The Consortium on Energy Restructuring

The Consortium on Energy Restructuring (CER) is a non-profit, non-partisan, and interdisciplinary research organization. 

The CER provides a forum for synergistic research on the social, political, economic, and technical aspects of changing energy systems.  Currently, under a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), members of the CER have begun collaboration and education dealing with the design and management of distributed generation technologies, small-scale, decentralized, modular hardware that provides electricity in harmony with the existing utility infrastructure.  The consortium expects to produce a more secure and efficient electric utility system within the restructured political and regulatory framework.  The programmatic elements of this project can be categorized into four general areas: (1) research, development, and demonstration of distributed generation technologies, power engineering, grid interface systems, and transmission mechanisms; (2) the social, political, environmental, and economic dimensions of the use of distributed generation technologies; (3) business marketing, pricing, and design of distributed generation systems; and (4) educational outreach on distributed generation. 

Founded in 2001 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, the consortium consists of faculty members and graduate students working in several departments, including the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Departments of Business Information Technology, Resource Management, Science & Technology Studies, Mechanical Engineering, History, and Engineering Education.  CER members work closely with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Program on Electric Power Networks Efficiency and Security, the Office of Naval Research, and the Center for Power Electronics Systems. 

Web-based education modules dealing with distributed generation technologies, produced by members of the CER, can be found here.

 

Contact Richard Hirsh, the director of the CER, for more information.  Or,  send e-mail to rhirsh@vt.edu.