Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, LBNL Staff Scientist Michael Stadler, and Assistant Secretary Patricia Hoffman at the May 4, 2016 ceremony honoring this year's 13 PECASE winners funded by the Energy Department. | Photo courtesy of DOE's Office of Science
I had the pleasure of participating in a ceremony this week honoring this year’s 13 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) winners funded by the Energy Department. The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are early in their independent research careers. President Obama named a total of 105 PECASE winners from across the federal government earlier this year.
Michael Stadler, a staff scientist who leads the Grid Integration Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was named a PECASE recipient for driving the development of the OE-funded microgrid modeling tool known as the Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM). Dr. Stadler’s work, which has contributed to the successful integration of renewables onto the grid, is the latest example of innovation coming out of DOE’s national labs that is transforming the nation’s power grid. Advanced distribution systems that use microgrids, which are localized grids that can disconnect from the broader electric grid to operate autonomously and help mitigate grid disturbances to strengthen grid resilience, will be crucial to next-generation electric distribution systems.
The Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model is designed to help utilities minimize the cost of operating on-site generation and combined heat and power systems. Using state-of-the-art optimization techniques, it assesses distributed energy resources and loads in microgrids, finding the optimal combination of generation and storage equipment to minimize energy costs and/or CO2 emissions at a given site, while also considering strategies such as load-shifting and demand-response. DER-CAM is now being used by more than 350 registered users worldwide. Congratulations to Michael Stadler!
To learn more about OE’s portfolio of activities that focuses on the development and implementation of microgrids to further improve reliability and resiliency of the grid, please visit the microgrid section of our website.
Patricia A. Hoffman
Acting Assistant Secretary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity (OE) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Ms. Patricia A. Hoffman also served as Acting Under Secretary for Science and Energy from January 2017 until November 2017 when the U.S. Senate confirmed Mark Menezes as Under Secretary of Energy. Ms. Hoffman served as Acting Assistant Secretary for OE from January 2017 until October 2017 when the OE Assistant Secretary was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Ms. Hoffman was named Assistant Secretary for OE from June 2010 to January 2017, after serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary since November 2007. The focus of her responsibility was to provide leadership on a national level to modernize the electric grid, enhance the security and reliability of the energy infrastructure and facilitate recovery from disruptions to the energy supply both domestically and internationally. This is critical to meeting the Nation’s growing demand for reliable electricity by overcoming the challenges of our Nation’s aging electricity transmission and distribution system and addressing the vulnerabilities in our energy supply chain.
Prior to her this position, Ms. Hoffman served in a dual capacity as Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Research and Development (R&D) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) within OE. During her tenure as the DAS for R&D, she developed the long-term research strategy and improved the management portfolio of research programs for modernizing and improving the resiliency of the electric grid. This included developing and implementing sensors and operational tools for wide-area monitoring, energy storage research and demonstration, and the development of advanced conductors to increase the capacity and flexibility of the grid. She also initiated a new research effort focused on integrating and distributing renewable energy through the electric grid, such as promoting plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and implementing smart grid technologies to maintain system reliability. As COO, she managed the OE business operations, including human resources, budget development, financial execution, and performance management.
Prior to joining OE, she was the Program Manager for the Federal Energy Management Program within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE. This program guides the Federal government to “lead by example” promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and smart energy management. Complementing her building energy efficiency experience, she also was the Program Manager for the Distributed Energy Program, which conducted research on advanced natural gas power generation and combined heat and power systems. Her accomplishments included the successful completion of the Advanced Turbine System program resulting in a high-efficiency industrial gas turbine power generation product.
Ms. Hoffman holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Ceramic Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.