CMU Startup Tapped to Help Plan the Electric Grid of the Future
By Krista Burns
Pearl Street Technologies will help Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) plan the electric grid of the future. As one of the largest grid operators in the United States, MISO ensures power flows reliably and affordably to 45 million people across 15 states and the Canadian province of Manitoba.
As renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and nuclear, transform the electric grid, a set of rules must be followed to connect these electricity generators to the grid, known as interconnection. According to American Clean Power, every regional grid has its own set of rules, but most require every project to undergo a rigorous, multi-step study process to assess potential impacts to the grid from the new generation. These studies often result in requiring the generator to fund any necessary upgrades to grid infrastructure before securing an interconnection agreement. Any grid upgrades identified during the study process must then be completed prior to the generator coming online.
In a recent email to stakeholders, MISO announced it will hold off on starting the definitive planning phase for the 2023 interconnection until February. This extra time will allow it to enlist the help of Pittsburgh-based Pearl Street Technologies to speed up interconnection studies.
A Carnegie Mellon startup, Pearl Street Technologies was co-founded by Larry Pileggi, the Coraluppi Head and Tanoto Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Pileggi currently serves as chairman of the company. Recently named Startup of the Year by MerCom Capital Group at RE+, Pearl Street’s mission is to develop best-in-class software solutions to mitigate the utility-scale interconnection backlog and expedite the transition to a decarbonized grid.
“We're thrilled to be part of the largest-ever investment in interconnection study automation to date,” says David Bromberg, co-founder and chief executive officer of Pearl Street and CMU electrical and computer engineering alum.
The company’s innovative Suite of Unified Grid Analyses with Renewables (SUGAR) software helps transmission providers manage ever-increasing interconnection queue volumes by accelerating modeling and simulation studies. The advanced software has been proven to be 200x faster at engineering analysis compared to industry-standard modeling, enabling a more reliable, resilient, and sustainable power grid. This core technology draws inspiration from the design, simulation, and optimization tools of the computer chip industry.
“SUGAR originated from research at Carnegie Mellon University,” explain Bromberg. “We hope to yield massive engineering time savings and reduce the entire study process timeline by an order of magnitude or more.”
In a statement to RTO Insider, MISO said it’s working with Pearl Street to establish some automation in the queue study process that will allow it to complete the first phase of studies more quickly. The RTO said it would begin studies on the 2023 cycle after it can implement automation and after the 2022 cycle of projects clears the first study phase of the three-part interconnection queue.
According to Pearl Street, by mid-Q1 2025, the company will deploy a first-of-its-kind, full automation system to rapidly process the Definitive Planning Phase 1 interconnection requests. The system will automate existing processes, many of which have caused delays in request processing. Automating these historically time-consuming and engineering judgment-heavy components will enable MISO to produce Phase 1 results in a days-to-weeks timeframe versus the current standard of up to two years.
“We're excited to help MISO unlock its interconnection queue and make progress toward clearing its backlog,” says Bromberg.