Thought Leadership
My work in the energy sector, from hands-on grid operations to leading multi-million dollar product portfolios, has given me a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead. This collection of articles, videos, and publications reflects my commitment to sharing knowledge, sparking discussion, and contributing to a more sustainable energy future. Dive in to explore my perspectives on the key trends and challenges shaping our industry.
Interested in discussing these topics further or featuring my insights in an article or interview?
Interviews
From reactive to predictive: Reimagining wildfire mitigation efforts for utilities
In this episode of the Factor This Podcast, host Jeremiah Karpowicz sits down with Don McPhail, VP of Market Development at eSmart Systems, to discuss why traditional, asset-focused mitigation is no longer enough for utilities across the United States. Together they explore the critical shift to community-first resilience models, where protecting life-sustaining infrastructure takes priority over mere compliance. Don provides a roadmap for utility leaders ready to trade siloed data practices for predictive insights that save time, money, and lives.
How AI and predictive insights drive proactive wildfire mitigation for U.S. utilities
Wildfires are intensifying across the U.S., with utilities facing unprecedented challenges as these disasters threaten grid infrastructure and customer safety. In this webinar, Don shares with industry experts how leading utilities are transforming their wildfire mitigation strategies through AI-powered solutions, predictive insights and digital grid asset management.
Community, Technology, and the Path to a Resilient Grid
This episode of The Energy Beat Podcast explores how to build community-first grid resilience amid extreme weather and aging infrastructure. Don McPhail, VP of Market Development at eSmart Systems, sits down with Ian to discuss why traditional mitigation strategies aren't enough, how to approach critical infrastructure through a community lens, how AI can improve resilience planning, and more.
How Uplight leverages AWS to transform utility operations
This Hart Energy interview with Donald McPhail, Vice President for Products at Uplight, delves into how Uplight leverages AWS to revolutionize utility operations, covering topics from virtual power plant creation to customer engagement.
Bonus Interviews from Distributech
Ed sat down with Don McPhail, who’s Business Manager for energy and decarbonisation at Uplight, a software company that serves utilities. They talked about the importance of demand management, the integration of distributed energy resources, and the automation of customer engagement processes as examples of key factors for developing a more flexible and resilient power grid.
The Sunshine State – A Postcard from Queensland
With one in three homes having a rooftop solar PV system, Queensland Australia has the highest penetration of small scale solar in the world. Known for its 330+ days of sunshine a year, Queensland has some of the best solar resource potential in the world, but this rapid transition wasn’t without its challenges for communities, the utilities, industry, and government. This talk will share what drove this growth, how the response of the utility and government evolved over time, and what we can take away from the experience here in the United States and Colorado.
Electric Vehicle Live Interview
Electric Vehicle Driving Experience Interview
News Articles
Journal Articles
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Abstract:
Electricity distributors in Australia are experiencing high penetration of small scale distributed generation, such as solar photovoltaic systems, particularly on houses connected to the low voltage network. Distributed generation is challenging the traditional operating paradigm and can result in occurrences of voltage rising, or even exceeding, statutory limits. This results in the inverter energy systems continuously disconnecting and being unable to generate. This paper presents the results of Ergon Energy's investigation into the application of low voltage static compensators through a desktop study, modelling, laboratory testing, and field trials.
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This paper explores the technical and economic opportunities and issues that exist to provide demand response to the electricity grid from an aggregated network of electric vehicle supply equipment. Using data from the roll out of a large scale electric vehicle charging network in the U.S., and a review of information on the current demand response programs on offer in the U.S., issues such as the recruitment of electric vehicle charging units and users, the required control and communication capabilities of electric vehicle supply equipment and back-office network, and an example of the associated revenue potential are discussed. Finally, a number of recommendations for an aggregated network of electric vehicle supply equipment to provide demand response to the electricity grid are presented.
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Abstract:
Currently the Queensland Electricity Regulation requires voltages to be maintained within a variance of +/- 6% from the standard voltage of 240V. Consequently, distributors are required to ensure the quality of supply is maintained within these prescribed limits throughout its network. Increasing levels of Solar PV penetration are currently causing many networks to experience over-voltage issues. This study looks into the implications of transitioning to the 230V standard (AS61000.3.100) as a possible solution to resolving these over-voltage issues, with preliminary results suggest that transitioning to AS61000.3.100 would likely result in significant cost savings as well as reducing over-voltage issues experienced by customers.
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Abstract:
The business environment of distribution networks is changing rapidly. Electricity price rises and technology advances, particularly in distributed energy resources such as solar PV and battery storage, mean that customers have new choices for their energy supply. Adoption of these new technologies, together with more efficient appliances, is leading to changing network utilisation which can contribute to rising electricity prices. Electricity tariffs that are not cost reflective, are also contributing to market distortions. This paper describes the results from an application of cost reflective tariffs with customers that have distributed energy resources within a single Ergon Energy low voltage network.
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Globally there has been a strong uptake in distributed generation, namely solar PV. The introduction of generation at the network fringes has introduced a number of challenges for network operators, particularly overvoltage. Rules of thumb have been somewhat effective while the total penetration of distributed generation was low. With regions like Queensland, Australia now having 25% of households with a solar PV, more effective methodologies are required for determining more accurate “hosting capacities”. This paper used network topology data to develop representative LV networks and derive DG hosting capacities that have been confirmed with field data for statistic validity. A key take-away from this analysis however is that given the observed variance in results, typical LV networks and hosting capacities can be used for broad based analysis, however network operators should consider performing analysis for each new connection given the variance at an individual customer level.
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The unprecedented rise of distributed generation in Australia provides utilities with a unique opportunity to more effectively manage portions of the network as microgrids. The implementation of a utility owned and operated microgrid may offer many benefits such as the deferral of capital investments, improvement in reliability, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction in network losses. However, network planners often cite problems relating to the legal and regulatory issues and protection requirements of microgrids as well as a lack of methodology for transforming an existing network. This paper firstly proposes a general methodology for microgrid planning in consideration of the technical issues of such a design. It then applies this methodology to a case study in Cairns, Far North Queensland. A cost benefit analysis has additionally been undertaken to examine the feasibility of utility microgrids.
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Abstract:
The uptake of Rooftop PV has been extremely rapid in Australia. An advantage is that it can reduce the load supplied by upstream power transformers. This in theory should make the transformer run cooler, and therefore extend the remaining life of its paper insulation. However, power transformers often fail on problems other than aged paper insulation, such as the on-load tap changer. This can be a problem when rooftop PV is installed because it changes the load profile throughout the day. In this article we present the findings of an analysis on the sub-transmission network of Townsville, a city of 200,000 people in northern Queensland. The load profile of eleven power transformers in six substations was investigated, with IEC thermal models applied to estimate hot-spot temperature. The relative effect of PV on the weighted hot-spot temperature was investigated, and then a determination was made on the likely loss of life. The effect of weather on the on-load tap changer was also investigated with the findings reported.
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Abstract:
A significant challenge the utilities face when determining the life remaining of distribution transformer insulation is that they often do not record the required load or temperature data. This is detrimental because insulation life remaining algorithms cannot therefore be applied. In power flow studies the state estimation methods are being applied to determine the flow of power around a network. In this article a study is presented where state estimation techniques were applied to a network to estimate the load of one distribution transformer on the network. Consequently, the insulation temperature and life remaining could be estimated. The results were very promising and further measurements are planned to verify the practically of this method.
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Abstract:
Electrical distributors in Australia are experiencing high penetration levels of small scale distributed generation, such as solar photovoltaic systems, particularly being installed on houses that are connected to the Low Voltage network. Distributed generation is challenging the traditional operating paradigm and can result in occurrences of voltage rising to the point where it goes above safe limits, or result in the inverter energy systems continuously "tripping" and being unable to generate. Reactive power functionality in inverters provides a means to effectively reduce the amount of attributed voltage rise on the network, ultimately allowing more and larger inverters to be connected to the grid while ensuring the network remains within a safe voltage range. This paper presents the results of Ergon Energy's detailed investigation into the application of inverter reactive power functionality through a desktop study, modelling, laboratory testing and field trials. This study confirmed the theory that customer owned inverters with reactive power functionality can be utilized to overcome or prevent voltage rise issues on the electricity network.
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Abstract:
Australia's renewable energy landscape is growing significantly as residential photovoltaic system installations are experiencing a boom in popularity due to a number of factors. With this boom of course come concerns for the health of the current networks which are often not suited to handle excessive power generation courtesy of PV systems. Several strategies have been proposed to handle this extra strain on the distribution network but not all have been fully investigated. Thus this study was undertaken in order to investigate one such method, feeder switching, and to understand the potential implications and benefits, for both the customer and utility. The objective of this study is to understand the potential implications and benefits, for both the customer and utility, associated with maximizing the matching of photovoltaic generation with network demand by evaluating dynamic network switching at the medium voltage level. The results of this study show that dynamic switching did indeed have the potential to better match photovoltaic generation with network demand and thus minimize voltage rise and reverse power flow in the network. From the utility's perspective this was beneficial for the health of the network and as a result customers could theoretically experience improved power quality.
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Abstract
In 2012 there was approximately 2400 electric vehicle DC Fast Charging stations sold globally. According to Pike Research (Jerram and Gartner, 2012), it is anticipated that by 2020 there will be approximately 460,000 of them installed worldwide. A typical public DC fast charger delivers a maximum power output of 50 kW which allows a typical passenger vehicle to be 80% charged in 10–15 min, compared with 6–8 h for a 6.6 kW AC level 2 charging unit. While DC fast chargers offer users the convenience of being able to rapidly charge their vehicle, the unit's high power demand has the potential to put sudden strain on the electricity network, and incur significant demand charges.
Depending on the utility rate structure, a DC fast charger can experience annual demand charges of several thousand dollars. Therefore in these cases there is an opportunity to mitigate or even avoid the demand charges incurred by coupling the unit with an appropriately sized energy storage system and coordinating the way in which it integrates. This paper explores the technical and economical suitability of coupling a ground energy storage system with a DC fast charge unit for mitigation or avoidance of demand charges and lessening the impact on the local electricity network. This paper also discusses the concept of having the system participate in demand response programs in order to provide grid support and to further improve the economic suitability of an energy storage system.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148113006010
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Abstract
On Load Tap Changers (OLTC) are one of the main causes of failures in High Voltage transformers, leading to unplanned outages and interruption in supply. This has sparked an investigation into the use of non-intrusive acoustic monitoring equipment to capture the audible waveforms created as an OLTC switches between taps. Digital signal processing techniques are then used to analyse this data to determine the health of the OLTC.
This paper details the process involved in the collection of the switching waveforms using the acoustic monitoring equipment, followed by the subsequent development and testing of time and frequency domain analysis techniques. The analysis techniques have been used on data collected from 42 OLTCs comprising of 9 different makes. A summary of the results generated from the application of the analysis techniques in two OLTC case studies are included in this paper. Based on the initial results achieved, this paper concludes that the time and frequency domain diagnostic tools developed are able to successfully show the development of deterioration of an individual OLTC with respect to specific parts such as the drive mechanism and tap contacts.