Learn about how and why the electric grid works in a new webinar, Understanding the Grid, to be held on Wednesday, March 27, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mountain time. This is the third in a series of free tribal energy webinars sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Tribal Energy Program, and Western Area Power Administration (WAPA).

The webinar will be presented by Jim Charters, a utility transmission system consultant and former WAPA employee. The complex electric grid and how and why it works, including information about generating entities and the types of loads they serve will be discussed.  Other topics include interconnections, power flows, line capacities, storage, and reserves as well as transmission aspects of getting a project on line, including dealing with financial institutions, land acquisition, and interconnection routing, operations, and maintenance development with the balancing authority.

Webinar attendees will come away with a better understanding and appreciation of the intricacy of the grid, as well as its importance to the economy and security of the country.   At the end of the webinar, there will be an interactive discussion in which participants will have an opportunity to ask questions about the electric grid.

There is no cost to attend the webinar, but advance registration is required. Register now.

Read-ahead materials for the DOE Office of Indian Energy webinar are available at the National Training Education Resource site and search "Indian Energy."

The series is designed to promote tribal energy sufficiency, and to foster economic development and employment on tribal lands using renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Get more information on the webinar series. 

About the speaker: Charters spent 12 years in the US Air Force as an Electronics Systems Officer and 23 years with WAPA in capacities that focused on communications/protection,  transmission system engineering  maintenance, and systems planning.  During his tenure, he was instrumental in the expansion of WAPA’s transmission system in the Desert Southwest.  Charters holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Arizona State University and a Master of Science degree in Management from the University of Arkansas.