in outreach, and community engagement research. Another nonprofit, the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psequity.org\/\u0022\u003EPartnership for Southern Equity\u003C\/a\u003E, has also provided a letter endorsing the initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA New Approach to Resource Management\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EThe G-SHED idea is modeled after the watershed concept, which takes a regional, solutions-based approach to address water demand and usage at the community level. Much like watersheds, where water collection, processing, distribution, use, and discharge is determined at the community level, Simmons said the idea is to explore how a similar approach can be valid for planning and infrastructure related to energy systems, such as electricity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere do appear to be some critical advantages by looking at local generation, consumption and even storage of renewable energy,\u201d said Simmons.\u0026nbsp;\u201cThat might help not only meet the needs of the local populace, but it could have conversion efficiency benefits and have more direct impact on both the economic and environmental wellness of the area.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile individual people and organizations already make energy-related decisions \u2014 consumers buying electric vehicles or developers erecting green or sustainable office buildings, for example \u2014 there\u2019s greater impact when broadened to the community or regional level, said Joe Hagerman, EPICenter director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cSo, when decisions are made, they are being made at a community level and capture a more representative local understanding. That information can be shared both upstream and downstream to the utilities, planners, and policymakers,\u201d Hagerman said. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to create a tool that will help people make those decisions in a more holistic way, rather than making it all individually.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EEnsuring All Voices Are Heard\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EA key component of the G-SHED effort is to ensure all communities are included in the regional energy planning and decision-making processes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMarilyn Brown, Regents\u2019 Professor and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy, has conducted pioneering work on energy burdens in the Southeast.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe goal is balanced growth and shared prosperity in the Atlanta metropolitan area by helping local communities and neighborhoods,\u201d Brown said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Southface Institute and ARC will leverage novel socio-technical tools developed by Georgia Tech to assess ways metro Atlanta can ensure all residents benefit from the transition to a cleaner and more sustainable energy economy. The team will survey community groups about energy use and service options, access to rate plans, ease of understanding electric bills, and familiarity with community energy options. Then, they will build an online toolkit to address these needs and help them learn how to use it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFocusing on that aspect is critical to the overall project\u2019s success because rising energy and utility costs fall disproportionately on those who can least afford them and yet have limited influence in the decision making,\u201d said Chandra Farley, the city of Atlanta\u2019s chief sustainability officer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENationally, Atlanta is 4th\u0026nbsp;highest in median energy burden levels (behind Memphis, New Orleans, and Birmingham, respectively) and 3rd\u0026nbsp;highest among low-income household populations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEvaluating energy needs at the local and metro area level with direct input from the communities who have typically had no voice in energy decision making is an important tool in energy planning,\u201d Farley said. \u201cThe work that Georgia Tech is leading on energysheds will support community-informed energy planning and reinforce our efforts in the city of Atlanta to address energy affordability and advance access to the benefits of renewable energy projects leading to healthier communities and economic empowerment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. Department of Energy award,\u0026nbsp;announced\u0026nbsp;on November 2, is part of the federal agency\u2019s push to encourage a regional approach to understanding local energy demands and needs.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Energy, Policy, and Innovation Center leads effort to develop new energy planning models for metro Atlanta"}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2022-12-07 15:58:52","changed_gmt":"2025-02-11 19:24:42","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2022-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"664250":{"id":"664250","type":"image","title":"Atlanta Energyshed","body":null,"created":"1672169152","gmt_created":"2022-12-27 19:25:52","changed":"1672169152","gmt_changed":"2022-12-27 19:25:52","alt":"Atlanta city skyline","file":{"fid":"251394","name":"thumbnail_PastedGraphic-22.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_PastedGraphic-22.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/thumbnail_PastedGraphic-22.png","mime":"image\/png","size":230938,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/thumbnail_PastedGraphic-22.png?itok=tyxHEGxS"}},"657795":{"id":"657795","type":"image","title":"Marilyn Brown headshot","body":null,"created":"1651240925","gmt_created":"2022-04-29 14:02:05","changed":"1651241034","gmt_changed":"2022-04-29 14:03:54","alt":"Marilyn Brown, Regents\u0027 and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy","file":{"fid":"249330","name":"Marilyn A Brown DSC_2963.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Marilyn%20A%20Brown%20DSC_2963.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Marilyn%20A%20Brown%20DSC_2963.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":341650,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Marilyn%20A%20Brown%20DSC_2963.jpg?itok=KqXX5hPQ"}},"664251":{"id":"664251","type":"image","title":"Clone of Rich Simmons Portrait","body":null,"created":"1672169500","gmt_created":"2022-12-27 19:31:40","changed":"1672169500","gmt_changed":"2022-12-27 19:31:40","alt":"Portrait of Rich 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(EPICenter).","file":{"fid":"249649","name":"Joe_Hagerman_cropped.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Joe_Hagerman_cropped.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Joe_Hagerman_cropped.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":981391,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Joe_Hagerman_cropped.jpg?itok=Mo-tRulD"}}},"media_ids":["664250","657795","664251","664252"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"142","name":"City Planning, Transportation, and Urban Growth"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"191718","name":"energyshed"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"330","name":"Marilyn Brown"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"191719","name":"Joe Hagerman"},{"id":"188484","name":"Richard 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Paul\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003Eperalte.paul@comm.gatech.edu\u003Cbr\u003E404.316.1210\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}