Bulk Power System
Brent Kane
NERC
Cumming,Georgia
31
Years of experience
Power operations specialist with deep experience in bulk system awareness, reliability standards, and coordinated response to weather, outages, and system stress. Known for building situational awareness tools, analyzing post-event trends, and supporting training, forecasting, and communications that improve operating readiness.
Work History
Bulk Power System Awareness
5 Years 6 Months- Maintained near real-time awareness of grid conditions by monitoring weather systems, natural disasters, and geopolitical activity with E-ISAC.
- Monitored grid conditions in real time, including frequency, transmission outages, generation losses, and weather-driven stress across North America.
- Tracked emerging events, identified disturbances, load-shed events, extreme weather, and physical or cyber threats early, and assessed event severity.
- Coordinated with operators and maintained communication with reliability coordinators, balancing authorities, and transmission operators to relay critical information during significant events.
- Coordinated communication among government agencies, including FEMA, FERC, NRC, and Homeland Security, and ERO Enterprise during significant events, especially issues affecting reliability across areas or spanning multiple regional entities.
- Issued alerts and situation reports while preparing and distributing notices, briefings, and event summaries to industry stakeholders, regulators, and leadership for informed decision-making.
- Supported event response by joining incident calls, gathering facts during unfolding events, and escalating issues to appropriate contacts.
- Collected, analyzed, and shared information with registered entities, government agencies, and ERO Enterprise.
- Analyzed post-event data, built timelines, and helped identify causes and lessons learned with event analysis and engineering teams.
- Reviewed outage patterns, extreme weather, and inverter-based resources to track trends and risks, contributing findings to reliability assessments and standards development.
- Maintained tools and dashboards using situational awareness platforms, data feeds, and visualization tools to support the shared operating picture.
- Developed and implemented NERC PI data logging system to track load and frequency across ERO.
Master Dispatcher
2 Years 11 Months- Monitored grid conditions in real time and responded when lines, transformers, or other facilities neared or exceeded limits.
- Managed congestion by redirecting flows or adjusting generation dispatch when constraints affected PJM market pricing.
- Coordinated transmission outages by running powerflow studies, reviewing, approving, and sequencing planned equipment outages with member companies and adjusting for emergencies.
- Performed contingency analysis to confirm system could withstand loss of major element and took action when risk remained.
- Directed voltage and reactive resource control by guiding member operators to adjust capacitors, reactors, and generator voltage.
- Responded to emergencies by following procedures, issuing alerts, and directing load relief or restoration after disturbance.
- Trained 2 new master coordinators and led simulation training during PJM seminars.
- Aligned market activity and operations work with member companies and management to support efficient PJM performance.
Generation Dispatcher
3 Years- Send dispatch signals to power plants to raise or lower output using Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (SCED) while staying within reliability limits.
- Watch system frequency and differences between scheduled and actual power flows, then adjust generation to stay within NERC reliability limits in real time.
- Monitored reserve levels to ensure sufficient spare generating capacity for loss of largest units, taking prompt action when reserves fell short.
- Track load patterns with weather and demand updates, then revise short-term forecasts and adjust generation profile as conditions change.
- Monitor unit status, outage reports, and maintenance schedules, then update generation plans.
- Coordinated tie-line flows between regions to ensure balanced energy distribution. and interchange schedules with neighboring regions.
- Executed emergency response actions during weather alerts and demand response events to ensure system reliability.
- Conveyed operational instructions to generation owners and power dispatchers for seamless coordination. to generation owners, power dispatcher shift supervisor, and neighboring operators.
System Operations Department Leader
8 Years 10 Months- Managed real-time operators to enhance system reliability through outage analysis, restoration coordination, and safety protocols for operators, field personnel, and the public.
- Developed and delivered comprehensive training program for current and incoming operators, integrating on-the-job training, field work, and simulations.
- Trained on site in San Jose, CA, with Siemens to build and install new SCADA system for city and trained team on daily use.
- Updated one-line diagrams and data points to ensure accuracy of current system records.
Tactical Data Communication Specilaist
4 Years- Trained in electrical theory and troubleshooting and maintenance of communication systems used for real-time air traffic control operations.
Master Coordinator
3 Years- Scheduled sufficient generation, reserves, and interchange to meet load forecasts.
- Coordinated transmission service scheduling and applied regional transmission tariff to manage curtailments during peak demand.
- Generated load forecasts using weather and historical data to inform generation capacity and reserve scheduling for next day and week ahead.
- Maintained seven-day load forecast through weather monitoring across PJM territory and forecast revisions as conditions changed.
- Facilitated smooth operation of PJM transaction administration and energy markets.
- Administered PJM transaction and energy markets to ensure accurate and compliant market activity.
- Provided customer support through PJM OASIS site for energy scheduling process.
Skills
Power system operations
SCADA systems
Incident evaluation
Outage analysis & coordination
Reliability standards
Operator training
Crisis communication
Aveva PI system
Load forecasting
Power flow studies
Market operations
Regulatory compliance
Timeline
Bulk Power System Awareness
NERC
03.2018 - 09.2023Read More
Master Dispatcher
PJM INTERCONNECTION
04.2015 - 03.2018Read More
Generation Dispatcher
PJM Interconnection L.L.C.
03.2012 - 03.2015Read More
Master Coordinator
PJM Interconnection L.L.C.
03.2009 - 03.2012Read More
System Operations Department Leader
CITY OF DOVER
06.2000 - 04.2009Read More
Tactical Data Communication Specilaist
UNITED STATED MARINE CORPS
04.1992 - 04.1996Read More