Student Research Spotlight | NC State OR

Our Student Research Spotlight features some of the latest research in Operations Research. This program highlights projects by students who are solving real-world problems. By focusing on advanced techniques, the spotlight shows how they make an impact. Through this, you see how research turns into real solutions.

Cameron Lisy

Ph.D. Student

calisy@ncsu.edu

Advisor: Dr. Jordan Kern

Research Area: Energy systems, natural gas, electric power and energy economics

Research Title and Summary

Uncovering Risks to Interconnected Electric Power and Natural Gas Infrastructures

My research is part of a broader effort in the Kern Group. We aim to understand the effects of weather and climate uncertainty, as well as extremes, on the U.S. energy system. The entire energy value chain is currently in transition, and no one knows for sure where it will end up. Additionally, I am contributing to a larger effort to develop tools and techniques that improve our understanding of new risks to people and the environment. This work spans various sectors and scales. We utilize high-performance computing and Operations Research methods to simulate real-world daily operations.

Most people don’t realize the electric power sector has been in transition for a long time. During this period, the fracking revolution made natural gas, once reserved for peaks in electricity demand, the fuel of choice across the country. Moreover, natural gas offers many benefits, making it a preferred fuel over coal and other fossil fuels. It’s generally inexpensive, burns cleaner, reduces air pollution in urban areas, and emits almost half the carbon of coal. For these reasons, it now accounts for over 40% of electricity generation. It has also become essential to grid reliability during extreme weather events.

However, natural gas’s role has recently been questioned. During winter storms in the East and hot, dry summers in the West, the delivery system of transmission pipelines across the country was strained. As a result, these strains lead to spillover effects like those seen in Texas in February 2021. Cascading failures of power and natural gas infrastructure caused large-scale power outages. This happened at the worst possible time for people trying to stay warm in abnormally frigid winter conditions. Additionally, a similar situation occurred on the east coast during Winter Storm Elliot in 2022. Failures of the natural gas value chain affected the entire eastern seaboard.

My work, therefore, focuses on developing an operational model of the U.S. state-to-state production and transportation market for natural gas. This model will help our group bridge current research gaps between nationwide natural gas and electric power grids. It will also help identify hidden risks within these interconnected systems. My background in operations research has provided me with the tools and mathematical expertise required to develop such a model. I highly recommend this field to students interested in similar research.